Chapter 19: Something's Not Right

Thalia supposed she shouldn't be surprised. She'd imagined worse.

She remembered the time when she, Luke, and Annabeth were running from some monsters when they were younger. When everything was still as peaceful as everything could get as a demigod. They had once hid in an alley behind a restaurant, where the stench was so putrid that they had to resist from throwing up.

To think that these mortals threw away the gods' blessings so easily, they had thought, crawling for cover. The alley was dark; a dead-end, that was for sure. Not the best place to hide, since escape was hard, but it was all they had. With any luck, the fiery-haired women could overlook (over-smell) their scent because of the garbage, and go in another direction.

But luck rarely ever made an appearance these days.

As they waited for the fiery-haired women to pass by, who were taking their time in slowly, painstakingly surveying any signs of them through the garbage, Luke had let exhaustion overcome him, plopping down on the ground. The two girls joined him, sitting down on either side. To pass the time, they made figures out of the shadows from the little light provided by the street lights, the light from the moon doing less than the pollution that covered it.

And then Luke had played a completely useless-looking blob. What's that? Little Annabeth had asked. It's a muck, the boy had replied. It has no face, and no body. It's a monster. It will eat you!

Alas, the girl was obviously smarter than she seemed. But if it has no face, it couldn't eat me! And then proceeded to wrestle each other playfully.

But those two Annabeth and Luke in the past were no more now. They were no longer fun. They now desired the heads of Percy Jackson, their once best friend, and maybe even hers. They now served their new master, Order.

Of which the said master's face resembled the useless-looking blob that his servant had played out when he was younger.

Order stood before her now, looking all white and proud. 'White' meaning wearing a white suit, white shiny shoes that almost blinded her, having blondish white hair, pale as a paper complexion, and... no face. The front of his head was smooth.

"Thalia Grace," he said, pronouncing her name carefully as if looking for flaws. Where did his voice come from then, if he had no mouth? "We meet at last."

"I'm glad you've been wanting to meet me," Thalia remarked, her lips twitching upwards balefully as she sat herself in a distance from the god. "I have that kind of effect on people."

"I believe that effect belongs to my favorite demigod, Percy Jackson."

The huntress stiffened, narrowing her eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"Who said I wanted anything?"

"Why else would you come here?"

"Ah.. To talk."

"Okay. So this is where the supervillains tell their hostages their plans. And then they play it out. And then they kill them. If we could just skip the playing part," she said, waving her hand dismissively.

"I'm afraid that isn't right," the man said, cocking his head to the side. "Why would I kill a hostage? There are many punishments worse than death."

She held back a shudder. "Still."

"First things first: do you have any questions?"

"Why didn't you send a minion or something instead of going here yourself? You people seem to enjoy yourselves hiding behind them."

A snort formed at his throat, and she could only guess that he was offended. "I am not like my sister's weak descendants. Unlike them, I only send my monsters because I am always busy, while they lie down and cowardly fight only when the enemy is at their weakest."

"Busy with what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

The god threw up his hands. "Do you think Earth is the only planet I have to cleanse?"

Thalia blinked. "Oh. Um.."

"Anymore?"

The daughter of Zeus quieted for a while, looking across the chasm into the other cells. "Where am I? What is this?" she asked him.

"This is... ah, my palace. At least here on Earth. This is where my generals and I reside. Beneath is the dungeon—where we are now. This particular prison cell is for people with acrophobia, as you may have noticed." He pointed to the one similar island surrounded with water. "Those are for ones with aquaphobia." He pointed to the chunk of rock. "Those could apply for claustrophobia... or achluophobia.. But that's beside the point."

As she thought about it more, she realized that Order was not one to be taken lightly. He was not afraid to use his strength. He knew his enemies and their fears and weaknesses. Having lived older than the creator herself, he knew the consequences of everything that might happen. He was the one who knew the most in the world (universe) and knowing the fears of an immortalized fifteen-year old girl was the least of his worries.

"Where are we?" Thalia asked, in vain hopes of escaping the place.

The creator took one look at her (or at least it looked like it) and promptly snorted again. "Oh, don't hope on it," he admonished, his tone deliberate, but not arrogant. A big difference, she noted. "My palace is quite... mobile. But for the sake of knowing, we're in Antwerp, Belgium."

The lieutenant of Artemis looked at him weirdly. "You jacked me off to somewhere so far?"

Order shrugged. "Works if you don't want your prisoners to escape. If you want to take your chances, don't worry, it'll move eventually."

"What do you mean move?!"

He shrugged again in response. Seems like this villain's not much of a talker than she thought, disregarding the lack of organ of speaking. Unlike Kronos and Gaea, who Percy had once told that could spend ages rambling about their plans to him that they might as well be done with the war.

Then she remembered how the air shimmered before he came. Thalia pointed to the tile he was still standing on. "What's that? How did you appear there?"

Order glanced down as if he could see it with whatever he used to see. "It's called a teleportation tile. Obviously, this is where me or my minions—whichever of them that'd give you your needs—appear when we come into your cell. It stems from my, ah, security room. Though, understandably, you can't use it to go the other way," he explained, pausing. He tapped his pointed chin. "Well maybe you could reprogram it, but I doubt you could do that."

Thalia sighed irritably. "Yeah, I just decided that you're not much help. Please go away now."

The god didn't respond for a moment, and she wondered what he was going to do to her since she literally couldn't read his face of what he was feeling right now. "Wouldn't you want to know how your friend Luke is here right now?"

"He told me. You revived him because Annabeth wanted it."

"That's not the whole reason I did," he denied, breathing out slowly—Thalia could only tell because his chest was falling. "There was one thing that he was useful for."

"And what?" the daughter of Zeus asked, wary.

"He's ruthless. He doesn't give a second thought about ripping a demigod's heart out," he replied, his face twisting in an odd manner as her expression turned into disbelief. "Which reminds me.." He paused, reaching into his blazer. When he showed it to her, on his pale hand was a heavy-looking metal bracelet. "That ruthless people do have a heart, after all."

She studied it suspiciously. "What's that?"

Order looked up at her, probably weirded out by her question. "An accessory," he responded in a flat tone. "The boy says it's for you."

Thalia snorted. "I don't know how hard he tried to convince you to hand it to me, but no thanks. A few gifts won't do it for him."

The god shook his head and seized her wrist, slipping the bracelet on her tenderly. "I wouldn't have him go psycho and kill all my minions for a pathetic rejection." The girl was stunned silent by his gentleness.

He crossed his arms and looked down on her. "Do you know what else I find Castellan useful for?" Thalia didn't answer, still stunned. "He keeps you in," the god answered his own question, chortling.

The answer shook the girl out of her state of shock. "Keeps me in? Are you blind?" the huntress spluttered, getting up on her feet and staring him down, heedless of the edge just a few feet behind her. She supposed the question was mindless since he didn't have any eyes, but it was rhetorical. "He wanted to get me out."

"And you refused, didn't you?" Order mocked. "You wouldn't come with him. He would keep trying, turning those attempts unknowingly into guard duty."

"At least he's the guard. I'll be able to get out."

"But could you cross this gulf?" He raised an eyebrow, waving an arm over the gap. "I doubt you could."

"And what if I could?" she shouted, feeling a sudden wisp of confidence. "What if I could get to him and he'll let me out?"

"Oh, he'll be long gone before you could." His face twisted up again, and for some reason, Thalia just wanted to rearrange his face and put an arrow up his faceless forehead. There was a loud ticking sound from somewhere, reaching her ears even across the wide abyss. Order started. "I'll be generous and give you a week of vacation in your little Delos before anything dangerous."

Before she could say anything, Order stepped back into the green square—she hadn't even realized that he'd stepped closer to her. The air shimmered around him, and then he slowly faded out of existence. She gave him the finger for good measure before the air was still again, and any sign of the god had vanished, making her wonder if his visit was an imagination.

But then she remembered the bracelet and looked down on it. It was a simple silver ring, with a single etching of a crown in the inside of the band. Other than that, it was nothing else.

She noticed for the first time that Aegis was out of her wrist. She had a moment of panic when she searched her pockets and her spear wasn't there, but then calmed. She must've been stripped of her weapons when they dumped her in here. It was most likely just near there. They surely wouldn't just chuck off valuable weapons.

Thalia thought of hurling the bracelet off the edge, but the thing replaced the comfort she felt with Aegis in her hand. Like any other trained demigod, she felt oddly bare and vulnerable without them, but the bracelet helped, even just a little. In this situation, Thalia would've used anything just to get out. A moral boost was nice to keep her going.

A young goddess stretched off her cot with a smile on her face. Last night was one of the best nights, and she just hoped nothing would ruin anything now that she was in a good mood for some pretending.

Lady Artemis, please help us.

But since the voice of her hunters, pleading for help, was the first thing she heard in the morning, her mood was destroyed instantly.

Swiftly, Artemis had bundled up everything inside the tent in a matter of minutes and went outside to break camp. Her aged tent turned into a compact square the size of a sugar cube for traveling efficiency. She'd had it worked out by Hephaestus once he discovered these kinds of stuff; and she had to admit that it saved a ton of time—not that she'd need much.

She sent a reply and found out that they were in Arkansas, so she assumed her divine form and teleported to the target point.

Once there, she looked around quickly, surveying the area. There was silver dust all about, and some black blood splattered on the trees. She was relieved that red blood wasn't the majority of it, except if ever Order had a mortal servant, but she wouldn't know that.

"Hunters!" Artemis called out, desperate for any sign that she didn't accidentally kill them with the sight of her divine form. Luckily, they emerged from the woods around her, looking relieved.

"Lady Artemis." Phoebe ran up to her, bowing momentarily. "Thank you for coming. We thought you were too busy on your own hunt."

The goddess smiled. "I am never too busy to look after you," she replied earnestly. She glanced at the dust and blood at the background. "What happened here?"

"We were, uh, losing," a Hunter, a daughter of Athena, told her awkwardly. The Hunters didn't like admitting that they were losing in a fight, especially the Athenians, so she was slightly surprised that the girl was the one who reported it. "We closed our eyes and hid behind trees once the surroundings started to glow. You killed off all of them that was left."

The moon goddess nodded slowly, comprehending. She didn't think that those Ordians would be stupid enough to look, but thankfully, they were. Looking around, she then noticed something unusual. "Where's Thalia?"

The Hunters found a sudden interest in the bloodied forest floor. Realization struck her harder than a brick wall. "When did it happen?" she inquired quietly.

"Yesterday," they answered. "We were separated."

Artemis pursed her lips, nodding. She took out her tent cube and tossed it to Phoebe. "Search it for my first-aid," she ordered, turning around. "Wrap up. Do not let your guard down. I'll be right back."

…

Apparently, while she was out and worrying for her hunters and pretending to look for her boyfriend, the other gods were watching a soap opera.

No—not a soap opera. It was a reality show. Without the narration and the script. And the fact that the actors knew that they were being watched.

"I thought you were tending to your duties," Artemis said, bristling as she sent all of them an accusing glance.

Most looked sheepish. On the other hand, Zeus was inquisitive. "What are you doing here, daughter? Has something happened?"

"Big," she replied crossly, plopping down on her throne. They were watching a stupid animation of Camp Half-Blood while she was practically risking her chances on the Ancient Laws. "Your daughter has been captured."

The king of the gods blinked. "Which?" At this, Hera glared at him, but said nothing.

"Thalia."

The god's grip on the arms of his throne tightened, making the veins on his arms more visible. "As a result, I suppose you're asking permission from me to go look for her."

"Precisely."

Her father was silent for a long time while she, and some other gods, waited for his answer. "Let's move Percy to second priority," Apollo suggested, breaking the intense silence. Artemis looked at him with gratefulness, as others stared at him blankly. He didn't seem fazed. "He'll be found if he wants to be found. Right now, Thals has to be the one saved. The Ordians might be doing something bad to her right now, for all we know."

Zeus finally exhaled loudly and slouched. "Fine, but I want the campers to help."

"The Hunters wouldn't want them."

"Female campers, then," the god of lightning relented, grumbling about choosy hunters. "Go to any of the camps as soon as you can. It's up to you who to pick, but follow the number of allowed questers."

Three, she thought. "Yes Father."

Her father nodded and waved her permission out, before going back to watching the hologram. She felt a bit annoyed for the dismissiveness, but at least she got off early. She stood up and flashed out, not even sparing a glance at the hologram, which showed three teens, with the youngest-looking one talking to the other two.

"Chiron just arrived," he told them.

Nico was suspicious. Two sixteen-year-old demigods made it to camp from the forest. He was positive that he hadn't seen them before at the main camp and the Roman camp. And they can't survive that long on their own without training. And the only way to the forest was through the entrance, from the beach to the north woods, or from the cliff to the south woods, which would be a high climb from the sea.

And to top it all off, Mrs. O'Leary loved them.

He had, at least, hoped they were lying, and went to his father, but he told him that they were right. They were sent to the camp. But why not just come to the front door? The main camp? Maybe his father was tricked. Blackmailed, even. But he couldn't get the thought wrapped around his head. Who would blackmail the Lord of the Dead?

It was ironic, really. Blackmailing the Lord of the Dead. Only some idiot would do that.

And it could be these two. Or maybe the one they're working for.

"So... where should we meet him?" the guy Arc asked him nervously. Definitely not the type that could blackmail his father. This guy was not related to Percy Jackson, no.

Nico shook his head mentally. Why did he even think that? Sure, Percy was still alive, but he won't have a brother from Sally Jackson. She was a Blofis now. Or if ever he was his son, he won't have him waltzing into camp with his surname if he was in hiding.

"Wait at the Big House," he replied. "I'll go fetch him."

The two obediently walked towards the mentioned building. He watched them for a moment, before turning and walking back up towards the hill. He wondered what was taking the old centaur so long. He should've been down there while the son of Hades was informing the two.

"Hey."

The sudden greeting out of nowhere hardly surprised the immortal boy. What did surprise him was that his cousin Thalia, who was supposed to be with the Hunters in the search for Annabeth, was the one who greeted him.

"Thalia," he said back, his voice softer than it usually was. There was something strange about her. Aside from the fact that she didn't seem to be with the Hunters, there was something about her tamed silver hunter's clothing. Her... aura. "What're you doing here?"

She shrugged. "The Hunters are visiting. They sent me ahead to alert you." Her secure silky spiky hair curled downwards slightly.

"What happened to your hair?"

Thalia blinked, reaching up to straighten it. He thought it was only the sunlight when it shone brighter than the other portions. "The gel's still wet."

The son of Hades looked her up and down. He wanted to mention how odd it was that she wasn't wearing her rebellious Green Day or Death-to-Barbie shirt. Or the silver aura she had seems to have dimmed or disappeared entirely. But he said nothing and allowed her to come with as he trekked up the hill.

The reason that Chiron was taking so long turned out to be Artemis. He heard half of their conversation as he approached.

"—to search for her."

"That will be arranged." The centaur nodded. "Why don't you go to the main camp? The campers there are trained in both styles of combat."

"My hunters are more comfortable working with pure Greeks. Since I know the senior campers will refuse to transfer, I am looking for them here."

"Excuse me," he interrupted reverently, making the older immortals turn to him. "Who are you searching for?"

"My lieutenant, Thalia, boy," Artemis replied, noticing how his eyes widened fractionally. "Have you seen her, by any chance?"

"Thalia," he mumbled, his shoulders sagging in exasperation. "But she's—"

Nico turned to his side, but the girl had disappeared. Where had she gone off? he thought. "She was here. I heard her walking behind me when I came to fetch Chiron."

The goddess raised an eyebrow at him skeptically, nodding nonetheless and beginning to trudge downhill to the camp, her hunters in tow.

The immortal boy hung back with the centaur, who was in his magic wheelchair. "Chiron, there were two kids who appeared at the woods yesterday."

The centaur looked confused. "Appeared, how, my boy?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Mrs. O'Leary found them, licking them and all."

"How old are they? Do they imply some kind of threat?"

"The age. They're sixteen, with weapons, knowledgeable about camp and my hellhound, so I'd say other monsters too. But.."

"But what, Nico?"

"They said that they were sent by my father to help out in the war. I thought they were lying, but Hades confirmed it. I didn't know about them before now."

The old man ran a hand along his beard. "Perhaps they do imply a threat, but if a god, especially one of the Big Three, are watching over them, then we shouldn't have a problem."

…

They'd found her, sitting at the porch.

"Thalia?" Jean asked, clearly as shocked as the other Hunters.

"We thought you were captured by the Ordians," Artemis told her angrily. "You should've at least come back to the ambush point."

Nico turned his head in a miniscule degree toward his cousin's direction and narrowed his eyes. Why would she lie to him?

Thalia bowed. "I'm sorry, Lady Artemis. But I panicked and the only thought in my mind was to get some help."

"And you ran all the way here?" The goddess shook her head, astonished. "You do realize that Camp Perseus was a hundred miles nearer there, don't you?"

The lieutenant looked miffed. "I... didn't know," she admitted, having difficulty saying the phrase.

The moon goddess just nodded, sighing, supposing that the brain does kind of shut down when panicked. "Fine, fine. I think we can rest here while the Hunt has postponed their search for you. Have you got any injuries?"

She shook her head.

At that moment, the two still-questioned teens chose to come out from the guest room hallway. The boy stared at the goddess in wonder while Angel had her eyes on Thalia, studying her with confusion and suspicion just as he had moments ago, if not more concealed.

Nico could tell that Arc was about to say something—probably a line that would cost him the possibility of becoming a father—and Artemis was about to tell him off at the same time; just to save the poor fellow's balls, he interjected again. "So uh, Chiron. These are the two I was telling you about."

The centaur looked at them. "Hello, children. You were sent by Hades?"

The girl broke her gaze from the daughter of Zeus, turned to the Trainer of Heroes, and bowed politely. "Yes. My name is—"

"No, no," Chiron cut her off. "Save the introductions for later at dinner. Lady Artemis and I have something to discuss. For now, you may go ahead into your guest rooms or explore around the camp. You may also train in the arena or shooting range if you wish."

Angel looked at the two huntresses uncertainly before nodding and taking off with her friend, dragging him behind her.

Artemis told Thalia to go to Cabin Eight, sure that they'd deserve an apology if not both of them, as she and the half-horse son of Kronos settled at the pinochle table. Nico wasn't invited to join them, but he wasn't shooed away either, so he stood behind.

"What will you do next then, Lady Artemis?" the centaur asked. "Now that Thalia isn't missing after all, are going to leave immediately, discontinue the quest?"

The goddess of the hunt hesitated. The boy guessed it was because of him listening in, but he won't leave unless told to. "We're continuing the quest... to save a different person."

"Oh, the one you were previously hunting?" Chiron asked, making sure. "Annabeth or... him?"

The son of Hades instantly became curious of this 'him', whoever it was. They guy had to be important that even the Hunters of Artemis had to look for him. Then a thought struck him. Not exactly horrifying, but not exactly one that relieved him either. Were they looking for Percy? Had they found out about him? How?

"Both," she replied. "I know that they would most probably be found in two different places, but there's also a chance that she had him caught. Since a hidden ally won't hurt us, looking for Annabeth is my main priority."

Nico realized that they were most likely just going to discuss about ways and places to look for her, so he did what he did best: slipping off unnoticed.

"Aw shucks," Percy complained, stretching over the desk lazily. "More work? Why didn't you just deliver them all at the same time and be done with it?"

"You want me to deliver all of this?" his sister asked, taking a hand from behind his door that held up a serious amount of gigantic mind-whizzers.

He just glanced, covered his face, and griped. "I'm not supposed to be doing this. That's all, what, 8th Grade material?"

"And that's the problem with you," Nyx said, taking pity and hiding the books out of view. "You're, uh, fifty-something. Nearly sixty. Academics should be easy for you."

"What use are academics when I'm facing off Order, anyway?"

He looked up, and caught a moment when her eyes flashed. "Just do your work. When you go undercover in literal alien schools, you'll find out they have tougher curriculum," she explained, turning to close the door to his room. "Best be ready, isn't that right?"

She didn't wait for an answer and shut the door, cutting off all outside noise and rendering him alone in his room, once again.

Percy sighed and looked over the work he had to do. Two essays, three questionnaires, and a presentation. He looked at the time. Maybe if he hustled, he'd be able to finish just by the time to go see Artemis. He wasn't the best with exams, so definitely not with essays. He reckoned that making the presentation was the easiest, but saving lighter work for last seemed like an okay celebration.

He got out a piece of typewriting paper and started writing out his name and the title of the first essay, all in his improved handwriting. Well at least he thought it improved. It kind of gained an alien-y impression, like a stockier, inverted, unreadable Greek.

The goal was simple enough. Make a short essay with at least a thousand words about how asteroids were formed, where they're formed, how they become dwarf planets. He knew enough about this stuff, being the adopted son of the one who created them all, but the mere thought of how much he had to do wasn't helping him concentrate.

He dropped the lead pen and jumped on his bed, groaning. You would've thought that with all of these continuous studies, he should've at least gotten nice supplies for schooling, but nooo. He just had to use the naked, fragile thing as a shaft.

The son of Chaos needed sleep (well not really, considering how he slept through lunch, but still). He wasn't certain if Artemis was already asleep or maybe had something to do, but he found himself wanting peaceful sleep for once with darkness and just darkness. He closed his eyes, and..

Darkness. Of course, you couldn't see anything but the lids over your eyes. But then he could feel the consciousness, slowly, but surely slipping away..

His vision opened; the corners were black, and his sight was dim. He was dreaming.

It was like a movie. The camera backed out of a cave, and he found himself looking over the Underworld. At the left, the wide area beyond was separated from the main with a bone fence. There were souls burning, being chased by hellhounds, running naked on cactus patches, pushing boulders up hills: the Fields of Punishment. At the right, there were two island paradises in the middle of a lake, one larger than the other: Elysium. The smaller one, filled with very few people, were enjoying themselves more than the ones on the bigger island: the Isles of the Blest.

And, uh, he found himself one of the souls there. Does this mean that he was going to die? Or was this the third and last time that he died..?

Okay, bad story. Percy opened his eyes and sat up. He couldn't sleep. After minutes of pondering, he decided to take a walk to gather his thoughts.

Standing up, he let his mind wander and his legs bring him to where he should be.

He wondered if Arc was doing okay at camp. Hopefully, the campers had adjusted to... to whatever lie he'd fed them in the first place. Oh, and Enkeli too. Those two could be explosive together, Percy knew from experience, remembering the time when his son was still a two-year old, and his niece doesn't seem to want to change into an older form. Those memories of babysitting were still making him shudder and thank the gods that it was all over.

He found himself in Ouranos' courtyard, at the observatory. Briefly hesitating since there might be someone who could see him sauntering in here at the beginning of sleeping hours—especially Ouranos—he surged forward, ignoring the subconscious thought that it might be safer if he just left. He stood on the constellation that he made three decades ago, the same time that he found out about this observatory.

The heir of Chaos looked into the glass. The swirling didn't make him dizzy anymore, after about a hundred times looking into it over the last decades. The image showed a far view from the dining pavilion, but clearly showing that Arc was going up front to announce something. He willed it to zoom in on him so he could hear what his usually crafty son had to say.

"—lo everyone. My name is Arc Jackson. I don't know who my mother, my godly parent is, but my cousin, Angel, and I have been sent by Hades to help you in this war. Any questions?"

Nice introduction. Percy wondered who his son's real parents were. They must've been great talkers, while he himself couldn't speak straight in front of a crowd. The last bit was a downer though, since that was the part where the campers could ask him whatever they want. Chances are that if his son won't answer one, he probably forgot ever asking for any.

Now, a few campers raised their hands (but they're probably about fifty, since the camp held sooo many these days). His son chose one and the camper asked what seemed to be the bomb of it all (and it's too early for a bomb, dammit). "Are you related to Percy Jackson?"

Thankfully, Arc seemed to have anticipated the question and acted believably confused. "Who's that?"

The campers took this by surprise. "You came in yesterday, right? Haven't you heard any about him? He's a legend."

Percy flushed, though no one could see it. He never thought of himself as a legend. All he did was risk his worthless life for a weapon of a tyrant king, sail to certain death for a sheepskin, hold the sky for an evil titan, kill a friendly mad genius, give a knife to his enemy-possessed friend, drink a deadly vial of gorgon blood, jump into Tartarus, and die for a future traitor.

Thinking about it that way right now, all of it seemed undeniably stupid.

Arc blinked. "Um, okay.." The son of Chaos was sure now that he was just being polite, in truth not wanting to hear the same story about his father's little misadventures when he was his age all over again. "Anyway, uh, anymore?"

A girl raised her hand and spoke. "How come we haven't seen you before?"

The boy smiled. "That's because I was in the other world, training before Lord Hades would send me out here."

The heir noticed the campers exchange glances, and Enkeli was half-smiling. "Did you just say other world?" the girl asked suspiciously.

His son reacted better than he expected him to. Arc suppressed a smile and shook his head. "I said Underworld. What's the other world, anyway? The mortal world? I won't train in a dangerous place."

"Oh," the girl blushed. "Sorry. I thought I misheard."

"It's fine. Anymore questions?"

A little hand went up. "Can you show us your powers?"

Arc frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. "No. Sorry kid, but I don't have any powers."

Someone shouted out, "Maybe you're a son of Hermes!"

"My godly parent is a female."

"Enyo?"

"No. Just, no."

A pale hand went up unexpectedly. All went silent. Percy had a small smile; he was starting to join in these discussions willingly. "Do you think it was the Fates that sent you here, instead of my father?"

Percy's heart threatened to free itself from his ribcage, and his grip on the ledge tightened as his son looked blank for a couple of seconds. Arc swallowed and nodded, firmly replying. "Yes. Yes, it was the Fates."

The son of Chaos didn't know whether to be proud or afraid for his son. He had a sense of obligation to save Olympus and the camp, just as he had many years ago. And having that, he'd get the need to protect all of his men from harm, risking his own life. He'd get the self-loathing from the thought of letting his brethren die. He could make himself... broken.

The campers looked surprised by his certainty. A kid stood up defiantly. "But if—"

There was a crashing sound, and the red-haired oracle stumbled in, her eyes glowing green. Percy braced himself for the dreaded prophecy, expected yet completely overlooked.

Moon's quartet and rekindled fire
Shall lead a quest to the house of mimes
To uncover a secret of the past
That leads the fated boy to his last
The hunted will perish
The hunter will be punished
The leader will be banished
Order is replenished.

Late thirty-year old oracle Rachel Dare slumped forward, losing her balance and falling hard against the marble floor. Two campers nearby—from the Hermes table—rushed to her and lifted her up, preparing to return the oracle to her cave.

The pavilion was filled with mostly silence, pondering the new prophecy. Meanwhile, Percy thought hard. Moon's quartet had to be a foursome chosen by Artemis. What was the rekindled fire? Was that a person?

"Yes it is."

Percy started. He looked down at the glass, trying to find who said it, but they were still silent. Which meant that someone—

"Yes, I'm here."

The heir sighed and turned around, stepping off his constellation. He squinted through the dark hood that his companion wore. "Zoë?"

Zoë took off her hood and stepped beside him, looking down at the scene he thought had already washed off. He followed and went back to his position. "What are you doing here? Why'd you have to wear the hood?"

"Well.. They don't know I'm here."

"Uh." Percy frowned, watching Chiron announce for the counselors to meet up at the Big House. "Won't Ouranos know? You're one of his subjects."

"He expects me to rest," she replied, her eyes trained on her former mistress. "We have something to do tomorrow."

"Oh." Knowing his friend, he knew he'd better not ask about it. "Why are you here, then?"

"I just," she started, folding her hands together and resting them on the fence. She turned away. "I've noticed how stressed you are."

He pursed his lips, remembering how best friends see through each other like a thin fog. He looked down at the image, whereas about twenty people sat around the old Ping-Pong table, talking about who should go to the quest. "It's Arc."

Zoë sighed, finally looking at him. "I once thought you were just another foolish boy, Percy. I thought you'd be like the average man, risking everything to get what they want." He didn't answer. "And I was right."

The heir looked at his best friend, aghast.

"You are more than the average man. Your life was everything for us. For Olympus. You risked it to make sure your loved ones are fine.

"You raised Arc, Percy. You became a good father to him. You taught him your ways—the good ways. He grew up just like you."

"What's your point?" he murmured, watching the campers conclude that the prophecy implies five quest members, however much the phrase rekindled fire was unclear. They chose Arc as the leader, which surprised him since he just got there.

"I hear that you've quite the prowess in avoiding death," Zoë said, a hint of a smile showing. "Perhaps he'd inherited that too. He's a strong boy, Percy. He can handle himself."

"How could he inherit it? We're not related by blood." Percy sighed and hid his face in his hands. "You've seen all that intelligence."

"I'm sorry, Percy," the huntress apologized suddenly, her voice lowering to a pinch. "I'm not honest to you."

"I know that," he said. "I know that you lot have been hiding things from me. Like Arc's real parents, maybe."

"That's what I'm about to tell you," she replied, getting his attention. "That's why I sneaked in here when I saw you come through by my window."

The son of Chaos glanced back at her, far from convinced. He looked back down at the image as Artemis had finished choosing her quartet which consisted of: Thalia, Nico, Arc, and Enkeli. They didn't know who the rekindled fire was, so they disregarded it and stuck to just four. "You happen to know Arc's real parents, and went out of your way to just tell me and disobey my mother?" He shook his head. "I don't think that's acceptable."

"You don't?" Zoë glowered at him. "Would you think it acceptable then, that Arc is the fated boy, the one who'll meet his last?"

Percy was lost for words. He knew that his best friend had no reason to lie. She never lies, to him, at least. She rarely kids about anything.

"Lady Ananke had foreseen it. But Arc, as he claimed, is not only the fated boy. He's the rekindled fire. His heritage is deeper than you understand."

"Tell me."

"I can't."

"You said you'll tell me!" He exploded at her, accidentally shaking the earth. "Who is his parents? How is he the rekindled fire? Will he die? Zoë, please.."

"I.. I don't know if he'll die," she mumbled honestly. "His parents are... powerful. You know one. You don't know the other."

"Zoë, tell me, please."

"I'm not allowed to mess with fate. I only told you some because.." The huntress paused, taking one look at the image before starting out. "Because I owed you. I won't be here now without you, Percy. You mean more than you know. It's only a matter of time before I repay the debt, and this is it.

"Arc will go through a tough life. The war hasn't begun yet, Percy. And when it happens, Arc is the one to lead them all against Order. Just like how you did against Kronos. Everything that will soon happen, soon be revealed, will shock everyone, even you. Be prepared as he will be, Percy, because we're not even sure if all will go well."

And as he watched her exit the observatory, not taking his eyes off her, he heard one sentence that made his heart start beating rapidly with nervousness.

"We leave tomorrow, at dawn, for Minnesota. Whatever the consequence, we'll go. And you better not be late, boys."

AN: Thank you for reading, have a nice day! ~SmartzyFan