"I hereby swear that I will be a proud, brave, and vigilant soldier. To uphold the honor of our nation and its military. To submit to the orders of my superiors."

Disclaimer : I own nothing, I only own my Original Characters. A massive thanks for 8Ball3 for beta-ing, may the Emperor bless and protect you.

~0~

Commence Operation Barbecue!

~0~

Percy ducked to avoid a flying charge that could've done some serious damage to his skull, either by burning it or crushing it. Probably both.

The new monster that appeared in the middle of the camp in a pillar of fire exploded again in another pillar of fire. Percy grimaced and held up Riptide to defend himself. Sparks and embers flew away from the area of effect, briefly lighting up the surfaces of whatever they touched, before finally dying again.

The campers around him scurried around, sometimes crashing into each other. Some kids who were already in the middle of training, like Apollo archers and Ares fighters, tried fighting it and failed. Any arrows that were shot at it became useless, their wooden shaft burnt to ash, and any fighter who tried to approach it couldn't stand the heat.

Percy swiped the sweat forming on his forehead. He jumped to hide behind a cabin, and then peeked behind it to look at the monster more clearly.

It was a lizard. A burning lizard with black scales that could be coal, as tall as him and as long as a medium sedan. The big guy's eyes glowed an orange fire, and gouts of flame kept bursting from his nostrils periodically. It was like breathing in the winter, but instead of mist, it was fire.

He had been learning with (from?) Annabeth when it the big burning boy appeared out of nowhere. As soon as he appeared, Annabeth immediately ran away, shouting at the other campers to evacuate. Percy tried following her, but then the monster turned to him and freaking dashed at him.

They were separated, he just hoped Annabeth was able to clear out as many campers as possible. He had nothing against being the bait if this was the case.

Where was Mr. D when you actually need him?! Wasn't he the camp protector?!

A spray of arrows came from some Apollo archers in the side. Like before, the shafts turned crispy before they could hit him, and the bronze tips just fell halfway through. The lizard turned to the source of the failed attack, and spat a fireball at the archers, who quickly jumped away just before it hit and exploded.

After getting rid of the Apollo kids, the lizard turned, and looked straight into him, ignoring anything else around them.

Percy gulped.

He should've seen this coming.

~0~

Ray should've seen this coming.

It had been a month. A full, 30-day free of concerns and drawbacks of being Big Three children. Ray knew it was too calm, but he still ignored it, preferring to just enjoy it while it lasted. He should've been more careful.

He trained Percy in the Ways of the Deep, as he really liked to call it, with hardly any drama or signs that they were in danger. Annabeth reported (to Percival, then Percival to him) that Percy was never late on any of his classes, though he seemed to have trouble concentrating in them. His little brother also had been faring pretty well in swordcraft, which was why Ray had the idea of putting him in the advanced classes.

They talked about it, and Percy said he was okay with it. Ray knew Percy wasn't telling the truth; the tone of his voice his brother implying wasn't feeling too okay with it, but still agreed to go, for… whatever reason. Which was why he specifically told his brother that if he felt uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form, he was to talk to him so he could arrange another class- something that wouldn't induce the feeling of unease.

Percy never complained. Percival, the main trainer for advanced swordcraft classes, commented in their latest half-blood hunt that Percy was doing well in his class, much to Percival's surprise. From those two phenomenons, Ray let Percy go do his own thing. He assured him, several times, that it was fine to withdraw from the class, but Percy just looked annoyed instead.

To avoid Percy's wrath, Ray told Stalker to keep an eye on his little brother.

So, today, when Stalker suddenly returned, snatched his pen from his hand and threw it on the floor while screeching at him, he instantly knew something was wrong. In hindsight, that particular day was practically an incident waiting to happen.

One of the camp's strongest protectors, Dionysus, was out for a single day vacation in Santorini with his wife Ariadne. He specifically ordered to not be bothered by any camp matters as this was a rare opportunity given to him by Zeus, and something that only happened once every ten years or so. He forbid any Iris Messages to be sent to him, and threatened to turn anyone who would do that into a dolphin.

Damn it.

After picking up the Keepers' coat and his newly-fixed transmission gadget, Ray and Stalker stormed outside, heading to the camp's main ground with Marcus in tow. His crow flew up into the trees' canopies, being his second pair of eyes. When they reached their destination, they saw fire.

Lots of fire.

Ray froze in place. The flames crackled louder, as if it could sense a juicy target it could consume. The flames burned taller and curved, forming a terrifying ring of red. Inside it, he could see a shadowed figure of a large man, with glowing red eyes and holding a weapon. The man raised his weapon (a long firearm… shotgun?), and even though Ray couldn't see his face, he knew he was grinning.

He… never saw this amount of inferno in one place before. The most fire he saw was when… was when… when did he see something similar to this?

His thoughts were cut short when a sharp pain came from the back of his right arm. He whirled around, ready to deck someone in the face, but the urge disappeared when he saw it was just Marcus, lowering a syringe. The barrel was dark grey, with the symbol of an owl on it; Lady Athena's tranquilizer, a gift given to his friends in case there's a mission that doesn't have time for his nonsense.

Ray glanced back again to the burning field. The ring and the man was nowhere to be found… just his imagination.

He rubbed his forehead, cursing himself for his pathetic weakness. "Thank you, Marcus. How… how long will it last?"

"Thirty minutes." Marcus stared at the syringe, before putting it in his pocket. "At most."

"Long enough," Ray muttered, raising his eyes.

Some of the cabins were burning, with naiads and campers trying to put it out. Another group of campers- Ray snarled when he saw it was a group filled with the younger campers- huddled beside the Athena cabin, and some older campers trying to guide them away, careful not to get licked by the flame.

"What happened?" Ray muttered, worried and angry at the same time. Where was Percy? Heck, where were Percival and the others?

Just as he said that, the obvious malefactor came bursting into view. A giant, burning lizard with black, rock-hard scales. Percival and Alexa, along with some archers and armored guys, came chasing after it.

"Is that… a salamander?" he said, genuinely surprised. Why was a giant burning salamander is attacking camp? How did it even cross the camp border? "You know what, it doesn't matter. Marcus, you are now authorized to use any weapon in your disposal to get rid of it, but mind the onlookers."

After Ray gave the authorization code, Marcus nodded silently and ran at the monster, pulling out one of his energy grenades from his other coat pocket (Ray had a feeling it was magical).

Ray ran to the other side, to where the hiding campers were.

From the look of things, the place was clearly hot, though Ray's enchanted coat made sure he was not to feel the heat. Smoke started to gather in the air, so with a quick burst of Mist, he dispelled the violating mixture of gas. Knowing they would form again sooner or later, he hastened his pace.

One of the older campers- he recognized the girl as Lisa Alina, 14-years-old from Apollo- immediately stood straight when she saw him. "Uh, good morning sir."

"I have to disagree, this isn't a good morning," Ray said, "Where is everyone evacuated to?"

"Sir Schneider ordered us to gather in a Keepers' base at the… base… of the hill, sir."

Hmm. "Who is accompanying you?"

"Miss James, sir."

"Sophia? Where's Chiron?"

"Helping to contain the salamander, sir."

BOOM. Both of them turned around and saw that a huge chunk of the lizard's face was gone. There were blue particles in the air around it, the residue of MarcusBryantTM energy grenade. The archers and warriors started to cheer, but seeing Percival narrow his eyes, Ray knew it wasn't over just yet.

Then, the fire on the field flowed like water into the air, flying and gathering into the gaping wound. In just a few seconds, it healed completely. The monster roared at Marcus, who slowly inched back while pulling out a bronze M1911.

Another regenerative monster. Ray wasn't surprised anymore.

He turned back again. "Have you seen Percy?"

Lisa turned back too, and blinked. "Who?"

"My-"

A rumble caught their attention again. Deciding that he was wasting Lisa's time, he dismissed her, ordering her to protect the kids at all cost. The girl nodded and rushed away.

Ray pulled out his trusty Smith & Wesson revolver just in case. He scanned the area to search what caused the ground to shake, and saw that the salamander had annihilated a huge piece of the ground. Someone scampered away from the blast, and Ray's stomach fell to the ground when he realized it was Percy.

The salamander ignored the others, and instead focused all of its attention on his escaping brother. The monster darted quickly, and in the way curled in on itself, forming a huge burning fireball, charging at Percy.

Ray ran at once. Knowing it would take a second too late if he was to summon a sizable amount of water to push his brother in the middle of a burning field, he, instead, formed an armor of frost beneath his coat, putting his gun back in his pocket.

He reached Percy before Salaman did, and mostly out of instinct he swiftly grasped a surprised Percy's hand with both arms, then threw him behind him. Ray knew the area behind him had nothing dangerous other than some sparks, so after a simple glance to check his brother was fine, he turned back around to his current problem.

But before it could grind him, a bolt of blue lightning surged forth and blasted it aside, throwing it off course.

Thalia emerged into the field, spear out. Surprisingly, she didn't have her leather jacket on her, just a normal camp T-shirt and a pair of cargo pants. Her hair was wet, and Ray was pretty sure he saw one or two bubbles hanging there, and she glared at Salaman with a surprising amount of intensity. That glare was… familiar.

Then he remembered. She glared like that when she had to do something while she was in the middle of taking a bath.

"I was in the shower, you fuckface." Thalia growled to the monster as it righted itself back to its feet. "I'm going to shove my spear up your ass so deep, I'm gonna get charged for sexual misconduct."

A weird threat, but threatening enough, Ray thought. Electricity sparked around Thalia's spear, and she ran at the monster, just as it simultaneously roared at her. Fire and lightning clashed, setting off an explosion of scorching heat.

Ray tuned them out, turning to his number one priority. "Are you okay, Percy?"

Percy stood up, coughing up a bit of smoke, and dusted himself off. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Please do me a favor and don't ever do that again."

"Do what?" Ray asked, confused.

"Oh, nothing much, just throwing yourself in front of a goddamn fireball," Percy remarked sarcastically, annoyed. "What were you thinking? Last time I checked you never had any super strength to just bounce fire off or anything."

"Yes, but I can also create magical armor whenever I want, so I believe that qualifies as 'bounce fire off or any-'"

"Duck, J!"

Heeding Thalia's words, Ray dropped to the ground while at the same time pulling Percy down with him. A glowing red orb flitted through the air, whizzing past them, then exploded in mid-air somewhere in the distance.

Percy and him peered at the fireball's origin, and discovered that the lizard was scampering at them again. Thalia ran after it, as did the others. Marcus threw another grenade, which missed, and Alexa launched a crossbow bolt, which ignited and turned to ash before it could hit.

Ray gritted his teeth when the comprehension of their circumstances dawned on him. The salamander was called there specifically to hunt them, and since no monster could break the barrier (he experimented; all of the monster he tried forcing through the border died), someone called it here. The salamander focused on them and them alone, which signified that whoever called it here, the asshole knew who they are. But… who? Who would stab him in the back?

Salaman rolled up into a fireball again, and continued its charge.

Ray snarled. Now was not the time- not yet. He rose and stopped in a kneeling position. "Split up, Percy. Remember, its reflexes are slower than ours, so dodge at the last second. It won't hit us."

Percy stared at him, seemingly a bit surprised, before he nodded with determination. His younger brother followed his lead, kneeling, and waited for the lizard. "Got it."

"Wait…" Ray held up a hand. The blazing ball of rock kept spinning, gradually becoming bigger and bigger. And bigger. And bigger. "Now!"

He pushed Percy with all his might while jumping in the opposite direction. Salaman came rolling through, a wave of heat following it and ramming into his face. The lizard uncurled itself after it passed them, and whirled around while spontaneously letting out a fire breath, making a destructive infernal replica of a six-foot-tall wave.

Ray gathered raw, unaltered Mist into his palm, and smashed it in the form of a frosty wave into the fire. The cold and the heat met, melting the water and evaporating the fire. What remained were puddles of water.

Salaman hissed furiously at him, eyes glowing brighter with rage. A crack of thunder from above, and another arc of lightning struck it in the face. The attack forced the lizard back a few feet, but other than shaking its head once, it didn't seem to do anything else.

Ray inwardly sighed, and stood up, dusting himself off. He heard shoes crunching ashen grass behind him, so he turned to look. Everyone who wasn't to be protected had arrived. Apollo archers pelted it unsuccessfully with arrows, with shield-bearing Ares kids stood in front of them to block any oncoming attacks. They would hold it off, but not for long.

Percy approached him, Riptide out and green eyes vigilant. "Do you know how to beat this guy? You're smarter than I am, Ray. You gotta know how to kill him."

"You heard the little boss, big boss." Alexa twirled her butterfly knife. "We need a plan, and I hope it doesn't involve me getting close to it, 'cause there's no way in hell am I getting burned to a crisp."

"It may be difficult." Percival crossed his arms. He had sheathed his sword. "In Greek stories, salamanders are known to be personifications of fire itself, so we are fighting a flame that was given a mind to destroy."

"We need water to douse its flames," Chiron said, eyeing the salamander calmly. An icy calmness… Chiron was very angry. "I suggest drowning it in the canoe lake, but we need to evacuate the naiads first, just in case.

"I can use Aegis to scare it into the lake," Thalia offered, holding up her braceleted arm. She learned that suddenly popping Aegis in the middle of a conversation would make other parties… stop conversing, for a lack of a better term. Oh wait, there was- cowering in fear. "But, seriously, there is no way I can get near it without suffering from hyperthermia or something."

"I have ice bombs," Marcus broke in quietly. "Seeing its yellow-orange fire, the heat is roughly around a-thousand-and-a-hundred degrees celsius, maybe more. The ice will last for five minutes, at most, before melting."

"Nice. That's more than enough, hat guy."

"Perhaps," Ray hesitantly said. One of them- or even multiple of them might be the one to call the salamander here to kill him. Thalia and Chiron were out of the list (Putting Percy in the list was just bloody moronic)- they didn't know who he was, only speculations. Percival, Alexa, and Marcus were his main suspects. However, right now, he needed them to bring this monster down. "But as Chiron said, we need to take care of the naiads first. Percy, you and Percival evacuate the naiads. You have your comms device with you, Percival?"

Percy and Percival opened their mouths to protest, but Ray beat them to it. "Listen to me. Frankly, any close range assault would be impossible because you would be microwaved like pizza before you can even land a hit, so the best thing to do for you guys now is minimalizing casualties. Right now, I don't need fighters, I need rescuers. Can you do that?"

Percival's eye twitched, but he conceded. He pulled out his telecommunication device and put it on his ear. "Very well. Come, Jackson."

Ray was half-expecting Percy to fight back, but instead, his little brother hesitated for a second, before nodding. "You got it, Ray. You can count on us."

He had to physically hold himself back from hugging Percy like a teddy bear. "Good."

But he allowed himself to ruffle Percy's hair. His little brother just rolled his eyes friendlily, before running away to the lake with Percival. He turned to Marcus (who just stood there waiting for orders and pulled out his own comms apparatus) and Thalia (who was smiling a bit wistfully). "Marcus, wait for my signal, and Thalia, wait for Marcus' ice grenades. Go around the salamander, but I'm sure you don't need me to tell that."

Thalia mock-saluted him while Marcus merely nodded, and they both rushed to their designated positions.

Ray turned to the last group. "Chiron, Alexa. We'll be covering for the rest of them, biding for time. That's the only thing we can do for now."

Chiron nodded, notching an arrow into his bow. "Very well."

"Urghh… I really wanted to use the grenade launcher again. It's fun." She complained playfully. Ray could see something clicking in her mind, and she stared at him like he fell from Mars. "Hey, wait a second, how are you-?"

"Lady Athena's tranquilizer, now let's get on with it."

She (and Chiron too) appeared to have another question, but they all unspokenly agreed that it wasn't the time. They ran at the salamander, who was approaching an Ares warrior with jaw opened.

Alexa quickly shot a glowing blue bolt- a frozen bolt- to its face. It winced, and turned to them, hissing and forgetting about the Ares kid who then retreated.

Ray brought out his revolver again, mildly wondering if Celestial Bronze bullets can pierce its heat shield. He fired several rounds, all managing to hit it but bounced off harmlessly against its rock-hard scales.

Darn.

He turned to Chiron to see what he'd do, only to become confused when the old centaur aimed at something high in the sky. Ray looked up, saw nothing, but Chiron shot anyway. The arrow flew up, and up, and up, until gravity brought it down.

It went down, and down, and down. The shaft sublimed away, but gravity already did its job. The tip pierced its scales. Salamander hissed and squirmed in place at that, but didn't seem to be hurt much, only uncomfortable.

Alexa and him stared at Chiron. Chiron raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Well, there had to be a reason why Chiron was their trainer, he supposed. Stalker appeared, landing on his shoulder. The bird shook his head, which meant there were no stragglers. Good. "Nothing. Keep doing what you're doing, Chiron. Let's go, Alexa."

"Got it, big boss."

~0~

"Hey, uh, you girls? Hello?" Percy called out to the naiads in the bottom of the lake. He saw a few of them earlier, putting out flames from the cabins, but apparently not all of them heard the camp was attacked. One of them, a girl with blue hair and equally blue skin, looked up from her basket-weaving activity.

"You have to get out of the lake, like, right now," he tried to explain. "There's a giant burning lizard that's destroying camp, and we think we can beat it by drowning it in the lake. But we don't want you girls to be boiled alive, so can you please come out?"

Multiple heads looked up. They seemed curious, but none made any movements to swim to the surface.

"Don't you understand what I'm saying? You're going to get boiled alive if you don't leave!"

The naiads… giggled, for some reason, and ignored him after that. Some of them were still smiling as they weaved baskets out of seaweeds (lakeweeds?). He could feel frustration growing inside- why wouldn't they listen to him? It was for their own good.

Percival stepped forward. "I am Percival Schneider, second-in-command and chief of staff for the Keepers organization. It would be in your best interest to temporarily leave your current site, as any other action may result in a number of you to be injured and/or die. However, if you still refuse to leave, know that I am authorized to use force to persuade you."

The naiads stared at Percival. Percy himself stared at Percival. The guy glanced at him. "What are you looking at?"

"Uh… nothing. I don't think the naiads-"

The sound of rushing bubbles coming from the lake gained his attention. In a second, naiads in camp t-shirts and jeans came bursting from the water, swimming to reach the shores. They climbed up, took a second to look at the fire and destruction surrounding them, and retreated into the forest.

"Oh wow," he said, "That's… easier than I thought. Should we give my brother the signal?"

"Yes. But… I don't think this plan will work."

Percy's lips thinned. "What, you don't have any faith in it?"

"No. I just know the plan won't work. It is simply not enough." Percival scanned the surrounding area, as if searching for something, until the son of Athena fully turned to face him. When he spoke, his voice was low. "I noticed its behaviour, it's targeting you specifically."

Darn it, and he thought it was just his imagination. "Yeah, I noticed, but I thought it was just coincidence."

"It isn't. You know monsters are not able to pass through the barrier, yes?"

"Uh-huh." That was one of the first things Ray taught him. The camp was the only safe place for demigods, his brother had said. "So I was wondering, how did it get in here?"

"Someone called it. And whoever it was, they told it to target you." Percy's stomach dropped to the floor. "Someone who might know your true identity."

"…Yeah, okay, that is pretty bad, but what's that have to do something with the plan?"

"Things are getting complicated now." Percival turned back to look at the salamander, who was trying to burn a cackling Alexa. "But I'm well-versed enough in the art of war to know what's going on. And I believe that involves your death."

Percy's hands started sweating. This was worse than he expected, wasn't it?

"If the salamander doesn't kill you, then the other outcome might." Percival continued, undeterred. "You'll be forced to reveal your parentage, by controlling water to continuously douse the monster, since I know that only drowning it won't be enough. Then when that is revealed, what will happen next is everyone's guess. I assume the King of Gods won't like it."

His hand twitched. He was… being pushed to a corner, wasn't he? "What… what should I do?"

Percival shrugged carelessly. "How should I know? For now, let's just see if I'm wrong, and Ray's plan works. If I'm right and it fails… well…"

The guy didn't continue. He didn't have to. Instead, he the device on his ear. "Jackson. Schneider to Jackson, come in."

A second passed. "Yes, it's done. The naiads are out."

After a few more seconds passed, Percival put his hand down. The second in command and chief of staff to the Keepers organization inclined his head to the side. "I recommend we distance ourselves from the lake, as to not be in the way."

Percy stared at the salamander. He wasn't thinking about his fate, he was far more concerned about what would happen to Ray. His older brother had this organization for what, 5-6 years? He had served the gods for years, they'd give him some slack, right?

He really hoped so.

~0~

"Marcus, you're in the clear," Ray said to the small comms device, while thinking he should give the thing a better, shorter, more official name.

All he got in return was a brief, curt 'yes'. As he watched, Marcus pulled out a couple of grenades from his pockets (it seemed magical- had Marcus informed him of this?), and threw them at the salamander. It ignored them at first, its eyes glued to Ray's position, but its advance was always blocked by lightning strikes, crossbow bolts, or orbital-launched arrows.

The grenades exploded in a brume of light blue steam. The fire around it was stamped out, and the ashes were covered by frost… including the lizard. The red glow beneath its scales dimmed, and any fire-like attachments died.

The monster seemed confused at first, only for rage to overcame it later. It snapped open its jaws and turned to Marcus, but then its eyes widened when it realized no flame came scorching through its throat.

It then roared furiously and charged at Marcus. Chiron immediately ordered the archers to fire, but Thalia was faster. In a burst of wind, she suddenly stood in front of Marcus, and tapped her bracelet.

"Aegis!" she yelled.

A long silver stake elongated from the bracelet, and quickly spun around in a clockwise motion, leaving a thick sheet of metal in its wake. In a split second, Thalia had a silver, 2-feet wide shield, and then a monstrous face- a gorgon's face- formed in its center, frozen eternally in a scream.

Thanks to Lady Athena's tranquilizer, Ray wasn't perturbed by it. The other campers looked away from the shield, and even Chiron glanced away.

The worst reaction was the salamander's.

"Screeeee!" It screeched, reeling back hastily. It tripped on a layer of frost in the way, and had trouble standing up again. All the while, even though it couldn't display any emotions on its face, it still looked positively horrified at Thalia.

She advanced, her shields up, and the monster stumbled back. It was pathetic, really. Ray would typically love seeing it reduced to a pathetic bumbling mess a little bit longer. As it was, he still had a crew to command.

"Marcus, prepare another grenade," he ordered to the comms device as he followed the exchange. He would've shouted into it out of reflex, but he knew it would be a stupid mistake. "I don't know how long it'll take for it to reach the lake, but we'll be prepared if it's not enough."

"I only have another pair, sir," Marcus informed him.

"Then let's hope it is enough. Alexa, you have more frozen bolts?"

"Well, yeah, I do, but I really don't think it'll be enough."

"If push comes to shove, we'll use it. Percival, make sure Salaman doesn't go astray."

He heard a far-off confused mutter of 'Salaman?' before Percival finally answered. "Very well. What of Percy?"

It was safe enough… he hoped. It doesn't seem to be capable of fighting back at the moment, anyway. "Yes."

"What? That's not-"

"You know what I mean." Ray growled. "Commence operation."

Before he turned off his comms device, he heard Alexa excitedly shout, "I call dibs on naming the operation!"

~0~

Percival rolled his eyes when he turned his attention back to their current spot. The guy pulled out his pair of silver ("Adamantine." Annabeth had proudly and irritatedly reminded him multiple times. "Far superior than mere silver.") weapons and turned to Percy. "Your brother has asked us to make sure the lizard isn't herded into the wrong direction."

He nodded resolutely. "Got it. You have any… tips?"

"No."

A feminine sigh was heard near them, and when Percy turned, sword drawn, the air shimmered and Annabeth appeared, holding her magical Yankees baseball cap.

"Do not look into Thalia's Aegis, your mind will temporarily go unstable with irrational fear," Annabeth explained, giving an irritated look at Percival who merely raised an eyebrow. Percy lowered Riptide. "And don't get hit by the salamander's claws. Other than that, you'll be fine. Let's go."

"You're coming with us?" Percy asked, surprised.

"No, I came here to watch you." Was the sarcastic response he got. "That was clearly my intention by running back from over the cliff."

"Yeah, okay, no need to get snarky, princess."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "I told you. Don't call me that."

He just grinned, then added, "Thanks for the tip, by the way."

"Hey, just because I don't like you doesn't mean I want to see you dead." She glanced at Percival. "Unlike someone else."

"The hints you said were as subtle as a fire alarm," Percival remarked dryly. "Anyone with half a mind will know it without being told. We've wasted enough time already- commence with the execution."

The three of them charged, with Percival in the lead. The destination was the doused, quivering monster, being guided by Thalia and her magical shield. The lake was behind the lizard, but a little more to left.

Percival slashed Salamander's right frontal leg. He screeched and stomped, raising his head into the air. Salamander's eyes were unfocused, yet at the same time full of fear. Thalia shouted a battlecry, and the fear was doubled.

Annabeth followed her brother's lead, and stabbed the other right leg. It earned them the desired effect, and the lizard started shambling left, still hissing nonstop. Percy saw the tail swing before Annabeth did, so he ran behind her and slashed. The impact shook him, but the tail bounced back as a result.

She nodded thanks, and they continued shepherding the salamander. Sometimes Percival covered for them, sometimes Annabeth, sometimes Percy. Chiron's group of archers rained down volleys of arrows, Ray shouted orders- Percy could hear it from Percival's ear device- while sometimes shooting from his own revolver.

Alexa and Marcus joined them, the former laughing like a little kid as she did, slicing and shooting at the rocky scales. Naiads emerged from the woods, faces determined, and summoned water to kill the flames burning the field and the cabins.

A group of armed satyrs and campers also arrived, which meant the evacuation was done. The satyrs started playing rapid songs with their flutes, and Percy grinned when he saw Grover being one of them. They seem to know what was happening, since grass and lake/seaweed started pulling the monster into the canoe lake. The campers pulled out their weapons, and charged at the salamander, frightening it even more and forcing it backwards quicker.

Everyone chipped in to help, and at the moment, Percy felt awesome. They were winning, and the feeling was absolutely epic.

Things were going very well. For a second, the salamander's eyes fear reached utter panic, and in a roar of insanity, he lit himself on fire again. Ray was quick to order his crew, and shouted at Marcus to throw another ice grenade. In an instant, the fires died out again, and the monster... well, Percy didn't know, but the fear in Salamander's eyes was so thick he almost felt sorry for it.

Thalia roared out a defiant battlecry, and a sphere of lightning and wind formed in front of her. Percy choked a bit when he felt Percival suddenly gripped the back of his t-shirt ("Hlg!") and threw him back, and by Annabeth's surprised yelp it probably meant she got the same fate.

The orb hurled itself into the salamander and exploded in a bright blue light. Percy's hairs stood up as the electricity spread out, crackling menacingly. The monster was pushed back into the lake, and as he fell, he let out one last roar of fear and rage.

"Archers!" Chiron shouted.

The archers obeyed his command and fired off volleys of arrows into the lake. Still, nobody dared to get close. Everyone waited with bated breath. Percy could hear bubbles, and his own heavy breathing, and his own rapid heartbeat.

Annabeth coughed a bit, standing up. Ray and Percival narrowed their eyes into the lake. Percy could see Grover on the other side of the field, Thalia put down her shield, panting and sweating. Everyone lowered their guards for a moment, and stared at the lake, crossing their fingers.

Seconds passed. 10. 20. The campers grinned, the satyrs and naiads whooped and cheered. Percy grinned at Annabeth (who rolled her eyes but still looked pretty pleased with herself), and he turned to look at Ray.

His older brother still had his eyes trained on the lake. As did Chiron. After Thalia stopped panting, she raised her shield again, as if waiting for something to come.

Stalker's screech was like a foghorn in the middle of an empty sea. The crow flapped furiously on Ray's shoulder, crowing angrily at the lake.

"Do not lower your guards!" Percival roared, furious. "It's not done yet!"

Just as he said that, a pillar of flame erupted from the lake, sending heat everywhere and roasting the hair on Percy's arm. The wave was so powerful, some of the other campers got thrown off-balance and fell down.

Percival stood in front of them and slashed with his adamantine sword. The heatwave parted before the slash- two walls of transparent orange air divided in before them in an instant. With his hair flapping behind him, Percival turned to Percy and growled out a single word; "Go."

Percy knew what he had to do.

He ran to where Ray last stood. The fighters had their shields out to block the heat, while the archers ducked behind debris or fallen logs. Some naiads dissipated- Percy winced at that- and in the distance, he could hear the salamander roaring out in utter, unadulterated rage.

"It's not dead yet!" someone yelled out the obvious.

"Retreat and regroup!" another shouted.

"We lost some naiads!" a satyr cried out.

"How many are down?!"

"Fireballs! Everyone duck!"

After hearing what the guy said, Percy immediately ducked. A bright red ball flew past his head then exploded a bit farther away. He didn't dare look behind him, since he knew the monster was there and most probably staring at him.

So he continued running forward. Chiron bounded past him, shooting an arrow and notching another one in a second. When he ran past a log, a hand gripped his arm and pulled him into the cover.

"I remember somebody telling me to not run in front of a fireball," Ray said, "Do you know who said it?"

"Nobody important," Percy retorted quickly, ignoring his brother's and Stalker's looks. "Listen, we can't beat the monster with just this. We have to use our powers to keep his fire dead."

"And expose ourselves in front of everyone?"

"If that's what it takes to save camp, then yeah! We have to 'expose' ourselves in front of everyone!"

"I can hear the apostrophe in your word, Percy," Ray told him, frowning. "You're underestimating the danger of our identities. If Chiron knows, or Olympus forbids, the gods know-"

"We'll be in danger, I know. But if we don't, then the entire camp will be in danger! The monster won't die unless we extreme measures, and who knows how many people will be hurt if we don't. And besides." He stared at his older brother right in the eyes. "We're dangerous because we're strong, right? Then we'll be strong enough to fight whatever's thrown our way, so we won't be in danger."

"…That… doesn't make any sense, but I know exactly what you mean." Ray sighed. "Who told you to do this anyway? How did you know it won't die by drowning?"

A loud thunderclap in the sky made them turn. The lightning bolt struck the monster in the face, but it barely did anything. If anything, it only made him even more angrier, something Percy didn't think was possible.

Percy turned back, ignoring them for now. "Percival did. Which is why I know it'll work. He's your best friend, right? The smart guy in your group?"

The response wasn't anything like he expected. Ray's face darkened, and his purple eyes turned cold. For a second, Percy forgot who he was talking to.

"Schneider, huh?" Ray muttered cynically. "How awfully convenient for him…"

"…Uh, Ray?"

"You know monsters can't go through the border, right Percy?"

"Yes, you told me a hundred times," Percy replied, annoyed.

"Indeed. Which means somebody called from-"

"Look, Percival already told me this! Somebody called it from the inside, I know. But that doesn't mean we can just ignore the others so we can save ourselves! These are lives we're talking about, Ray, we can't let anyone else get hurt if we can do something about it."

His older brother stared at him. This only irritated him further. "Look, if you won't help, fine! I'll do it myself. Maybe it'll help you sleep better at night, knowing your secret is save despite I'm your brother and that means everyone knows you're-"

"Stop." Ray held up a hand. His older put his hands on his shoulders, and stared back with newfound intensity. "I didn't mean to make you think I'll ignore it. Of course I'll help you, Percy. I just... don't like being pushed into a corner."

The relief that Percy felt like a truck ramming into him, and his shoulders relaxed. His brother's words were exactly like his own, and he understood perfectly. He opened his mouth to say something, but Ray put his words in first.

"And if you ever imply I'd throw you under the rug to save my skin, I'm going to have Stalker peck you in the face to make sure you know you're being stupid," Ray bluntly said, "That line of thought is stupid. You hear me? That's stupid. I will never put you in harm's way."

And Percy readily believed it. He grinned. "I know. So… you first or me first?"

Ray sighed, and lowered his arms. "Me first, then you go in for the kill."

"Heck yeah!"

~0~

A huge pillar of water came barreling through the ground, into the sky, then changed direction and surged to the salamander. It pushed the monster back and off the ground, while dousing his flames at the same time. The burning field immediately turned wet in a huge line. The monster roared, lighting his flames up again after a second, and spat a red fireball into where the pillar came from.

Ray opened a palm, then the water followed his movements, forming a gigantic watery claw. It swallowed the attack, killing it instantly.

Percy took this as his cue. He ran into the monster, uncapping Riptide and ignoring the shocked looks of everyone around him. Using the water conjured up by his older brother, he called orbs of water to form, and they followed behind his back.

Salamander saw him, and hissed. He breathed fire into his direction, which was swiftly blocked by Ray's suddenly formed shield of ice. After Ray lowered his shield, Percy slashed the air and the balls of water threw themselves into the monster, dousing his flames yet again.

Without waiting the chance for Salamander to recover, Percy used the water and his speed to slide below the monster, slashing Salamander's underside as he did, then pop out unharmed on his other side. Ray shot some frozen swords into Salamander's face; a few managed to stab him, while some shattered on impact.

The lizard screeched in pain, and Percy quickly noticed how it took Salamander 3 seconds longer to reignite his flames and regenerate his wounds. And even then, the heat wasn't as intense as before- Percy only felt warm instead of microwaved beside Salamander.

He grinned at that. Salamander didn't like his expression and swiped a flaming claw at him. On instinct, a wall of water burst to life to block it, and Percy held up Riptide at the same time to block the doused, slowed-down claw swipe.

Pressure came from beneath his shoes, and the next thing he knew, he was standing on a rising frozen pillar. From this height, he could see Ray stepping out of cover and walking forward slowly with both hands moving animatedly in the air.

Around the monster, other pillars rose from puddles, forming an icy cage. Chiron and the other had snapped out of their stupors, and started assaulting Salamander again. Percival and their other friends/annoying-people-who-may-or-may-not-be-friends who weren't stuck to the ground charged as soon as they saw the pillars.

Percy jumped off his platform and aimed Riptide down, relying on gravity to help him pierce Salamander's rocky neck scales. It slid in smoothly like a knife into butter, and the monster screamed. Salamander thrashed wildly like a bull on rodeos, so Percy immediately jumped off.

Ray's pillars slammed into each other- through the monster, effectively crushing him. Salamander squealed, then as if it wasn't enough, the pillars exuded cold mist into him, preventing him from lighting up his fire.

Percy felt something heavy in his pocket, and he couldn't hold back the triumphant grin from showing up on his face as he realized Riptide had returned. He pulled out his trusty pen and uncapped it once more, ready to rush into the fray.

Percival and Annabeth showed up beside him. The girl gave him a look that clearly meant he had a lot to explain, but she still ran beside him to strike Salamander.

Suddenly, the pillars exploded, sending shards of ice flying everywhere. The ones hurling into campers, satyrs, and nature spirits immediately dissipated before they could hit, but freaking huge chunks of ice embedded themselves into Salamander.

Chiron felt no pity and ordered the archers to fire. Everyone saw this as their chance, and they ran at the monster to kill him. Alexa shot crossbow bolts, Marcus launched grenades, and Thalia fired a lightning bolt from her spear. Satyrs played quick notes and roots burst forth from the ground and tied themselves around Salamander's limbs, tying him in place.

At this point, the monster whimpered. A pang of guilt struck Percy's heart, but he shook it off. The lizard had to die, that was the only important thing then and there.

Ray shouted somewhere in the back. The earth rumbled in response, and a geyser exploded beneath Salamander. The force was so great it tore Salamander away from the roots and flipped him on his back, revealing his bright orange- and most importantly scaleless- stomach.

An idea formed in Percy's head. Ray had the same thought too apparently, because he was suddenly in the air again, standing on a rising ice tower.

Percy jumped again, and this time, he gathered the water and ice around him and Riptide, engulfing it in a swirling mass of pure liquid destruction. With a battlecry, he raised Riptide above him as he fell, then brought it down into the monster's unprotected stomach with all his might.

BOOM!

The explosion that followed was accompanied by Salamander's dying croak. The spot where Riptide hit just… blew up. He had a feeling Salamander exploded, but it was as if the impact created a mighty frozen geyser, as ice cold water rushed from the wound he created. The fire met water, and the only thing he felt was mist hitting his face.

Salamander disintegrated, so Percy lost his footing. But before he could land (or think of the least humiliating landing position as he fell), cold tendrils of water wrapped around his stomach, and put him down slowly onto the ground.

He grinned at his brother, who just sighed and lowered his outstretched arm. Stalker stood on Ray's shoulder, as if the crow never left his place.

His joy died however, when the world finally decided to step in. All the fire had died as soon as Salamander did, so everyone gathered around him, but with a distance.

For a while, nobody spoke a word. The only thing Percy heard was his own heavy breathing. His arms ached from deflecting those human-sized claws, and his legs ached from running all over the place. His butt hurt from sliding on the ground. Ray took this chance to step forward, and stood beside him, helping him stand properly.

"Percy…" Chiron finally whispered. "What… what was that?"

Everyone stared at him with various expressions. Grover stared at him with practically glowing eyes, awed. Annabeth regarded him with narrowed eyes- not hostile, but not friendly either. If anything, he felt as if she was wondering where his arteries would be, if she had to fight him. Alexa grinned at him, giving him a pair of thumbs up. Percival was indifferent, swinging his fancy adamantine sword around with a scowl as if dirt just desecrated it. Thalia had a… shocked and hurt expression on her face, turning to look at Ray, who didn't see her and just stared at him with worry. Oh, and everyone around him with suspicion.

"Um…" Percy said, leaning weight into his brother. What could he possibly say to that question? The truth? A lie?

Thankfully- or unfortunately, Percy didn't quite know- he didn't have to answer. All of a sudden, everyone gasped. The scorched and frozen grass around him was illuminated by green light.

A memory hit him like a freight train. When he was little, when he made that drawing of his family (the one Ray called 'Balloon Family'), when the paper cut his brother's finger. A bright, green, transparent trident appeared above Ray's head. A symbol of being claimed as Poseidon's kid.

Beside him, Ray grimaced. Percy looked up, dreading on what would greet his sight.

The green trident hologram above his head spun in place innocently, unaware of the trouble it just brought upon him.