Chapter 3

A/N: okay so three things: 1) I changed a slight thing in the last chapter to talk more about Dan's prosthetic because I realized I kind of just skimmed over it. 2) I forgot to mention for any possible new readers, this is a sequel to a previous fic titled, I Need Another Story, which takes place in HOO, and which is a sequel to another previous fic titled, It's the Perfect Story, which takes place in PJO (tho I did mention them in my first author's note lol, here's more context I guess). I'm trying to write this as a stand-alone, but it would be great if you read the other two! 3) I'm putting canon in a blender to better fit some of my story's needs. Which, I suppose is to be expected, but if you've read my previous stories, you'll know I'm very resistant to go against canon. This, however, won't wholly be the case this time (even if it's still difficult for me lol).

Also I had always pictured Kayla and Austin older in my previous stories? So I'm not really sure their ages now. It's indeterminate but like. youngish? not 13 but not older than Will, either. Which,,,doesn't leave a lot of ages left I guess lol

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Chapter Summary

When you ask Nico about your aura of death and he responds with: Okay, you might die. Between an hour and, um, eleven months.

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Used to Be Mine

Sleeping beauty was not awake yet.

When I got back to the Apollo cabin, there was still a crowd gathered. They shifted and murmured amongst themselves uneasily. I noticed none of my other half-siblings were in the crowd, and I wondered what they were off doing. I was also a little surprised, considering they had a much more amicable relationship with our father (if you could call never seeing him but occasionally getting birthday gifts a relationship. Do I sound bitter?). So I just thought they'd be part of that crowd. Of course, since this was our cabin and our infirmary, they could've also just been inside.

I quickly slipped into the cabin without notice, and hung my sword again. I'd taken it out of habit. It wasn't like I really needed it while moseying around camp. I went to the bathroom first, where we kept human meds because, well, children of Apollo. I took four ibuprofen and took a moment to look at the flowers Willow had put in my hair. She'd put them in my braid so that the flowers made a line down the middle of my braid. Somehow (though, she was a tree nymph), she'd managed to wave the stems into my braid, following the flow of my hair. It was so pretty, I was already regretting having to take them out tonight. Then I went through the corridor to the infirmary.

Back in the infirmary, Apollo was, obviously, still unconscious. Will still sat near him in a chair he'd pulled up, but he was leaning over Apollo, his brow furrowed. But they were the only two in the infirmary currently, so my other siblings must've been off doing…something else.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

Will jumped and looked over at me, his hand curling into a fist. He wasn't a fighter, but camp still taught us combat. It was necessary as a demigod. Not to mention, we'd been through two wars now, so it was to be expected some of us might have PTSD.

When he realized it was me, he relaxed but his eyes still looked tight. I could tell he noticed the flowers in my hair but he must've been too worried about Apollo to comment on them.

"I just thought he'd be awake by now," Will said. Then he turned back to Apollo and took his wrist, checking his pulse. "Maybe the nectar I tried to give him did more damage I can't see." He was mostly muttering to himself now.

I stepped closer. Apollo looked a little pale and a little sweaty. His nose looked like it was healing from being broken, with dark circles under his eyes. I could sense some other bruising on his body but nothing more serious than that. Another child of Apollo gift: we could sense wounds on the body, even internal ones. It came in handy. Of course, there were limits to this power and some of us didn't get it at all, but Will and I had both gotten it as part of our godly package.

"He's fine, Will," I reassured. "I don't sense anything wrong other than some bad bruises."

Will let out a shaky breath. "He should've woken by now," he muttered again, dropping Apollo's wrist, probably not having heard me at all.

I reached over to put a gentle hand on Will's shoulder, drawing his attention to me.

"I'm sure he's fine," I repeated. "He probably just needs a little more time to recuperate. Being human now and all—"

Apollo sucked in a sharp breath and shot up in his cot. His eyes snapped open but looked glazed, like he was sleep-walking. Before either Will or I could react beyond looking over at him, Apollo's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist. I flinched and tried not to react by twisting, and potentially breaking, his arm. Instead, I reached my other hand over and gripped his wrist to try and pry his hand off mine.

Except, when our skin made contact, I was thrown into…what I could only describe as some kind of vision or…flashback? I couldn't really tell. One moment I was looking at Lester, his eyes glazed over, but his brows furrowed, his mouth slightly open like he was going to speak. The next, I was looking at Apollo, his eyebrows furrowed, expression a plea.

"Lucia," Apollo said, gripping my arm, firm but gentle. "Don't tell Tori yet. Please just give me a little more time. We'll figure this out, I promise. Please, just…please, don't tell Tori."

I gasped, my prickles bursting painfully, as the present rushed back to me, and I was looking at human Lester again. Except his eyes drooped and he slumped back onto his cot, releasing my wrist. My knees buckled and Will's arms shot out to catch me. He was saying something in a rushed and worried tone, but I couldn't make out any of it. I couldn't tell if it was because he was so panicked he wasn't forming coherent words, or if it was because I was currently trying to push away my pin-pricks and get over my shock at whatever had just happened.

Will carefully guided me to the sit on the edge of the cot next to Apollo's. I felt his slightly trembling fingers press to my wrist, checking my pulse.

"Are you okay?" Will asked, his voice snapping back into focus. My prickles quieted, to my relief and my vision cleared. Will was still holding my wrist.

"I…" I started but wasn't sure how to describe it. I didn't even really know what to tell him. It had been so short, and it had given me no information.

I glanced at Apollo, lying in his cot, and frowned. Well…it told me Apollo was hiding something from me. But that wasn't new. I felt the resentment that had settled with many, many hours of therapy stir once again. Like someone poking burning embers with a stick.

"He's waking up," I said instead, nodding to Apollo's stirring form.

Will jerked like he'd been shocked, pulling his hand from my wrist and turning to face Apollo. I stood, letting out a shaky breath, and quietly snuck out through the corridor and back to the cabin. I sat down on the bed that used to be mine when I'd lived here. I assumed it was still mine, but it wasn't hardship to move beds if they'd given it to someone else, either.

I didn't want to look at Apollo right now. My old anger toward him was stirring. I had been doing so well working through everything in therapy, I didn't want this to set me back now. I should've known seeing him again would've brought all this back up to the surface. I just hadn't anticipated it being so strong, and so tempting. Nor had I thought my interacting with him would stir some cosmic plan the Fates seemed to have for me.

Though…given everything I'd been through in the past three months (and a half), I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. As I keep saying: it was all connected.

Kayla, Austin, Cressida, and Lyra bursting through the side door broke me from my thoughts. I noticed Austin's black peacoat and grinned.

"We're twinning," I said, pointing at my coat, then at his.

Austin snorted and rolled his eyes. "Slang doesn't suit you," he said.

I stood and walked toward them. "Why? Because I'm old?" I asked in a joking tone.

"You said it, not me," Austin said, holding his hands up and shrugging. I rolled my eyes but smiled and pulled him into a hug. I felt his surprise, but he hugged me back. My other siblings exchanged surprised looks.

"It's good to see you," I said pulling back, ignoring the looks. "Little brother."

Austin groaned.

I laughed as I pulled Kayla into a hug, as well.

"Wow, you really are different," Kayla said as we pulled away. "You seem…better. I'm glad."

"Me too," I said. I hugged Cressida and Lyra next.

"Hey," Austin began, "do you think you could channel a little of your old self and help us clear the crowd gathered at the infirmary door?" He gestured with his thumb in the direction of the infirmary. "Apollo doesn't want attention."

I snorted. "That's a first."

Cressida pouted. "I think you're being unfair, he's human now."

They all did have a soft spot for him. Though, I suppose that should've been expected. He was their father. They were also a lot younger than me. Still wide-eyed and hopeful. Not to say they hadn't gone through two wars, either, but they were still much more optimistic about the gods than I.

I shrugged. "I can help," I said.

I went to the cabin's front door and exited, stuffing my hands into my jacket pockets once outside. I would have to take more pain meds soon. That was annoying. Or make some more pain elixir. I was pretty sure I would be able to get the ingredients from the camp store. Barring that, from someone in the Hecate cabin. (I winced internally at the thought. I'll tell you later.)

Based on the sound of footsteps behind me, I assumed my siblings had followed me out. I went over to the gathered crowd and cleared my throat. When they looked over at me, I gave them my, what Percy would call, wolf stare. It's pretty much what it sounds like: a warning look to ward off someone. Percy had learned it when training under Lupa, Camp Jupiter's Chiron, basically. Oh, yeah, and Camp Jupiter was a place for Roman demigods to stay. They resided on the West Coast, in NorCal, specifically.

I'd learned it by virtue of being me.

They shifted uncomfortably, murmuring quietly about having somewhere else to be and began to wander off. They threw me weary looks and then quickly looked down. It was probably more due to my past with the camp than my stare, but either way, it got them to clear out.

Well…

"Hey, there, Sunshine," Nico said sarcastically, the edge of his lips quirked up.

Everyone except one.

Nico was a son of Hades and kind of dressed how you'd think a son of Hades would. But he was also extremely sweet, if not a bit awkward. We'd gone through Tartarus together—and I mean that literally. Remember I mentioned I hadn't been alone? And he'd been there for me when I was trying to work through my trauma regarding the Second Titan War.

I rolled my eyes. "Good to see you, too." I couldn't think of a light-hearted nickname that was also a pun, sadly.

Nico strolled toward me and pulled me into a hug. I usually let him initiate them, seeing as he wasn't huge on physical touch. I hugged him back, trying not to be annoyed he'd grown taller than me in the last six months. Stupid teenage boys and their growth spurts.

For a second, the moment before he pulled away, he squeezed me tighter. Concern flashed in his eyes but he quickly hid it the further he pulled back and he gave me an easy smile. His eyes were tight but my siblings behind me wouldn't be able to notice.

After going through hell together, we'd grown close. We didn't often hide things from each other. I was very open about my suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and Nico had never judged me for that. He had always understood, so I always felt comfortable being able to reveal my darkest thoughts without having to worry about him coddling me or treating me different for it. And I had done the same for him. We also kept in touch as best we could. What with communications going down (though, perhaps not for me, but I couldn't reveal that to Nico), that made it harder, but Nico would visit me in the city often.

The first time he'd visited after I'd been…recruited by my current employers, he'd commented I had an aura of death around me, meaning there was a high likelihood I was going to die soon. (Soon being between an hour and eleven months, that is.) Obviously, that was cause for concern for him.

I shook my head ever so slightly. Nico's lips twitched down for a millisecond.

"Walk with me to the Big House," Nico suggested, stepping back. "Tell me what you've been up to lately." He waved to Kayla, Austin, Cressida, and Lyra. I turned to look at them, too. They returned his wave and then headed off to, possibly, another activity.

"Thanks, Tori!" Lyra called as they all left. I nodded and waved, as well.

I turned back to Nico who gestured toward the Big House. I blew out a big breath into the cold air (my prickles sharpening a moment), and started in that direction, Nico falling into step with me.

"I'm really worried about you," Nico said. "I can only keep things from Will for so long these days. He's too observant for his own good and I spend too much time with him."

"Yeah," I drawled in a teasing town, grinning. "How's that going?"

Nico rolled his eyes but quickly looked away as his face reddened. "Oh my gods, are you twelve?" I waited. When Nico spoke again, his voice was slightly higher and cracked, "It's fine!" He quickly cleared his throat. "It's going fine. Will's been really nice. I…" Nico lowered his voice. "I think he still has a crush on me."

I sobered. "Does that make you uncomfortable? Just in general. Not in a…well, not in an internalized homophobia way."

Nico blushed again and he shrugged, reaching up to rub his arm. "No, it's fine. I…I've found I kind of like the attention. I really like him."

I grinned again and wiggled my eyebrows. "Like…like-like?"

Nico groaned and shoved me. "Stop! We're supposed to be talking about you, remember," he hissed as I laughed.

As my laugher petered out, I sighed. "You know I'm not going to tell you. I've got it under control."

Nico snorted. "You should listen when a child of Hades is telling you your death is imminent."

"You said, 'maybe,' last time," I protested.

"Same difference," Nico muttered.

"Not for me."

Nico ignored that. "You know you can't use the, 'It'll put you in danger' excuse forever, Tori. We're demigods. I'm a child of the Big Three. Danger is built into our lives."

We'd arrived at the porch. Nico turned to me and I was struck as just how concerned he was. His tone was light and airy, but his eyebrows were mashed together, his dark eyes swirling with worry.

I looked to the front door of the Big House, shifting anxiously. "It…" I exhaled sharply. "Find out more about why Apollo is here. And then I might be able to tell you something. It won't relieve any of your concern. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's only going to make it worse, and you'll have a target on your back."

"I've always had a target on my back," Nico retorted. "It doesn't really matter how big it is, at this point." Then he caught sight of the flowers in my hair for the first time and he blinked in surprise. Since we visited as often as we could, he'd known my hair was darker now. He pointed. "That looks nice."

He took redirection classes from me.

"Thank you." I did a little curtsey, which made me notice Will, Apollo, and the girl, Meg, on their way over. "Oh, I better go."

Nico turned and followed my gaze. He looked back at me. "Not ready to face him?"

I shook my head, keeping my eyes on Will, Apollo, and Meg's progress. "When I found them in the forest, he gave me this look…" Not to mention the vision in the infirmary, but there wasn't time to explain it all to Nico. "Stay with them. I'll be around."

"Sure. It was good to see you again."

I looked back at Nico and smiled. "Good to see you, too." Then I quickly headed off, in the direction of the archery range, to avoid bumping into Apollo.

My timing was off though, because I was still in earshot when Apollo, Will, and Meg met Nico and I heard Apollo demand in a frantic tone, "Who were just talking to?"

I don't know if Nico was just being a little shit or if he was protecting my privacy (or both), but Nico responded, in a level voice, "Who?"

"Whoa, Da—" Will started, then corrected himself, "Apollo, are you okay?"

I was tempted to look back to see Apollo's facial expression, but thought better of it, and continued walking.

Since I was at the archery range, I decided to get a little practice with my throwing knives in. Not that I really needed it, but it was always good to train and keep your skills in top form. Despite the cold, I shed my jacket (my prickles did not like this, but I still had my turtleneck on and would be exercising soon, so they would just have to deal with it for a moment) and set it on one of the hay bales. I removed the knives from inside my jacket and wrapped them around my thigh.

Courtesy of children of Hephaestus once again, which some help from Hecate—the carrying case attached to the inside of my jacket, but could also be transformed to wrap around my thigh or my arm. (I had multiple for this reason). They were woven fabric: 50% Celestial bronze, 40% nylon, 10% lycra (so they could stretch a little). They were also embedded with little magnets that made it easier to clip my knives to, but also easier to access them quickly if I needed. Even better, with the press of a button, those magnets could call my knives back to the case, so I didn't have to replace them as often.

Practicing at the archery range, though, I didn't use that feature. I didn't mind walking over to grab them from the targets. It provided a short cool-down session for me.

I was just grabbing the last of my knives out the target when I heard someone shout my name, their tone frantic. Gripping my knife, my pin-pricks bursting in response, I turned and looked to see who it was, expecting a monster or something I had to fight, at the least. Instead, I saw Willow. She stood on her tip-toes, waving with one arm, cupping her other hand around her mouth as she shouted my name again. She was holding something small and black in her hand. I realized, a bit belatedly, that it was my phone.

I felt my blood run cold. How many times had it rung already? How could I have been so stupid and left it in my coat!

Cursing under my breath, I quickly attached my knife to my case and ran up toward Willow, who ran toward me, holding the phone out. I quickly picked up and held it up to my ear, trying not to grip it so hard I'd crush it.

"That was five rings, Victoria," Hargrave said.

"It won't happen again," I said, trying not to let the terror that consumed me into my tone.

Hargrave sighed. "It's a shame, really. I don't know how a violinist is supposed to play the violin without even one of his fingers."

I gripped my phone and my vision flashed red, the heat in my chest evaporating the terror. "I said it won't happen again," I spat between my teeth.

Hargrave paused for a moment too long before sighing again. "Well, you've been so good about picking up until now. And I'm feeling generous today, so I will only let you off with a warning. Next time, however, I might have to take a finger from that darling fiancée of Daniel's."

I heard the screen of my phone crack as I gripped it, but bit my tongue on a response, in case he decided he changed his mind about punishing Dan and Anya.

"Has he arrived?" Hargrave asked.

"Yes," I managed.

"Good. Remember, three rings, my dear, three rings."

Hargrave hung up. I vaguely wondered why he hadn't given me any more instructions, but that was the least of my worries. My prickles were slowly growing in response to my stress. As I pulled my phone away from my ear, I noticed both my hands were trembling.

"Is your brother…" Willow asked softly.

"He-he's fine," I whispered. Yeah, just fine, I thought bitterly. He may not have gotten hurt this time, but I had to watch my every step, lest they punish him and Anya to punish me.

Willow had procured my jacket at some point and handed it over to me. I took it gratefully and put the phone back into one of the pockets before donning it again.

You may be wondering why I wasn't worried about Willow knowing—well, the nature spirits already knew. It…was a complicated story. And Willow was shifting from foot-to-foot.

"What's wrong?" I asked, realizing she may have been coming to find me before realizing my phone had been ringing.

"Is it okay if we move the meeting up to right now?" she asked, instead. "It's urgent."

I took a steadying breath and nodded. "Of course, lead the way."

Willow exhaled sharply and nodded once, before leading me to the entrance where the harpies did the dishes for camp.

On our way there, she looked at me over her shoulder. "Heath heard that Chiron wanted to send out Millard and Herbert to deliver a message to the Oracle," she told me breathlessly. "But you already know that the nature spirits don't fare well in the city. They'll, of course, do it—they know it's their duty, but…well, we thought with you here now, you might be able to lend us a hand?"

"I'll do what I can," I told her. "I need to know everything, first."

Willow nodded in agreement before facing forward. We marched on.

Okay, you're probably really wondering what I mean by all this. Let's just say these past three months, I'd been building rapport with the nature spirits.

Mid-November: Central Park

I ambled my way through Central Park, my guitar on my back. It had been my mom's. Right now, it was contained safely within a case, since it was so cold out. I was trying to find a good spot to stop and play. Being such a big city and all, there were plenty of people out and about, despite the cold. I wanted an out of the way place, where no one would bother me. I also didn't want to accidentally get into any legal trouble if people tried to give me money, since I technically need a license to perform in public.

Then I spotted a small sky blue piece of yarn, tied around one of the lowest branches of a bare tree, on the other side of the walkway I was currently traveling down. At first glance, it looked like just some piece of yarn that got stuck in the tree due to the wind, but if you were paying attention, you'd noticed it was actually tied.

I slowed to a stop, pretending to take in my surroundings. I used this to also look around to make sure: 1) I hadn't been followed and 2) no one would notice me when I went off the path. When I was comfortable that no one was following me, and no one would notice me, I walked over to the tree with the yarn. The sky was sheet grey today, and I had to squint as I looked up at the yarn in the tree because of all the diffused light in the clouds.

Then I faced forward and stepped off the path, following the sky blue pieces of yarn in the trees, left like breadcrumbs.

Eventually, I came to an alcove of trees that'd grown so close to each other, they formed a near-solid wall. I was far from the path now. No one was going to spot us. (Though I was grateful I'd brought two vials of pain elixir for this; now that I wasn't moving, I could feel the cold more present in my body, and my prickles didn't like that.)

As I unslung my guitar from my back, I whistled to signal it was safe to come out. It was probably a little on the nose, but it was the four notes from The Hunger Games movies that Katniss and Rue had come up with to communicate with each other.

I barely had time to tune my guitar before I was surrounded by nature spirits—dryads, cloud nymphs, satyrs, to name a few.

I greeted them with a smile. "Let's get started."

December: Oakland Hills

"Hey, girl," the new satyr bleated at me, "got any spare change?"

I fished a coin out of my pocket. "Does a quarter work or would you prefer denarii?" Even though I'd asked, I was already tossing it to him by flicking it with my thumb (like how you'd flip a coin).

The satyr blinked in surprise. "What?" he asked, but cupped his hands instinctively. Since I had perfect aim, the coin landed in his palms. The satyr blinked again and looked down, as if making sure he was seeing right.

A dryad to my right giggled. "Oh, don't mind Don," she said. "He's always asking for free food or spare change."

I shrugged. "I don't mind, I've got plenty." Then I held out my hand to her. "I'm Victoria, but you can call me Tori."

The dryad smiled sheepishly and pointed to her dress, which was made of green leaves. "I'm Poison Oak," she said.

"Oh." I pulled my hand back. "Um, well, I was told you, uh, wanted to meet with me."

We were currently in People's Park, in NorCal, after hours. There were homeless people shambling around, but no one paid the nature spirits gathered here any mind. Despite California's mild temperatures all year around, it was a cold night. At least, cold enough that it was affecting my prickles. I had my guitar, in its case, on my back again.

Poison Oak nodded. "Yes, we thought it prudent to learn the…" She faltered and rethought what she was going to say. "We wanted to hear you sing. We've heard great things."

I smiled and nodded, so she knew I understand her meaning. "I'm flattered. I would be happy to perform for everyone."

"Come along, Don," Poison Oak sang, patting his shoulders and gently guiding him toward the rest of the waiting nature spirits, for he was still staring at the quarter in awe. I followed behind, glancing once more around the park. I didn't like being in such an exposed area, with more people than I was comfortable with. It wasn't that they were homeless, no, it was more so that a spy could easily disguise themselves as homeless. There were people I didn't want knowing this was what I was doing while here.

Hargrave knew I was here—what with having to keep my phone on me at all times. But the silver lining, I suppose you could say, to my whole situation was the freedom they afforded me. If I wasn't running an errand or being called in for training from them, I was pretty much free to do as I pleased, just so long as I was accessible to them at all hours of the day.

I didn't spot anyone obvious right now, but I still didn't like it. Regardless, they had requested my presence, so I would do my best to help.

Present

We went behind the entrance, to conceal our meeting somewhat. There, a group of nature spirits were already congregated. They shifted and whispered to themselves anxiously. When they spotted us, they perked up and went quiet.

"What have you told her," Verbena asked, as Willow and I got closer.

"Just that Chiron has asked Herbert and Millard to deliver a message," Willow answered.

"Tell me what's going on," I requested, trying to keep my voice calm and level. Basically, I tried to channel some of Will's calming nature. I shoved away the close call with Hargrave as best I could to focus on something I had more control over.

"You may have heard, but communications have gone down," Filbert, a satyr, said. "About two months ago, camp stopped getting new demigods. We've sent scouts out to try and retrieve some demigods from the city, but…none come back."

Dahlia picked up the story, "And then, a month ago, some campers began to go missing. Just poof, like how we can just dissolve in a cloud of sweet-smelling perfume."

"Except there were no traces of the missing campers," Willow added, turning to me. "Just empty bunks. Chiron has forbidden anyone from going into the woods, and insists everyone gets around camp using the buddy system."

"Who's gone missing?" I asked.

"Cecil Markowitz, from the Hermes cabin," Holly said. "Miranda Gardiner, the head counselor for the Demeter cabin, and Ellis Wakefield, from the Ares cabin. They all went missing the same way: just gone, overnight, empty bunk. No sign of them. No note to explain where they might have gone."

I had hoped I could discern a pattern from who'd been taken, but none was appearing to me. So I moved on from that.

"And have you felt anything strange about the woods?" I asked. "What about your fellow dryads inside?"

They all exchanged weary looks.

"We haven't been able to communicate much with them," Willow murmured. "There's something…blocking us around the forest. It feels kind of like the border around camp, but not as friendly. Not necessarily unfriendly, though, just not completely benevolent, either."

"And Chiron is going to try and seek Rachel for advice about everything going on?" I guessed.

They all nodded, rustling leaves filling the area for a moment.

"Can you go in their stead?" Oriel asked.

I thought about Hargrave's orders and shook my head. "I'm sorry, I can't." They began to deflate. "But I have some friends in the city who can go with them, help them get to Rachel's safely, and back to camp safely, as well." They perked back up as the conch horn sounded, signaling dinner. "I'll give you all the information you need to know later tonight, before lights out."

"Thank you," Willow breathed.

"Of course, I'm sorry I can't help more."

I made a detour to the Apollo cabin, needing more pain meds. All this excitement was not good for my chronic pain. None of my siblings were inside, so I assumed they had already headed off to the dining pavilion.

As I entered the pavilion, with everyone still taking their seats, Apollo rushed up to me. I tensed, on high alert due to everything that'd happened today, but managed not to punch him in the face or kick him in the groin as he grabbed my wrist. I winced, as he'd grabbed the same wrist he'd grabbed earlier in the infirmary, which was now bruised.

Blinking, like he was coming out of a trance, Apollo looked me over, his grip loosening on my wrist.

"Tori?" he breathed.

I nodded, once again not trusting myself to speak. Confusion and anger swept through me, battling for dominance. I wanted to demand he tell me what that vision of his godly self, begging my mother to not tell me something, meant. I wanted to know why he was giving me these strange looks, like he was seeing a ghost. But the scars I received from the hellhound that killed my mom ached, and I could hear her cries to Apollo for help echoed through my mind. My prickles rose in response.

Apollo let out a harsh breath and released my wrist. "Sorry," he muttered before turning and going to our table. I tried to shove both my curiosity and rage down, and followed him.

I slowly took my seat at the Apollo table, looking around the pavilion and taking in who all was still here. Then I glanced over to the Hermes table, where Meg sat, looking tense. Her shoulders were hunched and she was frowning deeply. Then Julia, Connor, and Alice joined her. I noticed Conner set a half-open backpack between his feet as he sat. The fire in the braziers around the pavilion caught something shiny within it.

I got myself quickly situated at the table and then looked back at Connor over my shoulder. Though he was wearing sunglasses, it looked like he was having a silent exchange with someone at the Ares table. I quickly followed his line of sight and saw Sherman, who nodded, his eyes flickering toward Meg before he faced forward.

I looked back at Connor, who repositioned his backpack and faced forward, as well.

Frowning, I turned back toward my table. What were they up to?

It was hotdogs, potato chips, and bug juice for dinner tonight. I'd had better. But I'd also had worse.

I picked at the bread of my hotdog and watched Kayla, Austin, Cressida, and Lyra spit-fire questions at Apollo. Apollo looked extremely uncomfortable with all the questions, and every time he accidentally met my eyes, he quickly looked away with a slightly pained expression.

I could feel my old aggravation and anger at him broil inside me (partly the reason why I'd sat as far away from him as possible), so I turned my attention elsewhere, trying to ignore the awkward air between us. No one else seemed to feel it, so I think it may have just been me.

"Hey, Nico," I said, for he also sat at the Apollo table, even though that was technically against camp rules. I didn't question it. It sucked sitting at your table alone. I wished, especially during winter, Chiron would lift that rule for those who had to sit alone.

Nico looked at me expectantly.

"What's up with Connor and Sherman?" I asked.

Amusement twinkled in Nico's dark eyes as he smiled. "Oh, Meg owned them earlier today. She poked Connor in the eye and kicked Sherman in the crotch. That's why Connor is wearing those sunglasses."

"Huh. Good for her," I commented. I glanced back at the Hermes table once again. First at Meg, who was now chowing down on hotdogs like there was a shortage. Then I looked at Connor again, more specifically his backpack. That, combined with his exchange with Sherman, and what I'd just learned, and I had a bad feeling. While I wanted everyone here, who were mostly kids, to have fun amongst the life of a demigod, I thought the kind of fun they often had (through pranks and such) should be consented to by all parties. And it was clear whatever Connor and Sherman were planning was unknown to Meg.

I set down the shredded bread of my hotdog bun as I decided to do something about it.

"Excuse me," I muttered, standing and going over to the Hermes table. Seeing as not many campers were here, my movement got their attention very quickly. And while it didn't totally quiet, they were now whispering to each other about me, and not whatever they'd previously been talking about.

I was used to this kind of attention, so I ignored it and instead went to set next to Connor, except I sat the opposite way, with my back pressed against the table, my legs stretched out in front of me. I leaned back so I could see Connor's face.

I kept my voice quiet as I asked, "What'cha got in your backpack, there?"

Connor opened his mouth to respond but Chiron cleared his throat at the head table. We both looked at him. He gave me a meaningful look.

I nodded and smiled. "I'll only be a moment."

Chiron paused, trying to decide if he should insist I move back to the Apollo table, but he seemed to realize I wasn't going to budge, so instead nodded and said, "Make it quick, please, Tori."

Looking back at Connor I prompted, "So?"

Despite his sunglasses, I could feel the daggers he was glaring at me. "None of your business." There was a lot of venom in his voice, and I couldn't tell if it was due to all the stress the camp was under, the pain he was in because of his eye, or because I used to date his older brother who turned against the gods and rose an army of titans to destroy them (well, half-brother, but that was semantics).

"It seemed like Sherman's business," I retorted. "Should I call him over here?" I looked over at Sherman and called, "Hey, Sherman—!"

Connor grabbed my arm—which I had expected he might do, still I tensed and my prickles burst—and hissed, "Hey, stop that."

I straightened up and lean in closer to him, now that it'd gone silent, as people strained to hear what we were saying.

"Then tell me what's in the bag," I whispered.

Connor's grip on my arm tightened, and while he was preoccupied with his annoyance at me, I subtly shifted my leg, caught the strap of the backpack between his feet, and began to pull it out from underneath the bench.

"It's harmless," he whispered harshly, then seemed to remember who he was talking to and recoiled like I was diseased. "Why does it even matter to you. You've already betrayed the camp, so why do you even care what goes on around here?"

"You're really going to pull that card?" I was unimpressed. It used to bother me so many hated my guts because of what I'd done, but I was over it now. In part, thanks to my therapist, and partly because it wasn't exactly a new experience for me. I admit, I'd made a lot of bad choices, and I had never wanted to turn against my friends and family, but I didn't regret most of the choices I'd made, either. (I say most, because some of mine did get some of my friends and family killed.)

"Yeah, because our family members died," Connor said. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"Do the deaths of all the demigods on the titan's side mean anything to you?" I asked. "They were your family, too."

That gave Connor pause. It was kind of hard to read his expression, since his eyes were concealed by his sunglasses, but he got over what I assume was some kind of shock, and scowled.

"I can't believe I'm even arguing with you on this." He turned and reached for his backpack, probably to make sure it was still there. As he did so, and his hand grabbed open air, I stood and grabbed the strap of the backpack, throwing it over my shoulder.

"Hey!" Connor exclaimed, looking up at me. "Give that back!" He snatched at the backpack and I took a step back to move out of his reach. "How did you even—?"

I smiled bitterly at him. "I learned from the best." I let that sink in and then said, "It's not harmless fun if you're trying to get revenge. So I'm confiscating this for now."

"Why are you even here?" Connor fumed, not concerned about how loud he was now. "You left camp. You should've stayed in the city."

Now I had a strange feeling he was taking out his anger at his brother, Travis, on me. See, Travis and Connor were incredibly close full-blooded brothers. They weren't twins, despite how much they looked at each other. Together, they were menaces to camp—playing pranks and pulling stunts. But Travis had gone off to college, leaving Connor without a partner in crime at camp.

"It's none of your business," I responded before turning and heading back to my table.

Unfortunately, as the Ares table was between the Apollo and Hermes tables, I was intercepted by Sherman, who stood in my path. I met him evenly, and waited to see what he was going to say.

"That's not yours," he said after a moment of silence. "Give it back."

"Then take it from me," I challenged, cocking my head slightly.

I saw the muscles in Sherman's arms ripple and tensed, but behind me, from the head table, Chiron cleared his throat loudly. Sherman looked up at him but I kept my eyes on Sherman. Whatever Chiron was silently communicating, Sherman didn't like it as his chest started heaving with agitation. With what looked like great effort, Sherman stepped aside.

I silently headed back to my table, putting the backpack down between my feet.

My siblings were looking at me disapprovingly.

"What?" I asked, feigning innocence. "What's Chiron going to do? Kick me out of camp?"

"He could make you wash dishes with the harpies," Cressida quipped. "He's done that before."

I shrugged. "It's not so bad." Especially now. See, the harpies washed the dishes in lava. The heat from the lava would certainly be nice for my chronic pain.

Lyra snorted and Cressida rolled her eyes, but I could tell they weren't actually upset.

"Some things never change," Kayla signed, shaking her head.

I gave her a crooked smile and shrugged again.

As Kayla, Austin, Cressida, and Lyra went back to grilling Apollo, Will turned to me with a deep frown. That, I could tell was real.

"That was reckless," he scolded.

"I can take an Ares kid," I told him, finally tucking into my hotdog.

"That's not the point," Will said. "You shouldn't go around antagonizing the people here. They don't—" Will broke off abruptly, physically reeling back, realizing what he was about to say out loud.

"They don't trust me," I said, finishing his sentence. "I don't care. I won't be staying long, anyway."

"I'm sorry," Will murmured.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I told him honestly. "It's true."

"Still it…it was rude to say," Will said, his shoulders sagging.

"Will." I waited until he looked up at me. "It's okay." My eyes flickered to Apollo, then back to him. "It's going to be okay."

That didn't quite reassure him but he managed a small smile. "Thanks."

At some point, as dinner continued, I noticed Apollo was giving me a strange look. Like…offended and pained. But I had just been sitting here eating, not even speaking to anyone, so I had no idea what he could've gotten offended over or why he looked like someone had punched him. Besides, he had my other siblings to fawn over him. Why was he so focused on me? Especially because for the first half of dinner, he'd been avoiding looking at me. Now his attention was stressing me out and making my prickles slowly rise in intensity (which was annoying).

Finally I couldn't take it anymore and snapped, "What?" cutting off whatever Lyra had been saying. The four of them glared me, frowning. Will and Nico just seemed confused, having been conversing with each other the whole time. I kept my eyes on Apollo, waiting for an answer.

He gestured around us, leaned in, and shout-whispered, "The dryads have been flirting all night with you and you don't even notice." Then he pulled back and put a hand to his heart, speaking in a normal tone, with a dramatic flair. "Oh, to think my own daughter would miss something like that." He sighed. "Especially when they should be flirting with me. Alas, I am a pathetic mortal teen."

"They're not flirting with me," I said. Silently I cursed. Were they being extra nice tonight because I'd agreed to help them?

Apollo's voice became more serious and I leaned back, startled. "They've visited our table more than anyone else's this whole dinner. More specifically, they've gone to you more than anyone else at this table."

I scoffed. "That's not—"

Apollo reached over and grabbed my goblet, tossing the contents on the pavilion floor.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as he set it back down in front of me.

"Would you like a refill?" a voice said to my right, almost immediately. I looked up at the dryad, Cypress, next to me, holding a pitcher of bug juice, smiling down at me. I tried not to give her a pained look. I really didn't think they were flirting with me.

"Sure, thank you," I muttered, turning to face forward again. Apollo, misreading my discomfort, was giving me a smug look and had Cypress not been there, I probably would've dumped his drink over his head.

When Cypress left, I leaned forward and whispered, "That doesn't mean anything."

Apollo simply scoffed. "You should appreciate their attention! I can't believe you're my child."

I gripped my fork but before I could do anything with it, Will gripped the hand that was holding the fork and quickly said, "He meant that as a joke!" He laughed awkwardly and without humor.

I released my grip on my fork but gave Apollo one last glare before turning back to my dinner. Unfortunately, and much to my aggravation, I couldn't stop paying attention to the dryads after that. I began to notice what Apollo had: that they visited our table most often, and it was me who they talked to when they did. They were being too obvious, I didn't like it. Perhaps Apollo would misread it as flirting, but what if someone else who was more observant figured out the real reason behind their attentiveness? I would have to talk to them about that, if they continued to treat me like this.

Once the tables were cleared of dirty plates, Chiron made his announcements. The first one was about the three-legged death race that was to take place in the maze. I tensed at that, my prickles bursting, and I made a mental note to talk to Chiron about not participating. A lot of the campers got upset over this as well, but Chiron, stuck in his old ways, ignored them and insisted it was a good training exercise. I made another mental note not to lecture Chiron about his teaching methods when I went to talk to him about my participation.

Then he introduced Apollo, trying to quell people's fears about him being human now. It didn't really work, seeing as whispering broke out among the campers. Some even voiced questions and concerns, looking to Apollo and Chiron for answers. Looking to Apollo for anything right now was a lost cause, however.

Finally, he introduced Meg. She wiped her mouth and stood.

From their table, Alice said, "Stand up, Meg."

Next to her, Julia laughed.

I watched Connor and Sherman, tense, afraid they might still try something. They were trying to mouth something to each other, but it was obvious, they weren't getting very far. Then Sherman decided he'd had enough and let out a huff. I tensed, prepared to stand and intercept him, but when he simply crossed his arms and looked away, I allowed myself to relax.

With the announcement done, it was time for the camp fire sing-along. Everyone stood and started making their way to the amphitheater. The gaggle of dryads and satyrs caught my eye as I stood and I nodded at them, trying to communicate I hadn't forgotten about the message I wanted them to deliver.

Meg went over to Apollo, who grimaced.

"Hey, what's this camp sing-along thingy?" she asked him.

Apollo sighed and opened his mouth to explain when something flew down from the top of the colonnade, toward Meg. At first glance, I thought it was a flying baby, but then remembered what Percy had said about the grain spirit Meg had summoned and realized this was probably it. His flesh was the color of, well, peaches, and his wings were leafy and green, like his curly hair. He wore a linen diaper and nothing else.

Despite harmlessly landing at Meg's side, the other demigods reacted badly at his sudden appearance.

"C'è un karpos!" gasped Chiara.

"Kill it!" Alice shrieked.

Everyone moved toward where Apollo, Meg, and her grain spirit stood, surrounding them, brandishing their weapons.

"No!" Apollo tried, his voice cracking, throwing his arms out, and looking at the demigods surrounding them. "Wait!"

No one listened, only shifted and stepped closer. I would've said something if I believed they would listen to me, but I knew they wouldn't. Especially not after that scene with Connor.

Kayla nocked an arrow in her bow.

"Kayla, wait," Apollo tried again as Meg stepped to block the grain spirit from view. He was snarling, baring his suspiciously sharp teeth. I guess grain spirits could be considered monsters, but a spirit made from peaches didn't exactly speak "teeth as sharp as a cat's" to me.

"Meg, Apollo, get out of the way," Nico said. "That thing is dangerous."

"No!" Meg objected. I felt the magic in her rings pulse. "He's not dangerous!"

Sherman stepped closer and that set the grain spirit off. With a snarl, he lunged at Sherman.

"Peaches, stop!" Meg shrieked.

Kayla drew her bow and shot, Julia unsheathed her dagger and charged.

Meg thrust out her hands, gold light flashing between her fingers, and suddenly she was holding two Imperial gold swords. And I watched as Meg's blades whirled, simultaneously slicing Kayla's arrow out of the air and disarming Julia. Her dagger flew from her hand and skidded across the marble floor of the pavilion.

"What the Hades?" Connor demanded, frowning. The sword he held dipped. "Who is this kid?"

Peaches, who had listened to Meg's initial command, had flown back to Meg's side. He held her leg possessively, growling low in his chest as he glared at the other demigods.

Apollo pointed to the spot above Meg's head. "Look."

The other campers shifted again, now confused. I squinted at Meg before I finally saw a faint glow appear above her head. It grew brighter and became a holographic image of a golden sickle with a few sheaves of wheat.

Someone in the crowd gasped. "She's a communist!"

Billie, from the other side of the crowd glared at him. "No, Damien, that's my mom's symbol." Then she seemed to realize, and her face went slack. "Uh, which means…that's her mom's symbol."

"My friend is no longer unclaimed," Apollo announced, his voice tight. The other demigods began kneeling out of respect. I shoved my hands in my pockets and stepped back, away from the crowd, and didn't kneel. I'd done enough kneeling for a lifetime.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Apollo continued with a bitter edge to his tone, "please give it up for Meg McCaffrey, daughter of Demeter."

Meg, for her part, had lowered her swords. She didn't looked surprised at all, which told me she'd known. I examined her twin swords again, they were curved and I recognized them as siccae. Now, Roman demigods more often used Imperial swords, and Greek demigods, Celestial bronze. Now that there were better relations between the Roman and Greek camps, it wasn't too curious why a Greek demigod might be carrying Roman weaponry, and vice versa, except for fighting styles. Meg, clearly had a Roman fighting style. One that I had seen before. One that I had fought and lost to many times before during my own training after "joining" Triumvirate, in fact.

Hargrave had mentioned they'd sent someone ahead of me. This must've been her. I looked at Apollo, who looked like he was going to be sick. And now they were bound to each other, now Apollo had to do whatever she commanded him to do.

I wondered why they even needed me here, then.

Using the shock to his advantage, Chiron got everyone to put their weapons away. Even with Peaches clinging to Meg's leg and glaring at any passersby. Chiron then asked Billie to show Meg the Demeter cabin, and Billie was all too eager to scurry out of there. Peaches finally let go of Meg's leg and opted to bound next to her and Billie as they exited the dining pavilion.

The others began making their way to the camp fire. I waited next to Chiron and watched them go. He also waited behind, possibly to speak with the nature spirits one last time or to make sure there weren't any stragglers.

I looked up at him and said, "Dishes?"

Chiron chuckled. "Well, seeing as you're twenty-four now, I don't think I could make you do anything you didn't wish to do. And it would be more to appease Sherman and Connor than to punish you."

"I don't mind," I told him. It would be great for my prickles, in any case. They were starting to really act up with all the commotion and excitement of dinner. It would also get me out of the camp fire sing-along. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it. I just didn't exactly feel up to joining my siblings on stage at the moment. Well…to be quite honest, there wasn't much for me to enjoy these days.

I got back to the Apollo cabin just as the camp fire went out, and campers began to make their way back to their respective cabins for the night. Being in the heat of the lava had actually done wonders for my chronic pain, so I waited out on the porch, enjoying the stars in the night sky and the crackling coming from the hearth in the middle of the green that the cabins surrounded.

My siblings shuffled past me, tired from the day. I noticed Apollo wasn't with them, so assumed he had turned in early. I'm sure if he'd disappeared, Will would look a lot more frantic. Currently, Will was stumbling through a goodbye with Nico, who looked equally as flustered. I tried not to laugh out loud at their awkward teenage budding romance. (It did make me think a little about me and Luke in our early, early stages of friendship, which then made me sad and my heart ache.)

Will quickly walked past me, his face beet red. Half-way through the door, he paused.

"You coming?" he asked. I glanced back at him over my shoulder and smiled.

"I just want a moment outside," I said.

Will gave me a confused look but didn't question it. Instead, he nodded, and headed inside, quietly closing the door behind him.

I turned back to face the green and stared up at the stars. I waited a few more minutes as the last doors closed to the various other cabins, and gave everyone a few moments to settle in. Then I moved, away from where I currently stood, to stand on the top step of the porch, leaning against the supporting column. I looked up at the stars, took a steadying breath, and began to sing, "She Used to Be Mine" from the musical, Waitress.

See, I'd been working with the nature spirits on developing a way to construct coded messages in music. It was a bit like a book code, where if you had the book, you could decode the string of numbers given to you, except with the code we'd developed, we were using the individual musical notes within any given song, and then relating that to a book (which was changed up as often as possible). So far, it had worked so far, well since nature spirits often played music and because, well, I sang. I was known for my singing.

As I continued the song, I carefully unbraided my hair and began to carefully remove the flowers Willow had put in earlier in the day. Despite being in my hair all day, they hadn't withered, and I wondered if Willow had performed some kind of dryad magic on them. Nevertheless, I began to weave the long stems into a flower crown.

When I finished the song, I pushed away from the column I'd been leaning against and quietly entered the cabin. They'd turned the lights out, but I could tell from their breathing, none of them were asleep. In fact, a few them seemed to be sniffling. I noticed Apollo in one of the bed. Made sense—it's not like he needed to stay in infirmary.

He was curled on his side, facing the wall, the blankets firmly pulled up to his chin. I could tell from the way the blankets moved, though, he wasn't asleep.

I made my way to the bathroom to prepare for bed, taking my time and trying to be quiet, even though none of my siblings were asleep. I took two pain meds, before brushing out my hair and brushing my teeth. Even though my arrival wasn't wholly planned, I'd left a few essentials in my chest at the end of my bunk, as a just in case I ever visited for and overnight stay. That meant I was able to change into comfortable pajamas. I hung up my throwing knives belt and my jacket on the same hook on the side of the bedpost at the end, deftly slipping both of my phones under my pillow. I hung up the flower crown on the hook on the side of the bedpost at the head of the bed.

Exhausted, I crawled into bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Whoo! Was having trouble getting the dinner scene right, but I think I finally got it to something I like.

The summary comes from a TV show called, The Good Place. highly recommend if you can find where to watch it.

Honestly not much else to say. Hope you enjoyed! I had an extremely rough week, so comments are very, extra much appreciated this time around.

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight