I completely disregarded Apollo's orders to rest for the next eighteen hours, pacing back and forth around the infirmary like a madwoman, muttering my thoughts aloud to myself. He probably thought I'd lost my mind, but it was more of a way to keep myself distracted from what was going on at camp.

As I passed by a mirror, I saw dark circles under my eyes after staying up all night, my face pale from my time in a coma. My hair was a frizzy mess, standing up around my head like a lion's mane despite the fact that I had a ponytail on.

I knew Apollo was on the verge of restraining me to a bed, his eye twitching in irritation every time he came into check on me, only to see me up and about. I was pretty sure I had worn out a path on the floor with all my pacing.

From the infirmary window, I saw the sun beginning to sink in the sky. Although the room I was in smelled like bleach and hand sanitizer, I could imagine the scent of the strawberries baking in the summer heat back at camp. I imagined Argus and the harpies helping load up the luggage of the kids leaving camp into the three vans we owned, ready to drop them off at the bus stop or train station.

I'd missed six weeks of camp, which I was already miffed about, but I was more annoyed about the fact that I'd been prohibited from leaving. Apollo had been so afraid of my disappearing that he clamped a Celestial bronze anklet around my ankle, basically a godly equivalent of those tracking devices they gave people on house arrest.

If I so much as stepped over the threshold of the infirmary, the thing would light up and beep incessantly, only stopping when Apollo punched in a code onto his phone that would reset the anklet. The anklet also weakened my powers to the point where I couldn't escape, so any form of traveling was out of the equation.

Seeing that I wanted to leave as soon as possible, I spent a lot of time in the shower, hoping that the water would help expedite my healing. It definitely helped, but since I wasn't a full-blooded child of a water deity and the anklet was dampening my powers, the most the water could do is strengthen the skin underneath my stitches, preventing the chance of them tearing.

Then, a lightbulb went off in my head. I ducked into the shower again, as it was the only place in the infirmary where none of the cameras recorded. I turned on the water, twisting the showerhead to spray the wall instead of rain down on me as I bent down to examine the anklet.

Hephaestus had taught me about all kinds of tracking devices and godly traps, like the throne trap that kept Hera pinned to her chair for a few months. I reached into my bag, my fingers closing around the toolkit Hephaestus had given me for my fifteenth birthday.

The anklet was the exact same design that the mortals used, the only difference being the material being used. With a screwdriver and some wire cutters, I managed to bypass all the complicated wiring responsible for tracking my every movement. Once that was done, I kept fiddling with the anklet until the head of my screwdriver struck a piece of metal, sending a rush of strength through my body.

Ah, so this must be what's dampening my powers, I thought, drying my hands on my dress before returning to disassembling the anklet. After some struggling, a little black stone came out, clattering onto the floor.

"Andy?" I heard Apollo ask, causing me to curse internally. I quickly hid my equipment and bad before readjusting the shower head, letting it soak me from head to toe. "Are you taking another shower?"

"So what if I am?" I sassed back.

"That's the seventh one today."

"It helps with the pain."

"Oh, okay. I'll give you some privacy." By privacy, Apollo meant he'd leave the room, watching from the other side of the glass until he saw me again.

With my wire cutters, I began to cut the rest of the wires, careful not to nick the large black wire that I identified as the tamper alarm. Now that the black stone was out and the tracking device had been disabled, I flexed my hands, feeling my powers hum under the surface of my skin, tired of not being used in so long.

Apollo would have my hide for this later, but I pictured myself turning into mist, disappearing amongst the vapor in the air. I shouted in elation as I felt myself travel down to Earth, taking a trip on a wind current as I let my molecules get blown in the direction of Camp Half-Blood.

I touched down in the forest, the creek visible from where I was. Wrinkling my nose in disgust at the dress I was wearing, I pulled out some spare clothes from my bag and changed, careful as I tugged my shirt over my head. Off in the distance, I heard two people talking to each other, not exactly being the most subtle as they walked towards the creek.

I crouched behind some of the bushes, thanking the dryads for letting my use them as a cover. Despite never revealing themselves, the way that the leaves on the bushes suddenly perked up let me know they'd heard me and were happy about being acknowledged.

Kyle finally came into view, holding a sword that bronze on one side and steel on the other. With a start, I realized I was looking at Backbiter, the sword that would later be remade into my father's scythe. Percy trailed behind the older boy, the both of them settling down beside the creek.

In his hand, Kyle had a six-pack of Cokes, handing Percy one of the cans before opening one for himself. The two were talking like they were lifelong friends, until Kyle finally said something that had Percy tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Every nerve in my body was screaming to attack, to kill Kyle and be done with it all, but that couldn't happen. I literally couldn't move, my limbs feeling like they were pinned under tons of rock, preventing me from acting even if I wanted to.

The Fates, I thought to myself, paling as their conversation grew more and more violent. Kyle was pacing back and forth now, visibly shouting as his hands flailed around him in his rage. Backbiter glinted dangerously in the afternoon sunlight, displaying truly how deadly the blade could be.

Then, Kyle snapped his fingers, and a ring of fire burned on the ground, a little blue scorpion crawling out of the flames. I glared at the scorpion, knowing that this was the infamous pit scorpion, whose venom was strong enough to kill ten men.

Percy said something I couldn't make out, not even flinching as the pit scorpion hopped onto his pant leg, slowly crawling up. Kyle shouted one more time before giving Percy one last cold sneer, slashing Backbiter in the air as he vanished in a ripple of shadows.

Once Kyle had disappeared, Percy calmly swatted the pit scorpion away with his hand and cut it in half with Riptide. I winced when I saw the stinger dig into Percy's palm, but he didn't seem to notice the sting until after capping Riptide, his face turning ashy as he reached out for the creek.

The numbness in my limbs finally let up, and I got up to my feet, hooking my arms underneath Percy's shoulders as I left his feet dangling in the water. By now, I had a little less than forty-five seconds to get Percy back to Chiron before the poison reached his heart.

"Help!" I pleaded with the nature spirits around me. A naiad and a dryad came out from the creek and a tree, respectively, each of them grabbing one of Percy's legs before the three of us booked it to the Big House, shoving past any camper that got in our way.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed when we ran past her, quickly joining our trio. "I'll go get Chiron!" She pushed ahead, sprinting to the Big House.

By the time we'd arrived at the porch, Chiron was already waiting for us, a glass vial full of a milky white substance in his hands. We set Percy down, and I held his head up for Chiron to pour the anti-venom into his mouth. Percy's skin had been turning gray, and the wound around his hand was a sickly shade of green, nasty yellow pus oozing from the sting.

Annabeth stood off to the side, looking a little green herself as she held a hand over her mouth in shock. I turned to thank the naiad and dryad for helping me before scooping Percy up into my arms, carrying him downstairs to the more private infirmary.

Chiron was talking to Annabeth, telling her about how pit scorpion venom worked, while I set Percy into the same cot he had slept in after his fight with the Minotaur. Under Chiron's supervision, I drained the wound of its pus and wrapped so many bandages around his hand that it could serve as a weapon. Chiron then came down into the sick room – in wheelchair form, of course – and situated himself at the foot of Percy's cot.

Percy was still an ashen shade of gray, but when Annabeth began forcing nectar down his throat, he visibly improved. In a display of amazing resilience, Percy woke up fifteen minutes later, blinking blearily as his eyes came into focus on the glass of nectar in Annabeth's hand. She was dabbing at his head with a damp cloth when he woke up, giving Annabeth one of his lopsided grins that promised trouble.

"Here we are again," he said weakly, taking another sip of his nectar.

"You idiot," Annabeth hissed, but in reality, I knew she was really happy that Percy hadn't died. "You were green and turning gray when Andy brought you here. If it wasn't for Chiron's healing…"

"Now, now," Chiron said, catching Percy's attention. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit."

"You're telling me," I scoffed, walking to stand next to Chiron. "I've never seen anyone wake up fifteen minutes after being stung by a pit scorpion."

"How are you feeling?" Chiron asked Percy, a tight smile on his face, looking like a teacher who had stayed up all night to grade papers. And seeing that he had just posed as a Latin teacher for the past year, I wouldn't put it past him.

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved." Percy took another sip of his nectar, Annabeth supporting the bottom of the glass so that it didn't fall out of his hand.

"Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."

Between sips of nectar, Percy told us everything leading up to Kyle's sudden disappearance from Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth and Chiron shared a pained expression, like they had been expecting something like this for some time now.

"I knew I should've kept a closer eye on him," I said through gritted teeth. "Of course a child abuser would side with Father."

"Child abuser?" Percy asked, the words sounding foreign in his mouth.

"Father?" Annabeth demanded, ignoring my first statement. Her gray eyes were clouded over, the incoming storm quickly moving in. Within seconds her hand was at her belt, waiting to draw her dagger. "You're a traitor?"

I held up my hands in surrender. "When have I ever betrayed you, Annabeth? Last I checked, you were the reason I've been in a coma for the past six weeks. I can't even tell you the amount of trouble I'm going to get in for my being here! But I came anyways, because I had a dream that someone was going to need my help today."

"Chiron, is she telling the truth?"

The kindly old centaur sighed, motioning for Annabeth to stand down. "Andy has never lied to me before, Annabeth, not once in the five years that I've known her. I trust her as much as I trust you."

Annabeth didn't seem too happy about the comparison, scowling at me. I thought I'd earned her trust a long time ago, but I guess not. As for Percy, the poor kid's head was on a swivel, watching the ongoing argument like a ping-pong match.

"I promised to always be there for you, Annabeth," I reminded her softly, taking a step in her direction. "Haven't I upheld that?"

Too prideful to reply to me, she turned her back to me. "Where were you when Luke and Thalia died, when I screamed for you to save them?"

"I'm not a god, Annabeth. I did everything that I could to save them."

She whirled around, her eyes glinting dangerously. "So you turned them into a tree?! They could've gone to Elysium! They could've been happy together!"

"Um, bad time to ask, I know, but who are Luke and Thalia?"

Annabeth turned to face Percy, who had flinched under the weight of her glare. I gave her a look, one that said to stand down. She shook her head miserably, pulling at her blonde curls.

"They were friends of ours," I said tersely, knowing that Annabeth avoided that conversation like the plague whenever possible. "And as for my father, I detest him with every fiber of my being. I will fight to my last breath to defend Olympus if it ever comes to that."

"And we should hope not," Chiron finally interrupted, halting the conversation before I said too much. "As for our missing camper situation, I must go report this to Olympus at once."

"Kyle is out there right now," Percy insisted, trying to get up. "I have to go after him."

Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy. The gods-"

"Won't even talk about Kronos," Percy snapped, looking royally pissed off. "Zeus declared the matter closed!"

"Don't take it personally," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose at my brother's theatrics. "Zeus thinks putting things on the back burner will make the problem disappear. Thank the gods for Athena and Artemis."

"Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready."

The son of Poseidon slumped back into his cot, glancing down at his club-like hand. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Chiron…your prophecy from the Oracle…it was about Kronos, wasn't it? Was I in it? And Annabeth and Andy?"

I shivered and made the three claws across my heart before pushing my hand outward. Chiron glanced up at the ceiling, like he was waiting for it to collapse on top of us. "Percy, this isn't my place-"

"You've been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven't you?"

"It's not the worst thing in the world," I said. "Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing, trust me on that."

The two other demigods in the room gave me a wary look, clearly uncomfortable with me now that they knew the truth about my father. I shrugged, brushing off their concern. One day, I'd finally get to explain everything to them, but that day was not today.

"Oh, Annabeth, they're waiting for you when you're ready," Chiron said, ending the conversation once and for all.

"Who?" Percy asked.

"My family," Annabeth replied sheepishly, nervously twirling the gold ring on her necklace. She was sporting a new bead – pitch black with a sea green trident in the middle. I'd have to ask Chiron about getting the bead before I left. "I-I took your advice, Percy. I'm going to try to spend the year with them."

"That's great!" Percy smiled, genuinely glad for Annabeth.

"Promise me you won't do anything stupid without me? Or at least send me an Iris-message?"

"Trouble usually ends up finding me."

Annabeth smiled and gave Percy a quick side hug before giving me a meek wave, probably trying to atone for her earlier accusation without outright hurting her pride. She dashed up the steps and left, heading towards the border where her family would be.

Percy set down his empty glass of nectar and pulled his best puppy dog eyes on me, going so far as to even pout. I rolled my eyes and asked, "What do you want?"

"Take me outside," he requested.

I winced. "That isn't the best idea, Percy."

"Please, Andy," Percy begged, dragging out the e sound until I finally relented.

I helped him out to the porch of the Big House, his body leaning heavily on mine as he struggled to walk. Stupid pit scorpion, I thought to myself, letting Percy lean against the railing on the porch, the both of us watching Annabeth join her family at the border. The sun was beginning to set, filling the valley with the last golden rays of the day.

"So," I said, breaking the silence, "have you decided what you're going to do?"

"I think I'm going home," Percy said with conviction, smiling softly to himself. "I finally have a chance to live with Mom for the year. I'll definitely come back for the summer, though. This place already feels like a second home to me."

"Good, that's what it should feel like." I smiled, taking in the warmth from the sun as it started to sink below the horizon. "You might want to get going, though. The cleaning harpies aren't nice to stragglers."

"Walk me to the border?"

"Of course. Say hi to your mom for me, will you?"

Percy smiled brightly, his arm still wrapped around my waist as I picked up his duffel bag that Argus had brought over, slinging the strap across my shoulder. When we got to the border, Percy was no longer staggering, managing to walk on his own normally, much to his joy.

"See you next year?" I asked hopefully, smiling softly at the leather cord that now rested on Percy's neck.

"You bet!" Percy gave me a final hug, accidently squishing my stitches. I stifled a gasp, still hugging the younger boy. He then revealed the cloud charm on the silver chain, saying, "I won't forget that you're always right here."

"Just don't yell," I laughed, causing him to turn bright red. "Now go. Argus is waiting for you."

With a final wave, Percy ran towards the van, pulling the door shut as he had been the last camper to be brought into the city. Now that the summer session was over, camp was way too quiet for my liking, the sounds of crickets chirping and reed pipes drowning out any conversations.

Inside the Hermes cabin, only eight of us remained, meaning that we all got bunks for the time being. Connor and Travis had been excited about that, something about more room for their prank layouts. Oh, well, I figured just stay out of their way, and I'll be okay. Thankfully, they didn't ask about my sudden disappearance, just saying hi before returning to their schemes.

I ran into Cleo at dinner, who had been the one to give me the new bead for the summer. I smiled softly to myself as I undid the knot on the leather cord and slid the bead on, something I'd never had the opportunity of doing at camp before.

"My dad's going to kill you," Cleo told me after dinner, the both of us sitting on the floor of the dining pavilion. "If you think we're overbearing about our patients, Dad is the king of overbearing."

"Don't remind me." I sighed, rolling the black stone in between my index finger and thumb. "What is this anyways?"

Cleo tried to grab the stone but yelped when it started glowing purple in proximity to her flesh. We both glanced at each other, and Cleo gave me her arm, wanting to see what the stone would do. Only when it was about to touch her skin did the stone glow, other than that, it passed itself off as a normal black stone.

I tried putting the stone next to a flower, and sure enough, once the stone was in close enough proximity, the flower began to wilt and die. I touched the flower, causing it to straighten up and bloom again, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Woah," the two of us said, staring at the stone.

"Maybe it's a type of metal only children of Hades can use?" Cleo offered, just as bewildered as I was.

"I've never seen Stygian iron do this," I murmured, finally pocketing the stone into my bag. "Maybe it's because I've never tried to let anyone else use it."

Cleo arched an eyebrow. "You have a weapon made of Stygian iron? Since when?"

I tugged on two of the charms on my bracelet, pitch black hunting knives appearing in my hand. They were longer than a dagger, about twenty inches compared to a dagger's twelve, giving me a longer reach. The Stygian iron was dark as a nightmare, sucking in all the warmth around the blades.

"Since I ran into some spartoi on a mission," I answered, turning the knives back into charms. "The dead really hate Stygian iron."

Cleo shuddered, rubbing her arms to regain the warmth that she'd lost to my knives. "I forget about all the things you've seen sometimes. I would never be brave enough to work for the gods."

"Not like I have much of a choice." I sighed, messing with my hands. "As much as I've earned some of their respect, they still fear me. I would never turn my back to Olympus."

"Why would they fear you?" Cleo asked. "Aren't you still unclaimed?"

"Yeah, but since they don't know how I have all these powers, they're afraid."

"No one has any answers?" I shook my head. "Not even Athena?"

"No. All any of them have are theories, none of them good."

"Well, that sucks," Cleo said bluntly, making me chuckle softly. "Any news on your mom?"

"Nothing. It's as if she never existed in the first place." I kicked the marble in annoyance. "No one knows who she is."

"Maybe your father did."

I scoffed. "I'd have to know who the deadbeat was first. Even then, I don't think I'd trust him. Don't you think five years is long enough for a sign?"

I really shouldn't have said anything. The next thing I know, Cleo gasped, scrambling away from me like she'd just seen a ghost. She didn't say anything, merely pointing above my head like I was about to get struck down by lightning.

Looking up, I saw the same golden symbol of a scythe and an hourglass crossed together in an X shape appear over my head. Internally, I was seething, wanting to knock the smug smile that I knew he had off his face. However, I had to keep up the act that I had no idea what was going on, so I stared at the symbols with a horrified expression, which honestly wasn't that hard. It's not like I announced my darkest secret to everyone I met.

I swore under my breath, swatting at the light above my head, glaring at it when it stubbornly stayed. Luckily for me, Cleo was the only one around, her face white as a sheet as the gold glow finally began to subside.

"Your father," she spluttered, pinching her arm to make sure this was really happening. "It's-"

"The Titan King," I finished for her, growling in disgust. "I'm related to a cannibal."

"That explains your powers," Cleo said, her blue eyes still wide with fear. "They match up with his children, the eldest Olympians. I bet you have control over time, too."

"Do you hate me?" I hated being so abrupt, but the reason I kept my father's identity a secret was so I didn't scare everyone off. Cleo was one of my oldest friends, and it would break my heart to know that she never wanted to see me again because of the fear of my father.

To my surprise, Cleo appeared to be genuinely offended, a look of hurt on her faces. "Do I ha – don't be ridiculous, Andy! You didn't get any say in who your father is. How can I possibly hate you? Ever since we've met, you've been nothing but kind and generous, everything he is not. You're still the same person, the girl who's been my best friend for five years."

I pulled Cleo in for a tight hug, which she returned with just as much fervor. Honestly, it was like we were having a competition on who could break the other's ribs first, but I pulled away once the pain of my stitches were too great. Cleo looked confused, but after I told her what happened, she nodded in understanding.

"You should get back to Olympus," Cleo muttered, feeling my stitches through my shirt. "I don't want Dad to kill you."

"He won't kill me," I reassured her, "but he'll ground me indefinitely. So if we don't see each other for another five years…"

Cleo punched my shoulder, saying, "Don't think like that. Plus, even if we don't see each other in person, we can always IM."

"Very true." I gave her one more hug, scowling as I heard thunder rumble on a cloudless night. I guess Zeus found out about my little escapade. "Until we meet again."

"So formal," Cleo joked, rolling her eyes. "But ditto anyways."

I allowed myself to turn into mist again, already dreading the punishment I'd be receiving for defying Apollo.

Honestly, that could've gone much worse, I thought to myself as I walked through the Underworld, tossing Cerberus the largest red rubber ball I had.

The three Furies flew overhead, particularly over the Fields of Punishment, their fiery whips causing for damned souls to scream out in agony. Personally, I hoped that Smelly Gabe was amongst one of the residents in Punishment after everything he'd done to Percy.

That night Percy had first joined the Hermes cabin, I sifted through his memories, something I could do because of Hera. I'd seen how violent Smelly Gabe could be when he was extremely drunk, treating Percy like his personal punching bag. I watched as Smelly Gabe cut Percy with broken glass and knives, as he bound the little boys hands with rope so tightly that circulation was cut off, making it impossible for him to escape. I heard every degrading and unflattering name he called Percy, which only served in destroying his self-confidence.

For that, Smelly Gabe could go to Tartarus for all I care.

I realized I stopped to glare at the Fields of Punishment for too long, so I continued walking, ignoring the hissing shades as they dissipated from their proximity to living flesh. I'd been here so many times that the skeleton guards didn't even tense, merely chattering their teeth together in a way that I've learned means, "Come in."

I walked briskly through the dark and winding corridors of Hades' palace, stopping once I made it to the throne room. As I'd expected, Hades was waiting on his throne, a blank look on his face, almost like he was bored.

"So, they've sent you here," Hades mused, drumming his fingers against his armrest. "What did you do this time?"

"Leave Apollo's infirmary," I shrugged, tugging on my jacket to keep out the chills.

"What did you do this time?" Hades repeated, causing me to smile. Despite being confined to the Underworld, Hades was never out of the loop, catching up on gossip from the dead. This meant he knew about every time I'd ever gotten hurt, much to my dismay.

"Got nicked by Ares' sword."

"I believe a better word is slashed. You nearly died a couple times, you know." I shrugged again, earning an exasperated sigh from the Lord of the Underworld.

He and I had had a rocky start, but over time, we grew pretty close. Plus, he'd also visited me in a dream during my time at camp to tell me that he appreciated my trying to defend him in front of his brothers. If that action didn't scream progress, I don't know what else could.

"Any missions you got for me?" I asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet. Apollo had finally taken out the stupid stitches, figuring that it'd be better to fully heal me himself rather than wait for me to take it easy. Because let's be honest here, we all knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Nico and Bianca," he said at last, a melancholy gleam in his eyes. "I'd like for you to go check on them for me."

"They're still going to stay in the Lotus Hotel?"

"For now." Hades gripped his armrest so tightly that his knuckles went white. Well, whiter seeing that this guy could stand next to milk and still be paler. "I'm afraid bringing them out now will only incur Zeus' wrath, especially after he got so worked up over that infernal sea spawn. But fear not, my children will get to leave one day, and I'll make sure you're the one to do it."

"I'm honored, my lord. Is there anything you'd like me to tell them?"

"As of now, no. They know that it is I that sent you, correct?"

"Yes."

"Good, that's all they need to know for the moment. Let me know how it went the second you get back."

"Of course."

Sensing that I'd been dismissed, I shadow-traveled out of the throne room, heading for the Lotus Hotel and Casino, where I'd get to catch up with the di Angelo siblings once again.