'When tides change and new revelations come, it's your choice to swim with or against the waves'

It had been over an year since Estelle and Nakoa had eavesdropped on the twins and their traitorous exchange. Despite Estelle wanting to confront Skylar directly Nakoa kept intercepting her and eventually she stopped trying altogether. The most pressing issue had shifted from Luke to the girl that emerged from the tree. Her and the prophecy. A few tidbits of conversation she'd heard helped her deduce the fact that the only people eligible for it were Thalia and Percy, the children of the big 3. This also meant that Thalia was constantly garnering attention of people when Percy wasn't around. The attention died down soon enough when more and more campers defected or apparently died off and didnt return for another year. It was a time of transition. Things were looking dimmer and the fun of being a half-blood, minus the unclaimed bit, was starting to die out. If anything Estelle was starting to feel a bit homesick.

Out of routine she'd gotten up that morning at dawn. Far too early to do anything but practice her weaponry. Before heading into her little patch of heaven in the woods she'd sauntered close to the canoe lake. She'd be lying if she said she did it out instinct because all she felt was a sense of premonition. The lake looked just as it had in her dream before something crashed into the water and rippled into a falling blonde girl. It took her a few seconds to realize that her dreams had conjured up the face of Annabeth before she disappeared into darkness. That's how Estelle woke up, drenched in sweat, itching to leave her sleeping bag.

She moved closer to the lake, the naiads still mostly asleep and crouched down to tap the water's surface. It rippled just as it had in her dream but no one fell or disturbed the serene quiet of the morning. She hadn't paid much attention to her dreams lately, not since the strange ones started two years ago, but it was almost like her brain was yelling at her to remember. The fact that it seemed impossible to wake out of it one it started didn't help the fact that it was more spooky than it had been before. In her peripheral vision she saw something closer to a comet than a bus heading straight towards the lake getting closer each second. Estelle stumbled back with only a few seconds of delay as a school bus, the not yellow kind, slammed into the lake. It was a sudden 'whoosh' followed by a thunderous crash. A splash of semi- warm water drenched Estelle. With the season almost to winter it wasn't everyday you got splashed by warm water from a relatively cold lake. As she brushed out the water from her eyelashes she watched as a few bouts of steam rose from the edges of where the bus rested in the lake.

An army of girls and women dressed in similar attire stepped out the bus as if it they were a team of well armed hockey players that you see at every school game. One of them was more distinct with her copper colored skin and the silver circlet that rested on her head as her stride screamed something along the lines of 'I'm the leader'. Hidden by the cult was Percy, Grover, Thalia, a boy with an aviator jacket and, a handsome blonde man.

"-like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!" she caught a bit of what Grover had said, as he helped himself out of the canoe he had tripped into in an attempt to guide the girls.

Something close to recognition flashed in Percy's eyes and she grinned at the girl, "Oh! Estelle right?" Though his tone was upbeat his eyes betrayed a sense of guilt and perhaps sorrow.

Estelle nodded in response to his question stepping closer to the foreign bus, her already wet shoes seeping in more of the lake's cold. "Where's Annabeth?" She couldn't help but ask given the ominous dream she'd had

Percy's face fell immediately as the younger boy marveled at the decorations in the camp.

The blonde man cleared his throat managing to get everyone's attention, or the four's attention seeing as the others left. He looked like he emanated warmth and he had that typical super-star grin plastered on his face. He snapped his fingers and the water evaporated from the wet clothes becoming water resistant for a few seconds. Estelle took this opportunity to inch out of the cold water as did the other two. He's a god, the voice in Estelle's voice whispered, Apollo.

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at Percy, "Watch out for those
prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."

"What do you mean?" His flabbergasted look betrayed the confusion he felt.

Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

He gave another thousand watt smile that seemed more ominous than comforting and stepped on the gas. The bus transformed, if you could even call it that, and took off into the distance, now as a red Maserati. The only evidence of what just happened was the steaming lake and one smashed up canoe. Estelle wanted to ask more questions about Annabeth but the rest had moved on. Specially the new kid.

"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine." Figurine? Estelle questioned in the back of her mind

"Our activities director," Percy tried to explain very badly. "He's… well, you'll see.

"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."

With that they took off to the big house, Estelle not so subtly left behind, not that it mattered. She didn't think it was something that happened because they were mean but more so because they barely knew her. Regardless, she really needed to know what was up with Annabeth and hopefully clarify the dream she had. She chased after them, debating on whether to ask about Annabeth once again or not. When she rounded around the corner they were engaged in a conversation with Chiron. This was a conversation she'd simply have to eavesdrop on.

"Well…" Percy said continuing off something he'd said before

Chiron's smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?" Yes! Estelle screamed internally, what happened? She'd been feeling guilty since Percy's swap in expression, feeling almost responsible because she dreamt about it

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, once again proving why he wasn't one of her favorite gods, "Not another one lost." Estelle assumed that this was something that had been discussed with the cabin heads seeing as most campers weren't aware of anything related to a disappearance. It was either that or Annabeth had defected to Luke's side.

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"

She never got her answer because Grover brushed past Estelle, almost delirious with happiness despite the clear slap mark and black eye he sported. His journey escorting the hunters hadn't been as fun as he expected.

"The Hunters are all moved in!"

Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico trying to find a way to have him not be privy to the conversation. Estelle felt a chill down her spine as Mr. D stared at where she was crouched over near the window before dismissing her presence. She knew that the god knew she was there but she didn't have a clue as to why he let her listen in.

Chiron spoke again, "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."

"But… Oh, right. Yes, sir."

"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? ' Cause Bianca is kinda strict—"

"It's PG-13," Grover said, a hint of exasperation there at the sake of watching that accursed thing again.

"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.

"Now," Chiron said to Thalia and Percy, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."

Estelle's breath paused as they finally gave closure to her fears, at least on what had happened.

"Yeah, so we found the di Angelo kids when this monster attacked," Percy began, his voice strained yet trying to sound casual. "It was working for Luke—big surprise, right?—and kept going on about this 'Great Stirring' like some cosmic soup was being stirred up." He glanced at Thalia, then back to Chiron. "Luke wants them... and us," he pointed between himself and Thalia. "Preferably alive, but he's not picky—dead works too."

Thalia crossed her arms, her expression hardening. "The manticore called himself Dr. Thorn," she said, her tone sharp. "Annabeth, Grover, and I tried to take him down, but he was shooting missiles out of his tail. We fought him off as best we could until the Hunters showed up."

Her voice dropped slightly as she hesitated. "Then Artemis stepped in, and with the Hunters' help, we finally managed to take him down. That was when..." Her words trailed off, her eyes darkening with unspoken fear.

Percy's face tightened. "That's when he jumped off the cliff," he said, his frustration raw. "Annabeth was still on his back, and I couldn't stop him. He probably took her... wherever Luke's hiding." He clenched his fists, the guilt palpable. "I should've done something... but I couldn't."

"That's on me too," Thalia added softly, her hand resting on Percy's shoulder. Estelle felt a chill at their words; her nightmare had come true. Annabeth was gone.

"Ask how they got here," Mr. D added, the beginnings of a sarcastic grin on his face, contrasting the tense situation.

Thalia perked up, her tone bubblier than usual, "Apollo dropped us off in his Maserati. That's how the hunters ended up here"

Mr. D snickered with some silent revelation as Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately.

"I'll go," Thalia and Percy said at the same time. Estelle kind of wanted to join, the gloomy feel of the camp getting to her and making her want to leave.

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Thalia and Percy both started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if they didn't shut up.

"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell—" The way he neglected the right name reminded her of when she'd first arrived at camp. 3 years later and she was still sure he barely knew she existed.

"Annabeth," Percy snapped. She'd gone to camp since she was seven, and still Mr. D pretended not to know her name.

"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead." Estelle's heart dropped to her stomach. She'd leaned against the wall of the great house outside as she eavesdropped in. Somehow, hearing the god say it made it worse than when a camper said it.

"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but it was obvious he was having trouble sounding upbeat. "She's very bright. If… if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."

"That's right," Thalia said. "Luke would want her alive."

"In which case" said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

The chair crashed back as Percy got up from the table

"Percy." Chiron's tone was full of warning. Percy was seconds from joining Mr. D's animal circus as a dolphin and Estelle did not want to see, or hear since she was too busy looking as her shaking hands, that happen.

"You're glad to lose another camper," Percy said. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"

Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?" Not his sons, Estelle added in her mind. She didn't want to start seeing one of her best friend's dads as public enemy number 1.

"Yeah," Percy growled. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!"

For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The tension rose and Estelle calmed her nerves and peek in. Inside, Mr. d felt more ominous than how a middle aged, pot bellied man could be seen as. One second. Two seconds. Three- Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're… you're a centaur!"

Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."

"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D effectively calming the god down. At least, he helped to get Percy not killed. "You're the wine dude? No way!"

Mr. D turned his eyes away from Percy and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."

"My figurine."

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred
attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!" Estelle finally got an explanation on what he was talking about. if she was right, she'd seen Nakoa have his fair share of these cards tucked into his pillow case.

"Ah." Mr. D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved Percy's life. "Well, that's… gratifying."

"Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening." We hadn't done capture the flag in close to a month because we didn't have enough campers these days. The game could get boring when its the same 18 people running around.

"Capture the flag?" Percy asked mirroring Estelle's thoughts. "But we don't have enough—"

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet it's real friendly." This made Estelle think about Grover's obvious black eye and slap marks. Friendly didn't seem like the best word to describe the Hunters.

Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us

"Oh, right," Thalia said. "Come on, Percy"

With that she stopped Percy from being killed, Nico was also dragged away, probably to stop the newer camper from being blasted by Mr. D. When Estelle pushed herself off the wall she'd leaned on for support Mr. D tossed one of his diet coke cans through the window hitting her straight on the head.

"There are satyrs who would be more than willing to recycle that for you," Chiron said diplomatically as he picked up the cards they'd been playing previously

Mr. D made a sound, "I quite like aiming my trash at little rats and rodents that sneak around" he took a jab at Estelle. The can may have hit her on the head, but the sting was nothing compared to the heavy truth she'd just learned. She clenched her jaw, refusing to let Mr. D see her wince. There was no point sticking around to be humiliated further.

"So you say," Chiron placed a card on the table resuming their game.