Marcus stormed into the meeting room, his entrance sudden enough to cut off whatever words were being spoken at the time.
"Marcus." Chiron said. "We didn't expect-"
"I know where Chastity is." Marcus cut him off. "And we have to move sooner rather than later. She's in danger."
"What?" Phil's voice wasn't the only one that asked the question, but it was him Marcus decided to focus on. If he's the one Chiron is trusting with calling the shots, he's the one I'll need to convince.
"Chastity's mind, her soul, whatever, it isn't with her body. We know this already, and I just confirmed that it's still connected, even if it isn't present-"
"How?" Maddie's voice piped up. "Even the children of Hypno weren't able to tell that, just guess at it!" She clapped her hands to her mouth, and Marcus now knew exactly how dire their situation had truly been. So dire, Maddie couldn't even tell us everything… Always the healer, sparing emotions and giving hope.
"I… I spent this week in training, specifically to strengthen my mind. Its defenses, as well as counterattacks." Marcus knew he didn't have time to go into the full story, regardless of whether or not they wanted it. Too many awkward questions down that route besides.
"So that's where you've been… Wait, where have you been? That's not something I've ever seen done at a Cabin around here!" Jason said, slowly standing.
"Yeah, it's mostly sword bashin' as far as I've seen. Not that I have an issue with that." Joel chimed in.
"Actually, I think I heard something about that before… Gods, which Cabin was it…" Maddie pressed her palms to her temples, trying to force the memory forward. We don't have time!
"Where is Chastity?" Phillip asked, finally bringing some semblance of cohesion back to the meeting.
"The Underworld." Marcus said.
"She's not dead." Phillip said quietly.
"No! No she's not dead! Her spirit has been separated from her, hence why her body is still here but-"
"I've never heard of anything like that happening." Maddie said, though from her tone Marcus could tell her mind was racing. "There's no monster that I've ever heard of that can just… separate a spirit from a body. Well, not without killing it first, but we already know-"
"She's not dead." Phillip said again.
"No she isn't! This wasn't some monster attack either! Chastity did this to herself! She used her lyre, her magic, to separate her spirit from her body, I'm assuming so she could quickly travel to the Underworld." Marcus was getting frustrated. The longer they stood here talking, the more time whatever trouble Chastity had found her way into had to make it impossible for them to save her. "Protect her Marcus".
"How do you know this?" Chiron asked, wheeling himself around the table to be beside Phillip.
"Because I spoke to her!" Marcus exploded.
The room, which had previously been buzzing with energy to match Marcus' own, went silent and still, though Marcus' own emotions were still swirling inside him.
"You… what?" Jason asked, incredulous.
"I… I spoke to her." Marcus repeated.
"And how, exactly, did you manage to do that?" Chiron asked.
Marcus sighed. If it'll make them see then… "I used a Nyx Message."
"A what? I've never heard of that." Maddie asked, part of her usual self peeking through. New information about the Gods will always catch her interest.
"A Nyx Message. Borrowing the powers of the Primordial Goddess of Darkness to view things hidden in the shadows." Chiron said quietly.
"Wow… Not to sound all 'dark side' here but that sounds pretty badass. Why don' y'all do more of that?" Joel asked.
"We stopped using Nyx Messages for a simple reason. She was unreliable. She was dangerous. She was prone to lash out at half bloods," Chiron's eyes burned into Marcus' as he spoke, "show them illusions, lure them into traps if they displeased her. While Lady Iris demands payment for her services, at least those services are safe. That's why we never taught any of our half-bloods how to use them."
Marcus felt the next question building long before Chiron had finished his little speech, but he still wasn't prepared with a suitable answer when Phillip asked it.
"So then… Where did you learn how to use them Marcus?"
Marcus hesitated, before he settled on the long shot, the thing he had been avoiding. He told the truth.
"... Alicia showed me."
"If she knew how, then how come she never used it while at Camp?!" Maddie exclaimed, the confusion and shock written on her face.
"That would be because she didn't know it while she was here, did she Marcus?" Chiron asked, still staring a hole through Marcus.
"... No. She reached out to me after the battle at Torrington's Cabin." Marcus admitted, his jaw clenched. "We don't have time for this Chiron. Chastity is in danger."
"You've been in contact with the N.O. for that long… and you didn't say anything?" Jason spoke up.
"No! Not in contact! Alicia spoke to me through a message, told me how to do it, and vanished! I haven't spoken to them since!"
"Was that all she said?" Joel asked.
"They don't trust you anymore do they?" Alicia had taunted him. She had passed along Aaron's warnings. "Power has to come from somewhere".
"That was it." Marcus said. "And until now I've refused to even consider using it. But I had no other choice! If I hadn't used a Nyx Message, we never would have known about Chastity!" Back on task!
"Did you not hear what Chiron just said?" Phillip said, the others falling silent. "Illusions Marcus. They stopped using Nyx Messages because she would use illusions! Who's to say that's not what's happening here, the enemy luring us into a trap by dangling false information in front of us. That is a common tactic in war."
Marcus couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You think I wouldn't know an illusion of Chastity versus the real thing?"
"I think you could be fed false information while you're desperate."
Marcus bristled. He could feel his rage starting to boil but he knew, he knew he had to get Phillip on his side or this would never succeed. Chiron wouldn't allow the group to follow Marcus' lead again, not before his latest revelation, and certainly not now.
"Phil, I know Chastity. I know her mannerisms, the way she acts. Better than anyone. Some simple illusion wouldn't be able to fool me, especially not after this week. I was seeing clearly." Just gonna leave out the fact about the pissing off Nyx part… they're already spooked.
Phillip looked in Marcus' eyes for a long moment, and in that moment Marcus had hope. Then Phillip turned to Maddie. "Have you ever heard of a demigod being able to willingly separate their spirit from their body?"
Maddie looked back and forth between Marcus and Phillip, her eyes wide and biting her lip before she slowly shook her head.
"It's not impossible but I… I haven't."
Phillip nodded, then turned back to Marcus. "Marcus, I know you're desperate for a better answer. A simpler answer. A 'go here, fight this, save the girl' type of answer. But there isn't one here… and clinging on to the first one you find is dangerous, especially when it came from a dangerous source, not to mention that source coming from the enemy. For all we know, the N.O. are using some sort of trick to make Chastity the way she is and this is some elaborate ploy. We can't dive in headfirst. We have to be careful. We have to have a plan."
Marcus scoffed. "A plan?! Your plan is going to leave Chastity in the Underworld for who knows how long, and that's time she doesn't have! She wouldn't have done this to herself without good reason, and she needs us!"
"You mean… she needs you." Phillip said quietly, finally walking around the table to speak to Marcus face to face. "You're so blinded by your need to be the hero of this story, the desperate need to 'save' those around you, that you're blinded to the logical conclusions. This is a war Marcus, and in war, heroics may save the day, but they may also get you killed. Acting on false intelligence will get you killed. And right now, all it seems like to me is that you're doing both. For once Marcus, please… Don't be a hero."
Marcus felt each word like a slap to the face. He had thought he had grown closer with Phillip, came to understand him more, hell, even called him a friend, but right now… He's standing between me and Chastity.
"Protect her Marcus".
"So it's a soldier's duty to follow orders?" Marcus asked quietly, his rage finally bubbling to the surface. "A soldier is the one who goes along with any plan, no matter how idiotic it may be. No matter who is left behind to die, a soldier obeys without question. Well I'm not a soldier. I know where Chastity is, I know she's in danger. A soldier would stay here and follow orders. But half bloods aren't common soldiers. Half bloods are bred to be heroes. So go ahead Phil. Follow your plan. I'm going to save your girlfriend. Seems like right now what she needs is a hero, not a toy soldier."
Marcus turned on his heel to storm out, but was stopped by Joel, who grabbed his arm before he could go more than a few steps.
"Hey now, everybody just calm down alright?" He said, squeezing Marcus' arm tightly. How do I keep forgetting how strong this guy is?! "Let's take a breath. We can't be infightin' at a time like this."
Chiron nodded, wheeling his chair back to the head of the table. "You're absolutely right Joel. However, what Marcus has just revealed to us does need to be considered. Carefully. Maddison, please escort Marcus to his cabin for the remainder of the evening, stay with him, give him some time to cool off. Meanwhile, the rest of us will use what skills and knowledge we have to try and ascertain the truth of this, and perhaps come up with a suitable plan. Whether that be to continue on the path we have been or follow what was seen in this… Nyx Message, we will decide after careful consideration."
Marcus pulled his arm out of Joel's grasp and stormed out the door, not sparing a single glance in Phillip's direction. He had placed his bet where he wanted. The rest of them were simply wasting time that Chastity didn't have.
Marcus could feel it in his heart. She was running out of time.
—-
"Marcus…?"
Marcus sighed and stopped at his door. Maddie had followed him from the Big House, as Chiron had ordered, and the long walk back to his cabin was made even longer by the silence that stood between them. It was a wall, and he didn't know if he should keep it there or not, especially with the thoughts forming in his mind.
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you say anything…?"
Marcus froze. Her words. Her tone. No. No, no, no, no, no, no. "Say anything about what?"
"The Nyx Message. Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Maddie walked beside him, turning so she could lean back against the wall of his cabin, her gaze on the ground. Relief flooded through Marcus, but he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. "If you had so much as mentioned it, I'm sure Chiron would have-"
"Chiron would have kept me under lock and key." Marcus said with a sigh, mirroring Maddie's movement and leaning against his door. "We both know he stopped trusting me a while ago. If I had told him Alicia had reached out to me, even if I shot her down immediately…"
Maddie turned to him, her eyebrow raised in a passable mimicry of his pet expression. "So instead, you thought the better option was to hide it and only reveal it after you'd used the dangerous thing she told you about?"
Marcus had no response to that, so instead he turned his gaze up to the moon, which had just risen fully past the horizon, hanging alone in the sky. An apt metaphor I suppose.
"What's gotten into you lately…?" Maddie asked. Marcus turned, surprised. Not just by the question, but by the way she asked it as well. He wasn't used to Maddie sounding this way. She wasn't nervous, her voice didn't waver a bit. If anything, she sounded almost accusatory. Angry.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb. Marcus, please. For once, take me seriously." Maddie stood straight, coming around to stand in front of him. "You're being reckless. I've known for years you were, sometimes even found it… endearing, but this? Hiding things from us? Fighting so hard to stubbornly get your way? This isn't like you…" Maddie's voice quivered slightly, but she quickly recovered. "You've kept secrets before, and for good reason I know, but this one? And this insistence on going into the Underworld, even though we don't know for sure Chastity is there… It's suicide Marcus, even for you!" Maddie's voice exploded out of her, the force of her emotions shocking him for a moment.
"Mads I…" He stopped. Took a deep breath. Then started again. "Maddie, I'm sorry. I really am. I thought what I was doing was for the best. And now I know Chastity is in danger. I can feel it. She's there, and she needs help."
Maddie shook her head, a small, sad smile coming to her face. "You know… Phil was right."
Marcus' world felt crooked. "What?"
"You always feel the need to play the hero… to save everyone else, no matter the cost to yourself…" Her eyes met his own for a moment before looking away as she resumed her position leaning against the cabin beside him, but in that moment he saw all she had wanted him to.
She knew. She knew his injury had been from her. She knew he had thrown himself in the way, taking the nearly killing strike from both angles to keep her safe. They had always been able to communicate so much in just a look, but for the first time Marcus wished that they couldn't. This scene was too familiar to him.
They stood in silence for a long moment, both their gazes skyward as they watched the moon continue to rise.
"How did you know?" Marcus said quietly, feeling acutely how in just a few moments their usual roles had reversed. Now, he was the one feeling like she had been protecting him. Maybe she has been for longer than I think…
"Come on, Marcus." Maddie said with a sad laugh. "I take pictures of death. I use one weapon. You think I don't recognize the marks that it makes?"
"I thought there had been too much-"
"Blood? There was plenty. But I'm a healer. I have to assess what I'm healing, even in the worst circumstances…"
Marcus finally turned to look at Maddie. Maybe, for the first time in a long time, he was truly seeing her, instead of the image of her that he kept in his mind. The hoodie she always wore to protect her from the stares men would throw her way, stares Marcus hated seeing. The two colored clips in her hair, one for Artemis and one for Apollo. The multicolored nails, each color signifying a different Olympian. He could name which color was on which nail from memory. But for all that he saw, he realized he had missed so much, walking through his life with one eye constantly looking at the past. The innocent Maddie that he had thought he had to protect at all costs from the world was gone. The woman that stood beside him now needed no such protection. She knew her role, she understood the world she was dealing with. While not outwardly confident, there was an assurance there. She was the one protecting.
She had never seemed more beautiful to him. Nor more terrifying.
She turned to him. "What is it? You're looking at me weird."
Marcus shook his head. "Nothing just… You've gone and grown up on me, haven't you Mads?"
Maddie puffed out her cheeks in a small pout, bringing them even a step closer to normal. "I've been grown up for a while, you know."
Marcus chuckled, resting his hand on her head and ruffling her hair. "You'd think you'd get some height to go with that though."
Maddie's smile, which had grown genuine under their usual routine, turned into a glare from under his hand. "Hey! I'll have you know I grew a whole inch this year!"
"Wow, a whole inch huh?" Marcus threw her a teasing wink. "I'm impressed. Call me when you hit 5'5"."
"You're not that tall either you know!"
Marcus spent what felt like hours enjoying the return to normal that they seemed to have reached, but he knew that things were different. There was a watchfulness behind Maddie's eyes that hadn't been there before. And now, Marcus could recognize it for what it was. She was keeping an eye on him, not because Chiron had told her to, but because she knew him. Truly knew him, more than he had realized. She knew that he would risk his life if it meant somebody he cared about would survive, and now more than ever, she had proof of it. It was his fatal flaw.
Finally, Marcus yawned and stretched. "Alright, alright. You're a big grown up who's gonna get super tall and beautiful. I know Chiron said to watch me, but are you really planning to stand out here all night to make sure I don't leave?"
Maddie's eyes narrowed slightly, but not slight enough to escape his notice. "Since you put it that way, yeah. Yeah I will. Hope you don't mind." The way she mimicked his own speech patterns when she was aggravated was something he had found cute for a while, but tonight he was glad for it all the more. He could tell he had struck a nerve, and thus she would do exactly that.
"Fine, fine." Marcus waved off her reply, turning and opening the door to his cabin. "Just don't peek in my windows yeah? Last thing I want is to think somebody's breaking in while I'm half asleep, and the last thing you want is to see what I sleep in. Or more accurately, what I don't."
Maddie said something in reply, possibly a return barb, or a denial, but whatever it was was drowned out by him closing his door. Besides, whatever her response was, it didn't really matter, his remark had done its job. Marcus was sure Maddie wouldn't be peering in any windows that night. He waited a few minutes, stealthily moving around his cabin, gathering items. Finally, he stopped by his door again, listening. On the other side, he could hear the muffled sound of Maddie's voice, most likely deep into her nightly conversation with the moon. Moving carefully to avoid making a sound, Marcus slid over to the window furthest from the door, opening it slowly and slipping out, carefully to gently slide it shut behind him. He knew that she'd be livid with him in the morning, and feel guilt stricken, and while that tore his heart apart, he knew what he had to do. He had tried being a team player. Now it was time to do things his way.
"Protect her, Marcus."
I will.