When I returned to Camp Half-Blood a few hours later, I found Leah standing right outside of Hera's cabin with a torch in her hand, her eye twitching irritably as Rachel led Annabeth back to cabin six.

"I should drop this torch and let this place burn," Leah seethed, having quickly become protective over Annabeth since the last time they met, which was in August. I didn't bother asking how she'd gotten through the barrier, more concerned about the fact that some god would still curse her for burning down cabin two.

"Easy girl," I said, lowering Leah's hand, placing my own palm against the base of the fire and absorbing it, extinguishing the torch. "I know you're upset, but we can't go setting cabins on fire when we're upset."

"The Hunters of Artemis did it a few years back!" a passing daughter of Hebe said, which only made Leah smile smugly as I grabbed her by the wrist, leading her to one of the picnic tables by the cabins.

"Point is," I continued, "even the Hunters were wrong to burn down the cabins. It took them years to rebuild…Anyways, I know you're upset about Hera's actions."

"Damn right I am," Leah said, slamming her hands against the table so aggressively that the wood creaked. "She has absolutely no right, goddess or not, to kidnap the boy that kept her posh ass on her throne and make Annabeth, who also played a major role in keeping her alive, suffer like this! This isn't fair!"

I winced. "You might want to be careful about how you speak about the Queen of Olympus," I warned, noticing the growing storm clouds overhead. "If Hera doesn't strike you down herself, I guarantee Zeus will. That being said, I agree with you. I think there was a better way to go about what Hera has planned than kidnapping two boys."

"Two? There's another boy?" Leah looked like she was about to march up to Olympus and slap Hera across the face herself. Not that I would've blamed her. Before I came to this Earth, I thought the exact same things, even coming up with a page full of insults I could call Hera for being so reckless and insensitive about her actions.

I gave Leah the Reader's Digest version of everything that had happened over the past five days, starting with Percy's disappearance. By the time I finished, Leah was a brighter shade of red than the Ares cabin, her jaw clenched, her hands tight fists by her sides.

"I can't believe it!" Leah fumed. "My God, this is…ugh, how is Percy's mom taking this, by the way? I can't imagine the news went over well with her."

"It was heartbreaking to send that Iris-message," I admitted, remembering the way Sally had collapsed to her knees, her voice breaking as she begged for me to say that I was joking, that Percy was just wandering somewhere inside the camp's borders. I remember saying those dreadful words again, hearing her sob something awful, my own heart wrenching in my chest as I heard the cries of a distraught mother over her only child.

"Well, if I can't help by knocking some sense into Hera, what can I do? I will literally send the boys to scour the entire U.S. if that's what it takes."

I chewed on my bottom lip. "I'm sure Annabeth would appreciate the enthusiasm. I'd ask her first, though, because while I'd love for you guys to help, I don't want to put you five into any unnecessary danger."

Leah rolled her eyes at me, placing a hand on her hip. "Seriously, you act like you didn't spend the past few months training us in this kind of thing. And, by the way, the five of us continued with different types of self-defense classes, so we all practice with each other, keeping us in shape."

My eyes traveled to the silver pendant glimmering at the base of her throat – a simple arrow hanging from a black leather cord. Her fingers moved upward, tracing the head of the arrow with the tip of her index finger.

"I'm always armed, like you," Leah said, sounding calmer than she had been earlier. "Please, Andy, I want to help Annabeth in any way that I can. If I lost Pete-"

"You're dating Pete?!"

Leah gave a nervous laugh, twirling a strand of her long black hair, swaying back and forth. "We started dating on Halloween, but I kinda wish we'd started earlier. It's just, I really care about him, and if I were ever in Annabeth's situation, God forbid, I'd like all the help I could get."

"Go ask Annabeth, then," I sighed, relenting to Leah's desperate want to help.

"I will. But what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you just arrived, haven't you? That must mean you have news of some kind."

"Other than I ran into Jason's quest a few hours ago, and they seem to be on track, I haven't learned anything about Percy's whereabouts," I explained. "Plus, I couldn't ask Nico, seeing that I had to keep him from dying from what I suspect was a hit and run."

Leah's eyes widened. "All of this happened in one day?" I nodded; she whistled lowly. "Wow, your life is way more hectic than you make it out to be. Okay, so I'm gonna go talk to Annabeth now. I'll see you before I leave, yeah?"

"Of course."

"Great." Leah gave me a fierce hug, sighing in relief. "You're surprisingly warm seeing how cold it is and all. Funny, huh? Alright, I'll be going now."

I chuckled softly to myself as Leah made her way to cabin six, pausing by the front door as she knocked politely, waiting to be let in by Rachel. The Oracle quickly let Leah enter, shutting the door behind the both of them as they probably went back to comforting Annabeth.

As for me, after checking that no one way paying me much attention, I headed for the Big House, determined to do some more research in the restricted section of the library. My gods, I sound like Hermione Granger. Not that that was a bad thing, just pointing out similarities, that's all.

I mean, technically speaking, the entire library was forbidden.

Still, once I got inside, I found my stockpile of books I'd hidden underneath a collapsed table, carefully moving the splintered wood aside as my fingers finally closed around my reading material.

All of these books were everything I could find about the giants and primordials, knowing that being informed of potential weakness could greatly increase the chances of taking down these monsters with less of a headache.

I found myself spending a lot of time reading up on Tartarus, shivering whenever I stared too long at the shimmering illustrations of a place that could only be described as the stuff of nightmares. And this is coming from a girl who spent a great deal of time helping set up eternal torment for souls in the Fields of Punishment.

No, in all honesty, of everything I'd come face to face with over the past ten years, nothing terrified me as much as Tartarus. I still remembered the first time I saw the pit, when I was fourteen, standing in front of the Olympian council as they deliberated over what to do with me. I remembered the overwhelming feeling of helplessness as I got sucked into the abyss, the layers of reality peeling away until I stared at something that could drive even the strongest person to complete and utter madness if left looking at it for too long.

I forced myself to shut the book on Tartarus once I reached the part about the Mansion of Night. Every fiber of my being told me that there was something so innately wrong about even imagining any human being, demigod, or mortal being forced to endure that hell pit, especially when the primordial whose realm it was is literally the personification of evil, even more so than my deranged father.

"You must keep studying," I heard Atropos whisper in the back of my mind, sending shivers down my spine. "We know you know what will come to pass."

A single tear made its way down my cheek. "I've guessed about this for a long time now. Please tell me I'm wrong."

"Sadly, you're not. I'm, we're, deeply sorry, Andromeda."

I sniffed as I wiped away one other tear, getting up only so I could hide all the books again. I swore to myself right then and there that I wasn't going to tell another soul about what I knew would happen to me, not even to Luke or Chiron or Apollo himself if any of them came begging.

Who knew that by agreeing to save my friends I'd have to go to Tartarus twice?

I spent the rest of the day back as the swordsmanship teacher, giving Fred from Hermes a break from the younger campers, who would sooner impale themselves on the end of their swords than use them correctly.

I'd wanted to hang out with Luke and Will, like we used to do, but Luke had gone out with Annabeth again after hearing from Grover that a nymph thought she'd seen Percy by Niagara Falls.

And as for Will, ever since Percy's wish on his birthday for the gods to get their kids to camp by the time they were thirteen, he was swamped in the infirmary, treating more sprains, fractures, and cuts than he knew what to do with. Thankfully, his sister, Kayla Knowles, was more than willing to help Will in the infirmary.

While I would've been glad to offer my services, the thought of Kayla being in the infirmary with us instead of Cleo was too painful to bear. Even though it'd been a year since the death of my best friend, it still brought a fresh wave of pain whenever I thought of her.

It didn't help matters that when I tried to find her soul in Elysium, Nico had handed me a thick packet, one which I instantly recognized as the papers we gave out to any soul trying for rebirth. And at the bottom of the page were two strikingly familiar signatures: Cleo's and Nico's.

"She told me to give you this before she left," Nico had said before taking Cleo's papers back, handing me a small, sky blue diary, the kind that had the really cool fuzzy pen attached to the side of it.

"Was she happy?" I'd managed to ask, shaking as I accepted the diary from Nico, hugging it tightly to my chest.

"Yes. Cleo seemed to be at peace with her decision, and I'd like to think she wants you to be at peace, too." Then Nico had patted me on the back before shadow-traveling away, leaving me alone to mourn the loss of my best friend yet again in the middle of Elysium, the deserving souls staring at me with a mix of curiosity and pity.

I still had Cleo's diary, finding that I would reread her last letter to me whenever I missed her the most. And while I knew that I should move on, it still hurt like Kronos himself had attempted reaping my soul with his scythe.

"Uh, Miss Andy?" the youngest son of Nemesis asked, raising his hand. "When can we start?"

That managed to break me out of my stupor as I tightened my grip on my sword, realizing that I was still in charge of a class of fourteen children all under the age of ten, all armed with swords that were almost as tall as them.

"Go ahead and begin," I said, resuming my role as a teacher. "But do be careful. I don't think Will would appreciate having to attach anymore limbs this week."

"Tell that to Paolo," a boy snickered before getting slapped upside the head by his partner.

"She was talking about Paolo!"

"Ohhhh."

"Yes, 'Ohhhh.' Come on, pick up your sword."

I laughed softly to myself at the interaction before stepping back to watch all the partners spar, walking around to offer advice whenever I thought it was necessary. Eventually it was time for the children to leave, and luckily enough, I didn't have to send anyone holding a severed limb to Will.

Seeing that that had been the last class of the day, I began heading for the dining pavilion, before I felt a pounding in my head. Though this time, instead of feeling like my head was being used as an anvil, it was more like a steady pressure, as if someone was poking me between the eyes.

Andy, uh, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but there are a ton of wolves who are going to kill us. And, uh, I'm afraid that one silver dagger might not be enough.

On my way. Just try not to die in the next three seconds.

Sounds like a plan. Hey, Jason-!

I didn't hesitate to melt into my own shadow, appearing in front of the trio, plus a recently freed Coach Hedge, brandishing a silver sword of my own as I took point, making myself the biggest threat to the pack.

Jason hissed out a warning in Latin, which I responded to by telling him to be quiet, aware of what I was doing.

"My, my, my, look what the goat dragged in," Lycaon drawled, the skin around his lips tinged a dark red, as if he'd just made a recent kill. "Another girl, how pathetic. Do you really think one sword and dagger will be enough to stop my pack?"

"If I decide to play dirty, yeah, most definitely," I quipped, smirking as I watched Lycaon snarl. "But seeing that I am the goddess of wolves, I command you to leave this place and to never harm any of my friends ever again."

"Ha! Goddess of wolves!" Lycaon laughed. "I'll believe that when Tartarus freezes over!"

I scowled at the werewolf king. "Don't believe me? Beta!" I shouted, my gaze narrowing onto the second largest wolf in the pack, a female, her fur matted with even more blood and dirt than Lycaon. "Roll over," I commanded in the most official tone I could muster, feeling Leo flinch beside me from the way I spoke.

"Treating us like some domesticated pet, are you?" Lycaon goaded, trying to step forward, only for me to press the tip of my sword directly against his chest.

"Move, and I swear to every Olympian that I'll run you through. By the way, you should really teach your beta who the alpha is."

And true to my word, there was the beta werewolf rolling around in front of us, whimpering helplessly in front of Lycaon, begging for his forgiveness. Not wanting to embarrass the beta more than necessary, I allowed for her to stop after her third roll, watching as she skulked back to her brethren, hiding in the trees.

"I should kill you all for this," Lycaon growl, his voice low, echoing through the cave. "Beginning with you, Jupiter's boy, seeing that your father is to blame for my condition. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."

"Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"

I felt Jason look away. "Coach, you know this clown?"

"Most satyrs, nymphs, and demigods are taught this story," I answered. "So, yeah, we know exactly who Lycaon is."

"You were the mortal king who invited Zeus to dinner," Piper continued, her voice hard. "But you weren't really sure it was Zeus, so to test his powers, you fed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged-"

"And killed my sons!" Lycaon howled. The wolves behind him howled too. I tightened my grip on my sword.

"So Zeus turned Lycaon into a wolf," Piper said. "They call…they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."

"The king of wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."

Lycaon growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"

"Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you goat."

"Stop it," Jason said. "Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but…?"

"Sadly, Child of Rome, you are spoken for. "Since this one" – he waggled his claws at Piper – "has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honor of killing you herself."

"As if you could take the Wolf House," I seethed. "Lupa wouldn't go down without a fight."

"Lupa doesn't dare remain close to the Wolf House, especially not now," Lycaon said, a smug grin resting on his face, one I wanted to so desperately chop off.

"I'm not going to tell you again. Take your pack and leave, or I'll kill them all."

He scoffed. "You don't have the guts to do such a thing."

By the end of his sentence, I'd already thrown my sword at the nearest werewolf, causing it to collapse onto its side, melting into a puddle of darkness. I held out my hand, and my sword returned to my grasp, which I promptly pointed back towards Lycaon's sternum.

"Wait just a second before you kill him," Jason asked. "Who wants the honor of killing me at the Wolf House?"

The wolf king snickered. "Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite an impression on her. She will take care of you soon enough, and really I cannot complain. Spilling your blood at the Wolf House should mark my new territory quite well. Lupa will think twice about challenging my pack."

"Fat chance," I said. "Now scram, before I cover your entire pack in silver powder, keeping you in just enough agony to writhe until you lose your minds but never dying. Don't test me again, Lycaon. I won't be so forgiving next time."

Lycaon laughed, appearing like he was prepared to lunge right at us and call his pack to his side, but a ripping sound shattered the stillness of the night, almost as if someone was ripping cardboard. Then a pure silver arrow struck another wolf, causing it to writhe and howl before it stilled, also melting into a puddle of darkness.

More arrows were shot; more wolves fell. One caught Lycaon in the shoulder, and I took it as my opportunity to stab him in the leg. I'd been aiming for the stomach, but another arrow hit Lycaon in the face, causing him to sway, which led to the leg wound instead. Oh, well, it seemed pretty deep anyways. Hopefully, he'd bleed out somewhere along the way.

"This isn't over, son of Jupiter," Lycaon growled one last time, staring at Jason with pure hatred with those blood red eyes of his before disappearing into the night.

A heartbeat later, more wolves flooded the cave, but these were smaller, more agile. I understood their conversation but didn't partake in it, figuring that there were more important things to be done than listen to the wolves call to their hunters.

And, like I'd expected, six Hunters raced into the cave, Thalia leading the pack. She crouched to the ground, snatching up the arrow that had wounded Lycaon.

"So close," she muttered, wiping off some of the blood from the arrow with the heel of her boot, returning it to her quiver. "Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you."

The other Hunters mumbled agreement and disappeared, heading after Lycaon's pack.

Thalia's face was still hidden underneath the hood of her parka, but I knew it was her from her voice and her Aegis bracelet. "We've been following that demon's trail for over a week. Is everyone all right? No one got bit?"

"Nah, everyone's bite free," I said, causing Thalia to look up so quickly I thought she'd give herself whiplash.

"Andy?" she asked, confusion flashing in her eyes. "What are you doing here? I thought you were looking for Percy."

"I was, but then-"

"You're her," Piper guessed, stepping forward. "You're Thalia."

Thalia tensed at Piper's guess. But she still stood up straight, reaching up to pull the hood of her parka down, revealing her close cropped hair and silver tiara. Her electric blue eyes glowed from the fire's light.

"Do I know you?" Thalia asked.

Piper drew a shaky breath. "This might be a shock, but-"

"Thalia." Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling. "I'm Jason, your brother."

The daughter of Zeus froze, merely staring at Jason like she was unsure of how to react. She examined him up and down, her gaze catching for a moment on the scar above Jason's lip before she rushed forward, pulling him into a hug that could rival Tyson's.

"My gods! She told me you were dead!" She gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you! That little scar on your lip – you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"

Leo laughed. "Seriously?"

Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers – excellent source of iron."

"What is it with sons of Zeus and trying to eat dangerous things?" I said, shaking my head. "Perseus tried eating a lionfish, Hercules tried eating a lightning bolt-"

"I thought that was in the Disney movie?" Leo asked.

"Nah, that happened in real life, too. Hercules isn't too proud of that moment. And now Jason's tried to eat a stapler."

"W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"

At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. "My wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit."

"Don't worry about the time aspect so much," I said, taking a seat on the rocky ground. I pressed my hands together, a soft golden glow encasing them as I froze time around us. Even the fire had stopped flickering, appearing like a prop more than something that could actually provide heat and light. "There we go. Much better."

But while I'd been freezing time, Piper collapsed, and probably would've cracked her skull if Hedge hadn't caught her. Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with her? Ah – never mind. I see. Severe hypothermia." She frowned at Coach Hedge. "Don't you know nature healing?"

Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think she looks this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"

"I'll take care of it, Thals," I said. "Go on and talk. I'm sure Jason would love to know why you thought he was dead."

Thalia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Hey, Andy, I know it's a lot to ask of you, seeing that you're already freezing time and helping the girl…but I think this is something I need to show instead of explain."

"Okay, just give me a moment."

"What are you two talking about?" Jason asked, looking completely lost.

Leo, on the other hand gave me this knowing grin. He turned to Jason. "It'll make sense in a bit, bro. I promise."

After giving Piper some hot chocolate, placing hot water bottles over major blood vessels, and giving her the thickest, warmest blankets I could find from my bag, I pulled her closer to the fire, restarting time on the main source of heat in the cave. For good measure, I wrapped my arms around her, knowing that as a goddess who could control fire, I gave off more heat than the average person.

Then, I looked up at Thalia. "Are you sure about this?"

She nodded. "This is the best way."

"Okay, come here." Thalia walked over and plopped herself next to me. I pressed two fingers to her temple. "This isn't going to hurt, but you might feel slightly dizzy afterwards."

"Just do it," she said through gritted teeth.

"As you wish." I turned to the others. "Everyone hold onto each other."

Once everyone was holding hands, I dove into Thalia's mind, depositing us into the last memory she had of Jason – the one where he was left in the middle of the woods, the day Thalia thought that her brother had been murdered.