Thalia

Me, Piper and Hazel had led the other Empousa into the forest, hoping to get her lost in there.

In all the rush, I hadn't realized that we were led away from everyone else too.

Piper tried to charmspeak the Empousa to where me and Hazel had set up a trap filled with a bunch of gold she brought up from the ground.

The Empousa fell inside, and we trapped her.

"It's not gonna hold for long, we have to go." Hazel said.

We had run back to the place where we had stopped to rest with the others, before the attack.

No one was there.

***

Hazel was being really quiet.

Piper had gone to see if any of the others had come back, and me and Hazel were sitting there waiting for her.

I noticed she wasn't saying anything, and not the 'I don't know what to say and it feels awkward' kind, more like the 'there's something bothering me but I don't want to talk about it' kind.

"What's bothering you?" I decided to ask.

"What? Nothing!" She said. Too quickly if you ask me.

"Yeah, something is bothering you."

"Nothing. Just... Nico is with Bianca, and ever since she came he's been ignoring me. I mean, she's his real sister and I'm just his half sister-"

"Are you jealous of Bianca?" I cut her in trying to stop myself from laughing.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing. Just, you've been jealous of Bianca this whole time."

"I'm not jealous of her." She said quickly. "I just don't like her much... yeah I guess I am."

"You know how me Luke and Annabeth made it to camp half-blood, right?" I asked. I was about to tell her something I never told anyone before.

"Yeah?"

"Never tell Annabeth, but to be honest, when me and Luke first met her, I was kind of jealous of her. Luke would have most of his attention on her, and even though she was seven, I felt kind of left out."

"Wait, so you were jealous of a seven year old girl?"

"The point is," I said avoiding her question, "that Nico hasn't seen Bianca for a long time. He just wants to spend some time with her before she has to... you know, go back to the underworld."

I guess Hazel didn't know how to respond to this.

I suddenly heard a voice in my head.

Thalia.

I sat up straight. "Did you hear that?" I asked Hazel.

"What?" She looked confused. Maybe I'd just dreamt it.

"Never mind, it was probably nothing." I said.

Then, I felt myself being pulled away.

The next thing I remember seeing, was Annabeth.