AFTER THE THREE demigods returned back to the ship, leo immediately began to set course to venice, making sure no time was wasted to get to their next destination.

as for karina, well, she was stuck with piper.

"oh my gods!" karina heard a shout come from behind her, and as she turned, all she could see was a flash of pink before she was immediately engulfed into a bone-crushing hug, the smell of rich perfume immediately engulfing for senses.

karina stuttered back in shock, and slight pain, her arms extended awkwardly at her sides, suddenly not feeling comfortable anymore with the sudden displays of affection everyone was giving her.

piper felt karina stiffen under her touch, and immediately backed off, but her hands still rested on her arms, looking at her with glossy eyes, and a happy expression. "you're finally awake!"

karina knew that she looked extremely awkward and uncomfortable from piper's point of view, and she couldn't help but feel bad that she did. she didn't mean to feel this way— but, ever since she'd woken up, she'd felt nothing but emptiness and a cold demeanor. she couldn't help it when piper's touch made her go rigid.

"um," karina struggled for words, swallowing hardly. "yeah. i woke up yesterday."

piper could tell that karina was uncomfortable, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness rip through her heart that the sight of her broken forte. she could tell that it was mask— she could almost feel the bottled up pain and trauma that karina was holding in. but, karina pulled it off so well that if you didn't know her past, you wouldn't think of her as anything else but a blank person.

"well, i saw you this morning, and, well— " piper forced out a laugh. "you know how that went."

karina tried to laugh with her. she wanted to so bad. but she physically couldn't even conjure up a small smile. so, she settled for just nodding her head, her eyes flicking to the wooden floor of the ship instead of piper's calculating eyes.

they stood there awkwardly for a moment— piper investigating karina with only her eyes, while she tried her best to avoid eye contact with piper, keeping her eyes glued to the ground below them.

"hey," piper said, her voice dropping. "what's going on?"

karina kept her stare on piper's feet as her jaw tightened. "nothing," she said as calmly as she could. "nothing's wrong."

piper rolled her eyes. "don't lie to me, karina. you know i can tell when you're making stuff up."

karina felt her stomach begin to twist in annoyance, and she tried her best to keep her words calm. "i'm fine, piper, okay?" she said, beginning to walk around her. but, piper was not convinced, and before she could walk by her, she grabbed karina's wrist and pulled her back, giving her a unconvinced look.

karina felt the pressure on her wrist and immediately retaliated by gripping piper's wrist in her own, flicking it away from her body with ease, making piper look at her with a look of shock. now, karina's hand held her wrist, and a hard look was present on her face as she stared at piper.

"i said i'm fine," karina said lowly. "what other answer do you need?"

piper ripped her wrist out of karina's death grip and glared at her. "the real one," she said sternly.

karina's fists clenched at her sides, and she felt herself growing warm with irritation, gaea's influence getting the best of her. "it is the real one. now back off."

she didn't mean to snap at her like that. she could tell that she was getting close to going off on her before she'd even let the words slip from her mouth, but she thought that if she stayed quiet, the urge would go away. but the thing is, she wanted to snap at piper like that. the way gaea made her irritation levels rise and anger ten-fold was only making her get satisfaction from these situations of karina snapping at her friends. and she couldn't even realize that it wasn't her actual thoughts, because of how normalized the feeling has become in her system. it was as if it was a new normal to her.

piper backed away with a look of hurt shown on her face, but she could tell from the way karina's eyes flitted from her's to the ground, that she didn't mean what she said. piper had to force the rude words that she wanted to say to karina back down her throat, and instead she stood straight, looking karina dead center.

"stop putting up the fake heartless act and tell me what's going on." piper demanded, her stare not leaving karina's face as she saw her lips purse in anger.

this was karina's final straw. "can't you see i don't want to fucking talk about it!" she snapped loudly, grabbing the attention of jason, who was helping leo at the starboard. "get off my ass, piper!"

her hands began to shake, and she looked at piper with a slightly desperate look, almost begging her to drop it, because she knew that if she didn't, gaea would fully take over her emotions, and who knows how bad she would get.

piper could see the desperation in karina's eyes, though her irritated expression showed differently, but she knew that she'd pushed her limits.

"okay," piper said. "i'll shut up. but, you can't bottle up your pain forever, nina. it'll crush you until you can't hold it anymore— and i know how powerful you are— and so do you. if you keep this all bottled up, you will hurt someone when you have to let it all out."

karina wanted to deny everything that piper just said. she didn't want to admit to the fact that she was purposely putting aside all of the pain and trauma that she'd experienced just so that she didn't have to accept the fact that it actually happened. she didn't want to go through another amount of pain, just to process all of the other traumatic events that happened to her. she didn't want the crew to see her as weak, or as a crybaby. she wanted them to see her as strong— and not someone who crumbles when they're beat down. she needed to stay strong for them.

and she couldn't let her emotions get in the way of that.

"make sure you're out of the way then," karina said harshly. "when i 'let it all out'."

and with that, she stormed away from piper, and down the stairs.

piper stared sadly at the retreating form of karina, her heart aching at the poor girl's situation.

she felt someone put their hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see jason beside her, looking at her with a reassuring expression, but his eyes were sad.

"give her time," he said softly. "she's going through a lot. and . . . saying things that she doesn't mean. we just need to be more careful with what we say around her."

piper shook her head. "we're not going to treat her like she's some wounded dog or something. she definitely wouldn't want that. we need to act normal around her— just like we always would. she's just hurting right now. once we save percy and annabeth, everything will be okay."

jason nodded, and tried to let himself believe her words. "we can only hope it will."

KARINA COULDN'T SLEEP.

she never could. well— actually, she never tried anymore. she had gotten used to the routine of keeping herself busy throughout the entire night just so that she wouldn't let herself even think about sleep. but, tonight was different.

at some point throughout the night, she found herself standing directly in front of the door to percy's cabin, staring at the glossed wood indecisively.

she knew that going into his room would be a bad idea. she'd tried to get the thought of percy out of her mind for as long as she could yesterday, and it had been slightly successful. her mind had mostly been occupied with the crazy kerkopes that she had been chasing after the whole day— and she hadn't really had time to think about him.

but now, as she stood wide awake just outside his room— he was the only thing that was on her mind.

she could smell the faint scent of the sea that sifted around the inside of his room from where she was standing, and she felt intoxicated by it. she herself had begun to smell like the sea slightly at one point too— due to the fact that she was always around percy. so, his smell had rubbed off on her. but, the same thing had happened to him. whenever he'd stand beside her— she could smell the faint aroma of lavender and vanilla coming from his hair, and she knew that he had used her shampoo.

finally, without another thought in her mind, she slowly turned to knob on the door, and stepped inside the room.

it wasn't completely dark like she had expected it to be. apparently, percy had forgotten to turn off his heat lamp when he'd last left the room, so the cabin was lit up in a faint orange glow, making her body turn change into the same color.

karina tried her best to keep her breathing steady as she looked at the state of the room.

it was as if he had never left. his bed hadn't been made the morning that he disappeared, so the comforter was thrown lazily down the length of the mattress, and the pillows were thrown in every corner of the bed, not made at all.

percy was a kicker. she knew that firsthand.

she saw a few unfinished blueprints scattered across his bedside table— most likely ones that annabeth would give to him to analyze in his free time. and she noticed a few mismatched articles of clothing scattered across the floor, making it look like he tore through his closet before he left.

karina closed the door softly behind her, fully stepping into the room as she left her heart begin to clench tightly, her chest feeling heavy as she stared that the room she had shared for multiple nights with percy— only days ago. she felt her hands begin to shake as she walked further into the room, sitting down slowly onto the bed.

she ran her hand along the fabric of his blue comforter, smiling pitifully at the extent of percy's obsession with the color blue.

his whole bed set was blue— even the mattress. his lamp had a blue lampshade, and his walls had small blue posters and paintings about the ocean, and sea life decorated along it. his whole closet consisted of about 90% blue fabric clothing, and he only wore blue socks. literally. his whole sock drawer was blue.

karina found herself smiling slightly at the unrealistic amount of blue items her boyfriend possessed, and she felt herself grow even sadder at the fact she may never be able to see him wear any of it again.

no. she needed to stop thinking like that. they were going to save percy and annabeth. they were going to bring them back. and, even if the rest of the crew can't— karina can. and will. no matter what it takes.

karina felt her eyes begin to grow tired, and she found herself unintentionally laying back onto percy's bed, placing her head on the same exact pillow that percy used for his own.

she breathed in the scent of his sheets, smelling the sea and his faint cologne exploding into her senses, bringing her a wave of nostalgia, and also pain. she wished she could be laying on percy's chest— breathing in the same exact scent that she was right
now.

but she wasn't. and she might never be able to.

karina curled her body deeper into his bed, grabbing the nearest blanket and wrapping it snuggly around her body, letting herself sink into the bittersweet feeling of familiarity as she closed her eyes.

she couldn't escape the effect of her lack of sleep. it would always catch up to her, eventually. and she was just so tired, in so many ways. she wanted to have a peaceful night of sleep. just once. she was almost begging for one of the gods to grant her with the gift of dreamless sleep just for one night.

but, she never got it.

jason woke up to the sound of screaming.

he couldn't identify where the voice was coming from— or who it was coming from, but all he knew was that it was the type of scream that made your blood run cold.

he raced out of his room, stepping into the dimly lit hallway, only to see that piper and frank were also awake, expressions of fear showing on their faces at the sound of the screams.

"what's happening?" jason asked, as the screaming stopped momentarily. "who's screaming?"

piper shook her head. "i— i don't know, i can't tell which cabin it's coming fro— "

"help! help me, please!" jason heard the scream again, and he felt as if his blood turned to ice when he identified who the voice was.

"karina." jason said, and he raced down to percy's cabin, swinging open the door to see a thrashing and crying karina laying in percy's bed. her body was coated in sweat, and her voice was repeatedly begging for someone to help her.

"make it stop! make it stop, please!"

jason's body trembled as he raced over to her, shaking her body harshly. "karina, wake up! it's just a dream!" he said hardly, tapping her face a few times as to try and coax her awake.

she didn't budge, and instead her cries grew louder, and more gut-wrenching.

"AH! it hurts! please, it hurts!" she cried, her face contorted in pain as her body stiffened and thrashed, looking as if her own skin was suffocating her.

jason shook her harder, and he heard the sounds of piper and frank hastily enter the room.

"help me get her up!" jason exclaimed frantically. "she won't budge!"

frank looked like he was about to throw up his dinner from last night. he looked so scared that his face got even redder than it usually was.

"karina?" piper said, using her charmspeak. "hey, hon, you've got to wake up. you're dreaming, this isn't real."  despite her soft words, piper looked absolutely terrified at the sight of karina and the state she was in. her hands were trembling, and her eyebrows were knit together.

piper's soothing words didn't seem to make an effect on her, because karina continued to have tears stream down her face, crying out in excruciating pain.

jason forcibly began to shake her body, lifting her up from the bed and setting her in front of him as the real panic began to set in. he yelled her name out desperately, tapping her forehead and pinching her wrist to try to snap her out of her nightmare.

"karina, please!" jason pleaded. "wake up! WAKE UP!"

he suddenly felt her body go rigid, and karina slumped against his chest as her screams cut off— leading him to think that she'd passed out in her dream, but that didn't seem possible.

piper looked at her in confusion, and slight worry. "do you think she's . . . "

jason shook his head. "i don't know what happened."

he felt karina stir under his arms, and he saw her slowly raise her head, but her eyes were still closed, and her mouth was slightly agape as she sat up— as if she was in a trance.

fear began to settle into jason's bones. " . . . karina?" he asked hesitatingly, not sure how to go forward with the situation, remembering the last time that something like this happened— percy had to kiss her awake.

before he could even process what was happening, karina's eyes shot open, and she lunged for jason, slamming his body against the wall with an animalistic scream.

jason felt his back slam into the wall before his mind even caught up to what was happening. his mouth was gaping for air, the impact knocking the wind out of him. but, just as he reached for a breath of air, he was slammed back into the wall, with a hand pressed up tight against his throat.

"kill . . . them all . . . " he heard a very un-karina-like voice say from her mouth as she choked jason, her other hand digging her nails into the side of his arm.

her eyes glowed bright gold, and the color illuminated around the room, making it brighter than before.

jason struggled to speak. "kar . . . what— "

he was cut off by frank ripping karina off of him, leading him to hungrily gasp for air, his lungs burning with invisible fire as he desperately gulped for air, watching as frank tried to hold karina against his body, restraining her.

"karina, what are you doing?" he asked, frightened. "what's wrong with you— "

she whipped around and punched frank straight in the nose, her arm veins glowing gold, and the impact sent the boy airborne, flying into the wall behind him, his nose dripping blood. it seemed as if her strength had tripled.

piper's body shook as she looked at karina frightfully. "karina . . . " she trembled. "you need to wake up, okay?"

karina's hands shook violently, closed into tight fists as she slowly turned to piper, watching her cower away in fear.

"karina . . . " a deep, earthy voice said. "is not here."

piper tried her best to straighten out her back, trying to look confident. "who is here then?" she asked, slipping as much charmspeak into her voice as she could.

karina chuckled sadistically. "i think we all know who is."

karina threw herself at piper, but jason intercepted just in time, throwing himself into karina just before she landed on piper. he grabbed her arms and restrained them against the floor, watching as karina looked at him in amusement.

"you think you're stronger than me?" she asked, a smirk showing on her lips. "we'll see just how strong all of you are."

karina ripped her arms out of his grip, and head butted him straight to the floor, leaving him no room to recover as she grabbed his arm and physically threw him into the hallway— slamming him into the door of his cabin.

jason groaned in pain, struggling to get to his feet. "leo!" he yelled. "coach! anyone, for gods sake! get down here!" he needed help, he knew that karina was nearly invincible at this moment, and that he needed to think strategically, not physically.

he saw the figure of hazel race out of her cabin, her cavalry sword held tightly in her hand as she snuck behind karina.

jason locked eyes with her, and hazel looked at him in fear, and confusion, not knowing what was happening to karina.

it seemed that karina had followed his line of sight, because she turned around quickly, unsheathing her gladius in the process.

"ah, another crew mate," the voice of gaea chuckled. "this will be so much fun."

"what are you going with karina?" hazel demanded. "get out of her body!"

karina chuckled. "it's not her's to keep anymore, dear. i'm merely telling her what to do with it. this is karina fighting, not me."

hazel raised her spatha. "leave her alone."

karina smirked. "no."

karina charged, and hazel barely had any time to block the hit before she got struck again twice as fast. hazel began to back up, feeling herself become overwhelmed with the amount of skill that karina had possessed. it was no secret that karina was one of the best swordsmen in all of camp jupiter. she trained harder than anyone else. but, during this quest, she'd humbled herself, never let her true abilities show. and now, there was no denying that karina was showing who was the more powerful one here. and she didn't need gaea to prove that.

hazel felt her back press against the wall, and karina smacked her spatha out of her hands, quickly disarming her and pressing the blade of her gladius against her neck, the cold metal grazing dangerously  close to the skin of her throat.

but, it felt as if something was holding her back. her hands were shaking with effort— like she was restraining herself from killing hazel right then and there. but that's when she realized— it was karina who was restraining her own self from killing hazel. it wasn't her mind doing this. it was gaea's. and karina couldn't do anything about it. but, this was her fighting against gaea's will— and she was restraining her own body against her to stop her.

"karina," hazel breathed out, her eyes wide with fear as karina's hands trembled against her gladius. "come back to us. i know you're in there. fight through her."

her eyes flashed green for a moment, and hazel could've sworn she saw her eyes with go wide in fear. but, just as it was there, it was gone, and she groaned in anger, her eyes going back to gold. "no! karina is gone."

"no, she isn't," hazel struggled to say, watching as beads of sweat fell down karina's face, the effort of restraining gaea from killing hazel becoming almost unbearable to undertake. "if she was, i would've been dead by now."

karina growled, and pressed the blade deeper against her neck. from the corner of her eye, she saw coach hedge slowly walking behind karina, his baseball bat raised in a swinging stance— like he was preparing to hit a home run.

except the baseball was karina.

hazel had to keep her distracted, knowing that karina's reflexes were far too good for her to be caught up in a sneak attack.

"you won't win," hazel choked out, watching as karina's veins glowed brighter as she struggled to contain the strength of gaea. "karina is stronger than you. we all are. she's going to destroy you. and you will no longer be able to puppet her around like you do now."

"she is only strong because i gave her those powers," gaea snapped. "she would be nothing without me!"

coach hedge was almost in striking range. she only needed a few more seconds to spare. "that's not what i heard. karina doesn't need your power to be strong. she's holding you off right now and you don't even know it."

karina looked down at her hand, and before she could fully press the blade against hazel's throat, coach hedge whacked the back of karina's head with a sickening clunk.

karina dropped to the floor, her body completely unconscious, and hazel slumped against the wall, holding her hand to her neck with relief, her heart pounding out of her chest at the fact that she almost got her throat slit by her best friend.

no. it wasn't karina. it was utterly, and completely, gaea.

"well," hedge said, twisting his bat in his hands. "that's something you don't see everyday." even he was spooked at karina's state of being.

frank stumbled over to hazel, taking her into his arms immediately. "are you okay?" he asked worriedly, scanning over her body for injuries. "gods, i was so scared— "

hazel shook him off. "i'm— i'm okay. karina saved me."

frank turned to her in confusion. "um . . . are we talking about the same karina? because from what i saw, it looked like she was trying to kill you."

hazel shook her head, and knelt down beside karina, checking her pulse. "her heartbeat is racing. jason, we should take her to the sickbay."

jason looked over from where he sat on the floor, piper crouched down beside him as she checked him for injuries.

"no," he said. "take her to her room. i don't want her waking up in the medical wing again."

hazel swallowed, and carefully sat karina up against the wall, looking her sleeping face as her head slumped against her shoulder, her whole body going slack.

"i'm so sorry, nina," hazel whispered, her voice cracking. "i'm so sorry you're going through this."

she swallowed, and turned to frank. "can you carry her back to her cabin, please?" her voice was soft, and fragile, as if she had completely shattered at the sight of karina.

frank nodded, and carefully picked up karina up in his arms, carrying her down the hall and into her room, setting her on her bed, before coming back into the hallway. he stood sort of awkwardly in the middle, not knowing what to say.

"how are we going to tell her about this?" piper said quietly, but everyone heard it. "she's going to put all of the blame on herself."

jason nodded. "i know," he said. "she's going to think that she was the one that tried to kill us. not gaea."

hazel walked over to them, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "we just have to be careful with her. she's in a . . . fragile state, right now. and if she lashes out, she will cause damage to something. or someone." she whispered the last part, but they all caught it.

jason slumped against the wall, closing his eyes tiredly. "and i thought i had bad nightmares."

no one laughed. but they were all thinking the same thing.

whatever gaea was doing to karina, wasn't good. and they needed to find a way to fix it. fast.

KARINA DIDN'T WAKE up in percy's room like she expected herself to. instead, she found herself back in her own cabin, and she was confused on how she had gotten there in the first place. did she wake up in the middle of the night and walk back? or did someone move her?

she didn't know. but all she knew was that she had a pounding headache, and her body was sore, like she'd just run a 10k without stopping. she didn't know why she suddenly felt this way, but she just chose to ignore it, getting up and out of bed to get ready.

she didn't feel very motivated to actually leave her cabin this morning. after her lash out at piper yesterday, she felt quite embarrassed for even showing her face back with the group. if anything, she should just stay down in her room, not causing any arguments or disturbances. but, she knew that she couldn't do that. her friends are too good for her— they'd come down and drag her out against her will if it came to that.

she slipped on a pair of brown corduroy pants, and paired a plain cream colored tank top with it, putting on her necklace— which was in its gladius form, for some reason— and put on all of her usual rings, staring at her bare ring finger for just a second longer, feeling a pang of hurt go through her chest as she thought about her mother's lost ring. she hoped that she'd find it somewhere, lying around. because the truth is, she felt more at home when she wore that ring. there was a calming aura that seemed to surround the ring whenever she wore it, and wherever she went, the ring reminded her of her home— whether it was just simply nature— or her childhood home, it didn't matter. all that mattererd was that it made her feel safe and comfortable. but now, she felt so much more . . . naked without it. like she didn't know where she felt comfortable anymore.

she tried to ignore the empty feeling, and instead went into the bathroom to splash some water on her face, trying her best to clear her head of any bad thoughts.

but, after she'd washed her face, and when she looked at herself in the mirror— she suddenly got a wave of flashbacks of something she didn't remember.

she saw a split second image of herself holding her gladius against hazel's throat, and she saw herself sending jason through the air and slamming him into a wall. she saw herself punch frank in the face, sending him toppling back into the wall behind him. and lastly, she saw herself crumbling to the ground, the figure of coach hedge standing behind with his baseball bat raised.

and that's when it hit her.

karina stumbled back in terror, losing her footing and pressing her back against the wall behind her. so many images and memories of the night before were flashing through her mind at a rapid speed, a new flashback coming every second. she couldn't breathe. she couldn't speak. it felt as if someone had sucked all of the air out of her lungs— leaving her to gasp desperately for breath as she continued to watch memories of last night flash before her eyes.

she couldn't take it. the scenes and images overwhelming her so much that she found herself struggling to stand up, her throat feeling tight, and her legs growing weak. she squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to grip onto something— anything, for stability as she watched herself from a third person's point of view, trying to kill her friends.

she could feel tears begin to fall down her face as realization set into her bones. that's why she didn't wake up in percy's bed. that's why she had a horrible headache. this had all happened last night.

she had tried to murder her friends.

karina's whole body trembled as tears began to cloud her vision, and she slapped a hand over her mouth to try and keep herself from verbally crying out in despair. she couldn't bear to look at herself in the mirror— too disgusted at herself to even want to see what she looked like.

she couldn't believe herself. she couldn't believe that she had allowed herself to sink that deep into gaea's control. she thought that she had under control, she had been keeping the intrusive thoughts and constant sound of gaea's voice to a minimum. she'd ignored the sounds of the earth goddess whispering into her ear, telling her to betray the crew. telling her to kill every single one of them. gaea would describe all the ways that she could escape her friends, and join her army instead. she'd tell her about how much praise karina would be awarded with, and how honored she would be all throughout the army of monsters. she'd used her persuasive tendencies and words to try and sway karina to her side— but it never worked.

karina ignored all of the words gaea whispered to her. she put aside all of the persuasion and talk about praise, and instead thought about ways that she could kill her. she overloaded gaea's trickery with her own, planting all of the horrible, and gruesome ways karina thought about killing her. she blocked all of the words that gaea said to her with words of her own— telling her how she won't win, and that she will kill her singlehandedly. and win.

she refused to let gaea get under her skin. she refused to let her win the mental battle that she was constantly fighting in.

but now, it seems that karina already lost.

karina could hardly breathe as she stumbled up the stairs, tears falling freely down her face as she searched for the crew. she needed them to tell her what happened, and she needed to make sure they were alive.

she couldn't have killed them.

no, no. she wouldn't have.

she struggled to run faster as she raced up the stairs, and looked into the engine room.

"leo?" she called desperately, her voice shaking as she looked around the empty room in a panic.

"oh, gods," she mumbled to herself, and sprinted towards the main deck, her breathing so erratic that it came out in puffs and wheezes, barely getting any oxygen in and out of her lungs.

she stumbled onto the main deck, and she almost felt her whole body shrivel with relief at the sight of everyone standing together— alive.

karina felt more tears begin to fall down her face at the sight of all of her friends turning to her with looks of worry showing on their faces.

"karina?" jason asked nervously as he came up to her, placing her head in his hand. "what's wrong? what happened?"

she involuntarily touched the hand that was pressed against her face, and leaned into it— too swallowed up in relief to even care about the fact that the thought of anyone touching her made her uncomfortable.

karina couldn't speak. her heart felt so erratic that it almost felt like all of the beats were blending together, and she could barely feel herself breathing as jason's eyes scanned over her in an anxious way.

"i— " her voice dropped, and she took a few deep breaths to try and steady herself. "what . . . happened to me?"

she saw piper look at karina with a guilty expression, her eyes holding pain as she stared at the distressed form of karina ashwood.

jason swallowed hardly, and took karina's hand, to which she immediately snatched it out of— finally snapped out of her daze. it wasn't out of hate, or disgust, she just didn't want anybody touching her at this moment. she felt so . . . disgusted with herself, that she couldn't bear to feel anyone of them herself in her own space.

"let's talk about it all together, okay?" jason said, and karina's jaw tightened, obviously trying her best to calm her trembling body, and nodded, turning to the rest of the group, who were all staring at her with the same expressions.

pity.

she hated it. she hated the thst they stared at her— as if she was some wounded puppy. they looked down upon her, made her feel weak. it made her look as if she needed them to help her back up— to get her moving again. but she didn't. she didn't need any of their pity to make her feel better. she didn't want the antagonizing stares that her friends were giving her. she just wanted them to treat her like a human.

karina hastily rubbed her hands over her face, erasing any remnants of her crying, making sure the crew didn't feed off of her weak state. she walked towards the rest of her friends, who were all standing around her, not saying anything. just staring.

"so?" karina spoke hardly. "are you guys going to tell me what happpened? or just stare at me?"

jason let out a long sigh. "karina, last night, you were screaming in your sleep. you were calling for help— and it seemed like you were in pain. but . . . but when you woke up, it wasn't you. it was gaea."

karina stared at him, beckoning for him to continue. her emotionless facade was a starch contrast from her fast-beating heart and sweaty palms. her stomach was in knots, and she felt as if she was going to vomit at any second, but she kept her composure. she had to.

piper continued for him. "gaea was basically in control of your whole body," she summarized. "when you woke up, you weren't you anymore. gaea had full control of your thoughts and emotions— so she willed you to attack us. it's not your fault."

karina's eyes fell to the ground, and she clenched her fists to keep them from shaking. "how badly did i hurt you guys?"

jason swallowed with a nervous laugh. "um— you kind of threw me against a wall a couple of times."

"and punched my nose," frank added, pointing to his bruised nose.

"and had hazel at knife point," jason said, but immediately regretted it as he saw the look of terror that flashed over your face for a split second. he slapped a hand over his mouth as piper glared daggers at him.

he screwed up.

"she what?" leo asked in shock, his head whipping to her from his spot at the ship's wheel.

"leo— shut it." piper scolded, looking at karina with a sorry expression.

"i . . . what?" karina's voice shook. she didn't know if it was from disbelief, or anger. maybe both.

hazel stepped closer to her. "well," she began nervously. "you put yourself in a sword fight against me. and— obviously you're the more skilled one in that category, so you easily disarmed me. and, well . . . you almost killed me." her voice dropped drastically at the last words, her head going down in guilt.

karina was speechless. she couldn't believe herself. "how did you manage to survive?" she asked carefully, disbelief in the fact that she actually had to ask that question. "if i was that strong with her, how did i manage to not . . . kill you."

hazel seemingly perked up at that question. "that's the thing," she said. "it wasn't me who avoided getting killed. it was you. you stopped gaea from pressing the knife against my neck."

karina's eyebrows furrowed. "that makes no sense. i didn't have any control of myself."

"that's what we thought," jason chimed in. "but then we realized that gaea was only controlling your mind, not your body. she didn't make you any stronger physically— she was just pushing you to your maximum potential. so, when she tried having you kill hazel, you physically stopped her from doing so. you held her back. you fought against her."

karina's lips parted slightly in shock, still confused with the whole situation. "so . . . gaea only has control of my mind?"

jason nodded. "that's what we think."

"and she's only using my power to her advantage," karina said. "not her's."

they nodded, and karina felt the knot in her stomach grow.

"so i'm really strong enough to kill all of you?" she asked uncertainly, her voice growing quiet.

jason, frank, piper, and hazel all exchanged knowing looks, knowing exactly what was happening. they all knew that karina would blame herself for this— no matter how many times they told her not to.

nico stepped forward, staring calculatedly at karina. "we've always known that you're strong enough to kill us," he said factually, catching the attention of everyone. "it's no surprise that you are one of the strongest demigods here— even if you never show it. so it's no surprise that it's confirmed now that you are powerful enough to kill us. i've seen the way you fight, nina. you're strong. it shouldn't be a shock that you have the ability to kill us."

karina tried her best to mask her fright. now having the confirmation that she was powerful enough to . . . kill her friends, she suddenly felt terrified to even use her skills in front of them. it was almost like an out of body experience for her— she didn't feel comfortable in her body anymore. she felt scared, and she felt nervous to make a wrong move— with the possibility that she'll hurt one of them. she knows that she shouldn't worry about this— since it's always been this way, except she'd never actually thought about the possibility of killing her friends. but, now with this new found information plagued in her mind— it was the only thing she could think about.

karina didn't respond for a moment, and everyone began to look to nico, ready to scold him for overstepping, but when she finally raised her head, they stopped.

"well," she said. "now that we've decided that i'm powerful enough to kill every single one of you, i'd rather not talk about it anymore. so, if we can, could we just forget about this for now? worry about the real problem at hand? you know— saving our friends."

"yes, actually," leo said from the wheel. "look down."

the argo II had docked at a busy wharf. on one side stretched a shipping channel about half a kilometer wide. on the other spread the city of venice— red-tiled roofs, metal church domes, steepled towers, and sun-bleached buildings in all the colors of valentine candy hearts— red, white, ochre, pink, and orange.

everywhere there were statues of lions— on top of pedestals, over doorways, on the porticoes of the largest buildings. there were so many, karina figured the lion must be the city's mascot.

where streets should have been, green canals etched their way through the neighborhoods, each one jammed with motorboats. along the docks, the sidewalks were mobbed with tourists, shopping at the t-shirt kiosks, overflowing from stores, and longing across acres of outdoor café tables, like pods of sea lions.

but, karina and the rest of her friends weren't paying attention to any of that. they had gathered at the starboard rail to stare at the dozen of weird shaggy monsters milling through the crowds.

"what are they?" hazel asked.

each monster was about the size of a cow, with a bowed back like a broken-down horse, matted gray fur, skinny legs, and black cloven hooves. the creature's heads seemed much too heavy for their necks. their long, anteater-like snouts drooped to the ground. their overgrown gray manes completely covered their eyes.

karina watched as one of the creatures lumbered across the promenade, snuffling and licking the pavement with its long tongue. the tourists parted around it, unconcerned. a few even petted it. karina wondered how the mortals could be so calm. then the monster's appearance flickered. for a moment it turned into an old, fat beagle.

jason grunted. "the mortals think they're stray dogs."

"stupid," karina muttered.

"or pets roaming around," piper said. "my dad shot a film in venice once. i remember him telling me there were dogs everywhere. venetians love dogs."

"but what are they?" frank asked, repeating hazel's question. "they look like . . . starving, shaggy cows with sheepdog hair."

he waited for someone to enlighten him. nobody volunteered any information.

"maybe they're harmless," leo suggested. "they're ignoring the mortals."

"harmless!" gleeson hedge laughed. the satyr wore his usual gym shorts, sports shirt, and coach's whistle. his expression was as gruff as ever, but he still had one pink rubber band stuck in his hair from the prankster dwarfs in bologna. "valdez, how many harmless monsters have we met? we should just aim the ballistae and see what happens!"

"uh, no," leo said.

karina agreed with leo. there were too many monsters. it would be impossible to target oke without causing collateral damage in the crowds of tourists. besides, if those creatures panicked and stampeded . . .

"we'll have to walk through them and hope they're peaceful," frank said. "it's the only way we're going to track down the owner of that book."

leo pulled the leather-bound manual from underneath his arm. he'd slapped a sticky note on the cover with the address the dwarfs had given him.

"la casa nera," he said. "calls frezzerria."

"the black house," nico translated. "calls frezzeria is the street."

"you speak italian?" frank asked.

karina slammed her foot on top of his, causing him to jump back, electing a feminine shriek of pain. he gave her a look that said: what was that for?!

she only glared at him, and nico shot him a warning look, like: watch the questions. he spoke calmly, though. "frank is right. we have to find that address. the only way to do it is to walk through the city. venice is a maze. we'll have to risk the crowds and those . . . whatever they are."

thunder rumbled in the clear summer sky. the air felt as thick and warm as sauna steam.

jason frowned at the horizon. "maybe i should stay on board. lots of venti in that storm last night. if they decide to attack the ship again . . . "

he didn't need to finish. they'd all had experiences with angry spirits. jason was the only one who had much luck fighting them.

coach hedge grunted. "we'll, i'm out, too. if you soft-hearted cupcakes are going to stroll through venice without even whacking those furry animals on the head, forget it. i don't like boring expeditions."

"it's okay, coach." leo grinned. "we still have to repair the foremast. then i need your help in the engine room. i've got an idea for a new installation."

karina didn't like the gleam in leo's eye. since leo had found that archimedes sphere, he'd been trying out a lot of "new installations." usually they exploded, or sent smoke billowing upstairs.

"well . . . " piper shifted her feet. "whoever goes should be good with animals. i, uh . . . i'll admit i'm not great with cows."

karina figured there was a story behind that comment, but she decided not to ask.

karina felt her crew mates eyes begin to turn to her. it was obvious that they all knew that karina was great with animals— being a daughter of ceres. but, she really didn't feel too pumped to go trekking through venice for hours to find someone who might not even exist.

frank must've seen her unhappy expression, because he volunteered instead. "i'll go."

karina silently thanked him, and leo patted him on the shoulder and handed him the leather bound book. "awesome. if you pass a hardware store, could you get me some two-by-fours and a gallon of tar?"

"leo," hazel chided. "it's not a shopping trip."

"i'll go with frank," nico offered.

frank's eye started twitching, and karina looked to nico with amusement shining in her eyes— despite her blank face. he merely gave her a ghost of a smirk before turning back to frank.

"uh . . . you're good with animals?" frank asked.

nico smiled without humor. "actually, most animals hate me, except for caelius— nina's tiger. they can sense death. but there's something about this city . . . " his expression turned grim. "lots of death. restless spirits. if i go, i may be able to keep them at bay. besides, as you noticed, i speak italian."

leo scratched his head. "lots of death, huh? personally, i'm trying to avoid lots of death, but you guys have fun!"

"i'll go too." hazel slipped her arm through frank's. "three is the best number for a demigod quest, right?"

frank visibly deflated with relief. it was quite oblivious that he didn't want to be alone with nico.

nico stared at the canals, as if wondering what new and interesting forms of evil spirits might be lurking there. "all right, then. let's go find the owner of that book."

7700 words

i did not lie when i said that this part would be very different than the others lol 🤣

anyways dark karina yes or no