[ex abundanti cautela]

Dale felt sick to her stomach as she sat in the rec room, surrounded by her friends and other campers. A war council had been called to determine a course of action against the Masks now that they had a location, and Dale couldn't bring herself to focus on the mission debriefings, strategies, rebuttals. Because this was all because of her, and she had no idea whether or not her tip would lead them all into danger?

Why would it be a trap? Dale thought to herself. Luke wants to stop Aether and the Masks as much as you do. He was helping you.

Dale grit her teeth. The thought was unprovoked, but it had a point. Unfortunately, her worries also had a point as well. Luke was an enigma, and she had no idea whether or not he was just a figment of her imagination or not. He knew things that she hadn't uttered a word about. Was he really to be trusted?

"Dale?"

The daughter of Demeter snapped out of her head, looking up at where over a dozen faces were watching her. She turned and saw Kaden at the head of the table, eyeing her with a degree of peculiar concern.

"Sorry, I was spacing out," Dale cleared her throat, forcing herself to avoid the gaze of one particular son of Apollo. "You were saying?"

Kaden didn't seem convinced, but he averted his attention back to the problem at hand. "We now have a location that we believe to be connected to the Masks. At some point in the next few days, we will be orchestrating a task force to invade the location and gather as much intel as possible."

"How do we know that this information is valid?" Sitara Chaudri, the head counselor for Athena raised a tanned hand.

Kaden pointed a finger at her. "I was getting to that. A portion of the address was acquired from Jared Knight, a mortal man who has had extensive contact with the world of mythology. The Masks tortured him, and upon my search for the address, I found out two things. One, the location in Maine is in fact, an abandoned mental institution which fits the profile for where the Masks have frequented. Two, there have been multiple police reports regarding people in masks nearby this location as of the past few days."

Sitara frowned, making a questionable face. "How'd you figure all of that out?"

Kaden grinned. "I've got mad skills." He surveyed the rest of the group gathered to contribute. "If you all recall from the first war council regarding the Masks, we asserted that they are not to be tampered with. They are highly dangerous and have some very dangerous allies as well. That is why the task force has already been assigned."

A collective groan emanated from the war council. Dale blinked as people began to exclaim in protest, particularly Chase Ferguson from Nike.

"That's not fair! All quests are supposed to be issued by either Chiron or the Oracle." Chase jabbed a finger at the centaur, who was watching the council play out like a tennis match.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but this is not any quest. It's a military mission." Chiron smiled sympathetically at the dark-haired boy, who fumed even more.

"Besides," Mark chimed. "This falls under the jurisdiction of the Great Prophecy, which was issued to Tessa Brennan."

All eyes averted to Tessa, who was sitting quietly near the head of the table. She looked around, turquoise eyes dormant, and Dale wondered just what was going on inside of Tessa's head. She'd been awake for about two days, and according to Flynn and Grace, she was absolutely cured. But Tessa had been quiet, hedging around any direct conflicts that came up.

Chase was practically red in the face at this point. "I still don't see how she got the Great Prophecy anyways. She's so weak that she put herself into a coma for no reason at all." He scowled at Tessa. "For all I know, you've got no real power at all."

Reese, Mark, Kaden, and Dale rose on their haunches, about to come to Tessa's defense, when the daughter of Poseidon held out a hand, swift as an adder, stopping them. Dale's golden eyes flicked to Tessa, who had gone rigid. Her face was cold, calculating, as she examined Chase's seething temperament.

"Call me weak, call me powerless, I don't care," Tessa said delicately. "But until you've fought a real war, until you've seen those around you wither away and die in the blink of an eye, don't assume what you don't know." Her eyes were uncut gems, pinned onto the son of Nike.

Chase paused for a moment, then scoffed. "Please."

Tessa didn't respond. She only smiled thinly, like Chase's anger only amused her.

"Anyways," Kaden asserted, his voice gruff. "Athena and Ares cabins, you will prepare the central line of offense should camp be encroached upon. Apollo, take your archers and any others and set up defense. Hecate, Hephaestus, and Nike will devise protections for camp itself. Further assignments will be distributed later."

"When should we be ready by?" Bianca Windsor raised her hand sheepishly, biting her lip.

"The vernal equinox," Reese spoke up. "Judging from the increase of Mask sightings near the hit site and the mythological events that happen on the equinox, we have reason to believe the Masks will be gathering then."

"What events?" Irene Lim, the daughter of Dionysus, asked from across the ping-pong table.

"Well, for one, it's the day that Persephone comes back up to Olympus from the Underworld," Reese answered, resting an arm on the table. "Spring starts, and basically there's a whole shifting of power going on among the gods as the seasons begin to change."

"So, in other words, it's the perfect time for a cult meeting," Mark smiled sarcastically.

Kaden dismissed the war council shortly after a few more questions, and as Chiron went to go deliver the assignments that Reese had drafted, Dale got to her feet. Eventually, the only people left in the room were her, Reese, Mark, Kaden, and Tessa.

"So this is really happening again? Another invasion of an abandoned mental institution?" Mark sat on the edge of the table, glancing around his companions.

"We have no choice," Kaden met Mark's gaze, and understanding passed between them.

Dale pursed her lips, eyeing Tessa, who was leafing through the mission dossier. "Are you sure you want to go, Tessa?"

The daughter of Poseidonlooked up abruptly, meeting Dale's gaze. "I'm sure." She looked around at her friends. "I'm feeling better. I'll be fine."

No one spoke, but Dale got the feeling that they were all worried about Tessa as well. The vernal equinox was only a day away, making it Tessa's third day of consciousness and health. What if they were missing something about her condition? What if she was lying to them about how she was feeling again?

"What's the game-plan?" Reese asked, lacing his fingers together. "Or, better question: do we have one?"

Mark shook his head. "I'm assuming something along the lines of what we always do?"

A ghost of a smile played at Kaden's lips. "Walk in, mess everything up, walk out?"

Mark pointed at Kaden. "Exactly."

A shiver spider-walked down Dale's spine, and she felt the words she wanted to say bubble up in her mouth. But she forced them back. She couldn't tell them what they were about to face, what they were about to endure. But she wasn't sure why. Because...Luke asked her to?

Dale shook her head, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to go listen to what Jared told us again. Maybe that'll reap some sort of reward."

Tessa furrowed her brows. "You talked to Jared Knight?" Memory dawned in her sea-green eyes, and her attention flickered to Kaden before returning to the rest of the group.

Dale nodded. "The Huntress presiding over your case told us that he could help us understand what you were going through. But instead, he told us a lot of other things that seem to make sense but at the same time, are really cryptic."

Tessa made a face, but deemed the situation too complicated to worry herself with for now. She sighed and set down the file, resting a hand on Tempest's hilt at her side. "Well, if anyone needs me, I'll be in the arena."

"You could try to help us crack the code you know." Reese retorted.

Tessa gave him a pointed look, but a comical one. "I've got three years of combat training to catch up on in the next day." She smirked and turned on her heel, sauntering out of the rec room.

When her footfalls disappeared, Dale averted her attention to the boys. "When are we going to tell her what we know?"

Kaden's emerald eyes hardened. "What, that Aether's been watching her? That her mother could know something about all of this Jared Knight business?"

"Precisely," Dale chimed.

Kaden frowned. "We can't burden her with that right now. She's got enough on her plate."

"Besides, we don't even know enough for ourselves," Mark countered. "We might find something out during the mission that could help."

Dale pressed her lips together as the memory of Luke came to the forefront of her memory. It was so vivid that she could have sworn he was there in the room, leaning against the wall and listening to what they were saying. But when she cleared her vision and came back to the present, Reese was the one watching her intently, like he knew something that she didn't.

Or rather, that she did.

~~

Dale's attempt at solace wasn't working. Normally, giving herself something to do would have distracted her from all of her thoughts, but given that everything somehow tied itself back to Luke and the Masks and Aether...Dale sighed. This wasn't helping.

The daughter of Demeter got out of her chair and walked over to the window of the Library, looking out over the valley. She could see nearly all of camp from where she stood: the omega of cabins, the canoe lake, the amphitheater. Everywhere she looked, she saw demigods rushing back and forth from activities and assignments. Over in the distance, the Forges were working nonstop as carts of Celestial Bronze came out moments later as carts of swords and shields. War was coming, and they were nearly powerless to stop it.

Unless...

Dale clenched her fists. She had to tell someone what she was seeing. What if this mission really was a trap? What if Luke wasn't who she thought he was?

And then just like that, the sudden rush of adrenaline was drained from her body. She felt sluggish, tired. Why would she want to jeopardize the mission? It was going to be fine, right? She should just relax and—

Dale's vision caught on a figure moving towards the Library of Athena. A head of blond hair—Luke?—but upon further inspection, Dale discovered with a pang that it was Reese. And even from her altitude, Dale knew that he wasn't happy about something. There was no doubt in Dale's mind that Reese knew she was hiding something, but right now, she did not want to deal with his interrogations.

Heart pounding, Dale whirled around and surveyed the room. There was only one staircase leading down into the rest of the Library, so her best bet was to go back down. But surely, Reese was on his way right now. For now, Dale had to hide.

As footsteps echoed on the staircase, filling the lofty top floor of the Library, Dale ducked behind a bookshelf. It was close to the stairs' landing, but Reese wouldn't be able to see her with his back turned.

The footsteps stopped. "Dale? Are you up here?"

Dale smirked wryly. Not for long.

She poked her head out from behind a bookshelf, and saw Reese head in the opposite direction, towards the investigation board. Dale took that as her opportunity to make a run for it. Darting forward with the stealth of a fox, Dale hurried across the marble floors and flew down the steps, her heart racing. She reached the next floor and hurried on her way down the next, until she was out in the open air.

As Dale walked away from the Library of Athena, she felt a pang of regret fill her heart. Maybe she was just being paranoid and Reese genuinely had a question about the mission? But then again, what if he actually was onto her?

Dale shook her head, grumbling in Spanish as she jogged down the trails through camp. A headache was blossoming behind her eyes, and knowing her luck, it was going to be a lasting one. She groaned and continued on her way, wanting to put as much distance between herself and Reese as possible, at least for right now.

Eventually, Dale found herself walking the shores of the canoe lake, watching as a few campers were chatting with the naiads. A few of them waved to Dale, but the daughter of Demeter noticed a particular daughter of Poseidon standing on the dock, and jogged over to her.

"Tessa, I know you've been gone for a while, but this isn't the arena," Dale joked.

Tessa broke from her concentration, and shot Dale a funny look. "Hilarious. I finished my work-out a while ago, so I came here to practice my powers."

Dale arched her eyebrows. "How's that coming?" According to the reports on Tessa's condition, she'd tricked herself into believing that she'd lost her powers. But now that she was out of her coma...

"Better than I had anticipated," Tessa exhaled. "I missed how it felt."

Dale cracked a small smile. "Missed feeling like the master of the universe?"

Tessa laughed, and Dale realized how long it'd been since she'd heard Tessa laugh genuinely. "Maybe a bit."

The girls laughed for a bit, but Dale noticed that something in the way Tessa was holding herself shattered.

"I...I saw a lot of things when I was out," Tessa's voice was quiet, her control on the orb of water before her wavering. "Sometimes, it still feels like I'm dreaming."

Dale bit her lip. "What'd you see?"

The orb wavered in the air. "Lots of memories," Tessa spoke, each word like a whisper. "Lots of things that for a long time, I wished had never happened. And then suddenly, I was in Delphi, facing Vinny. Only that wasn't a memory."

Alarm crept over Dale like a stormcloud about to break. "What do you mean? I thought you did face Vinny in Delphi."

"I did," Tessa confirmed. "But it was like I myself had transported back to Delphi and he had somehow wormed his way into my mind. He said that he wanted to destroy my mind or kill me, and then he summoned the Masks."

"And then what?" Dale realized that her hands were clenched into fists, nerves coursing through her body.

Tessa's fingers trembled. "Then I got out." She sighed, releasing her grip on the water and watching as it fell to the lake. "I've seen a lot of scary things but nothing like what I endured in my own head."

Dale wasn't sure what to say for a moment, but after a while, she found herself speaking. "What are you going to do if you see Vinny? Or Aether?"

Tessa's jaw clenched. Her eyes seemed fixed on a distant point on the horizon, and Dale got the feeling that she was lost in her head again, thinking of the different ways she could possible get revenge on the two that had hurt her.

"I don't know," Tessa admitted. "But I promise you this: I've got hell to pay."

Dale grinned at that, and then noticed that something was off. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, and power was rushing through her. She looked around and noticed that like fire burning through a field, the grass around her feet was dying. Emerald green blades turned yellow and dry, spreading like wildfire.

Dale gasped and severed the connection. The decay stopped in its tracks, but not until a good eight-foot diameter of destruction surrounded the daughter of Demeter, with her at its center.

Panic flared in Dale's gut, and she looked up to see Tessa watching her incredulously. "Dale, what the—"

"Tessa! Dale!" A voice cut Tessa off and Dale turned to see Jesse Argent sprinting towards them. The son of Hephaestus looked less gaunt than he had when he'd come back from his doomed mission, but still spooked.

"What is it, Jesse?" Dale asked a little too eagerly.

Jesse caught his breath, looking from Dale to Tessa and back again. "There's been another disappearance."

Dale's stomach sank. "Who?"

Jesse shook his head, dragging a hand through his dark hair. "Does the name Madi McKinley ring any bells?"

~~

War came in silence, Dale noted as night fell upon Camp Half-Blood. While the battles were filled with screams and cries and the sound of death and destruction, war was the offspring of grief and revenge, and one would always follow the other.

And in this case, revenge came first.

Tessa had fallen silent at the news, hardly reacting to anything. As soon as Jesse delivered the news, Tessa and Dale marched back into camp from the canoe lake, their dispositions entirely different. And as ironic as it sounded, Tessa was handling the news pretty well. Given her situation, Dale had almost guaranteed Tessa to fall into some pit of despair and turn in on herself. Maybe she was on the inside, but all that Dale could see was the sleek gray front of a mighty storm.

Camp sprang into action at the news of the disappearance of the second daughter of Poseidon. Torches ignited through camp by magic, illuminating the valley as demigods began to work on their strategies, their devices, their plans for defending camp. War was coming, and it would be here sooner than they all thought.

Dale and Tessa had approached the Big House, spotting Kaden and Mark with Ben King, Madi's giant of a boyfriend. The blond boy, a son of Athena, told the story as swiftly as he could. From what Dale could gather, they'd been on their way to Camp Half-Blood when Madi was taken in the middle of the night. As soon as Ben put the pieces together, he raced down to camp to deliver the news.

"What do they want with her?" Ben had asked, his voice hollow. "She hasn't done anything wrong."

Tessa pressed her lips together at that. Dale saw realization in her eyes, but didn't dare to ask why.

And now, morning had come. The vernal equinox had approached like mist over the valley, and every halfblood, satyr, and nymph was at attention. Because now, a daughter of the Big Three had been taken, which had not been in the cards. Because now, war was imminent, and as Dale surveyed the valley, she wondered how bad the carnage would be.

The task-force was almost ready to leave. Everyone stood at the foot of the Big House, doing last-minute checks for weapons. Reese and Imogen were in hushed conversation, their bows glinting in their hands. Mark was counting the assortment of blades he had strung across his chest and his waist. Kaden was leaning against the terrace, his golden gladius in his hand. And Tessa was sheathing Tempest, an unreadable look on her face.

"I hope you all understand why she left now," A soft voice said at Dale's side. Dale jumped and turned to see Amelie Winters—or Amelie Hale now—standing there. The small girl had her brown hair pinned up into a bun, and she wore an orange shirt and jeans. Even though Amelie was 21, she could have passed for a teenager.

Dale pursed her lips, eyeing Tessa. "She wanted to avoid all this. I understand."

"But do you?" Amelie pushed, a cynical glint in her kaleidoscopic eyes. When Dale didn't speak, Amelie sighed. "You all have changed so much, but that knot linking you all together is stronger than ever."

Dale inhaled sharply, clearing her head. "What do you mean about Tessa?"

Amelie stared Dale down, an eerie feeling creeping over her. "When Tessa came out of that coma, she took something else with her. And it wasn't just the hope that she had left behind."

Dale knit her eyebrows together in confusion—Amelie had never been this cryptic about things before. Maybe it was the severity of the situation, maybe it was apathy, but Dale knew better than to criticize any of Amelie's warnings or premonitions.

The daughter of Hecate stalked to the center of the group, violet sparks flickering in her wake. "I hope you're all one hundred percent sure about all this." She lifted her chin. "What's the plan?"

Kaden pushed himself away from the banister. "We'll split into two teams to gather as much intel as possible. One group: Tessa, Imogen, and I will be looking for the hostages. The other group: Reese, Mark, and Dale will be spying on the Masks, gaining intel on how they work."

Amelie arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure this will work?"

Reese cracked a smile at his sister-in-law. "Have we ever been wrong about a plan before?"

Amelie stared Reese down. "Yes." She said flatly, then turned on her heel. She swept her hands overhead, a storm of color erupting between her palms and then shot it forward. As it had been there all along and Amelie was merely wiping away the Mist, a crystalline portal materialized into existence before them.

"You all have one hour to do what you need to do. This portal will open again at the one hour mark and from there, you'll have five minutes to find it and jump through it." Amelie instructed.

"Why one hour? This is a siege." Mark furrowed his brow.

Tessa took a step forward, her posture tense. "If we're right about everything, then we won't have as much time as we'd like. Besides, our operative remains to find the hostages and learn more about the Masks so we can ultimately defeat them."

Something morphed in Mark's face, and despite the situation, despite the severity, he grinned. He turned to Imogen, who had glanced away from Reese. "Hey, Imogen, it'll be like that time when we had to sneak into the mall after closing to get your bag."

Imogen's jade eyes lit up. "Oh, yeah!"

Reese made a face that Dale stifled laughter at. He looked between his girlfriend and the son of Iris incredulously. "Sorry, what?"

"You both knew each other before all of this?" Kaden gestured to the Big House.

Imogen waved her hand in dismissal. "My mom was the attorney for Mark's dad's business once upon a time ago. Minor details."

"And remember that time we almost crashed my dad's Lamborghini?"

"Which one?"

"OKAY," Amelie clapped her hands together, snagging everyone's attention. "We can talk about Mark and Imogen's life of juvenile crime later but for now, you all have a mission to complete."

All conversation died out at that, and the attitude of soldiers replaced it. One by one, the team stepped through the portal. Tessa went first, followed by Imogen, then Mark, then Reese, and then Dale stepped up to bat.

On the opposite side of this portal was either the answer they were all looking for, or a terrible, terrible trap. Somewhere within that building were the Masks, their leader, their hostages, and one oddly helpful boy.

"Dale?" Amelie asked, and Dale turned her head to look at the daughter of Hecate. "Everything alright?"

Dale took a shaky breath. "Just saying my prayers." She forced a smile.

Amelie eyed Dale cautiously, but nodded.

And my last words. Dale thought morbidly, and with a deep breath, she stepped through the portal at last.