My eyes shot open and I scrambled to my feet my hands already blazing. I felt the panic and anxiety, it pumped through my body in blinding hot waves. I looked for the danger, expecting to be ambushed.

"My Lady! You are safe!"

I spun in a circle, breathing hard, I slowly let myself calm down and let myself see my surroundings.

"Glitter!"

"Yes Lady. We are all here. You are safe."

I exhaled slowly. I was standing in a small grove of trees. The sun was out and it trickled through the leaves of the trees. Glitter and Blackjack stood nearby, both looking anxious, tossing their mains and stomping the ground. My panic spiked and I twisted around and I saw Beckendorf laying on the ground. And what I saw made a silent sob escape. My attempt at shielding him did nothing.

Raph looked up and looked over his shoulder, his dark eyes full of sadness. He gave me a small sad smile and then waved me over. I slowly walked over. My legs felt wobbly and my muscles and joints felt like they had been microwaved, my head was pounding. I slowly sunk to the ground beside Raph. I felt his hand rest on my back. He leaned over and kissed my temple. I leaned into him. Feeling the weight of what actually happened to me over the last week.

I blinked back the tears, and looked down at Beckendorf. His breathing was ragged and shallow. I could try and heal him, I laid a hand on his chest and sucked in a sharp breath. I wasn't sure if I could heal him, I could help take some of his pain. I would need Will here to help. I could feel all his organs shutting down, his heart was struggling, I could feel his pain and I flinched.

I took a slow steadying breath, and harnessed my powers I felt a hand grab my wrist. My eyes snapped open. Beckendorf was looking at me through his one good eye. It was full and full of pain. He moved his head, but he was clearly telling me no.

"It's good to see you." He signed.

His hands were so badly burned, he was so red raw and blistered, he had patches where the skin looked mostly gone. I swallowed down another sob.

"I'm sorry!" I signed.

"Don't do that to yourself. My choice. And you did everything. Tell Selina I love her and I'll wait for her."

I clamped a hand over my mouth and nodded, silent tears slid down my cheeks. I watched as he took his last breath. I laid a hand back on his chest. I felt his life still. Everything internal stilled.

"Be at peace Hero." I signed and closed his eyes. Raph pulled out a drachma and placed it in Beckendorf's hand and closed his eyes.

"We don't have a burial shroud." I signed.

Raph got up and started gathering wood for a pyre. It was hastily built, but it worked. I lit it on fire. And together Raph and I watched it burn with Glitter and Blackjack. I hadn't said anything. Just letting the tears fall. Raph finally turned towards me and pulled me into a tight hug. He didn't ask questions or demand answers, at least right now. He just held me tight for now. It took me a long time to get myself under control. And when I did I just sunk to the ground.

I looked up at Raph. I could see he was trying to hold back, his jaw was clenched, I could see the anger now. I sighed and waved it on, knowing it would happen.

"What happened?" He signed. "I get another phone call that you're missing from camp! Come to camp and no one knows what happened to you! You were missing a week! A week Nora!"

"I didn't sneak away."

"Ya Clarisse said it was a raid. But you sent everyone ahead! That was the stupidest thing you've ever done!"

I jumped to my feet my hands ablaze already. Sparks flew off my hands as I signed.

"Don't you dare! There were injured campers, they needed Will ASAP. Glitter could get them there faster than anyone. It was some kind of trap, some deep dark magic that trapped me!"

I saw his anger wash away and it turned into relief.

"You scared me!"

"I had no idea it had been a week. I was asleep, only waking up when Kronos spoke in my head when he was taunting Percy. Now what happened in that week?"

"We knew about the boat full of invasion monsters and demigods. We had no idea where you were."

"Clearly. Percy was surprised to see me."

Raph nodded and continued his explanation. "I guess when you woke up, Glitter felt your presence and came to get me. We figured it was where the guys went. She forced Blackjack to show us the location of the boat. Our hunch was right."

"How come you weren't on that mission?"

"I was out looking for you!"

"Oh."

I sat quietly, watching the smoldering remains of Charlie Beckendorf's pyre burn. I whipped the last few tears and got to my feet. Raph pulled me back for another tight hug. His hand buried in my dirty tangled hair and his other one wrapped around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and we just held each other. I sighed deeply, melting into his chest, trying to be absorbed by him. It was scary being so helpless at the hands of Kronos. I don't know why he held onto me for a week in the cage, but I was thankful he didn't try to possess me.

Eventually we had to let go, he stepped back just enough. He held my face in his hands and swept his thumbs along my cheeks. My hands were flat on his chest. We just looked at each other, not really wanting to go back to reality. We had just lost Beckendorf. Who else would we lose in this war? I wasn't sure if Percy even made it after that explosion.

"We should go." I finally signed.

Raph nodded, holding my face for a second longer. His dark eyes flicked down to my lips and back to my eyes. I raised an eyebrow at him and he smirked. He pulled me closer and kissed me hard. I was glad no one was around. Despite not showering for a week, and before that being in a battle...he kissed me like I was his life. He had me backed up into a tree, his body pressed into me. My already shaky legs almost gave out, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stand if he backed up. He fixed that problem when he lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His strong arm held me tight under my thigh, my back into the tree. His other buried into my hair, and his tongue explored my mouth. I broke our kiss to gasp for a breath, only to pull him back for another one.

His kiss was full of raw emotion; anger, fear, relief, grief, love and lust. He was wild and passionate, yet he held me gently. My hands buried in his soft hair, or digging into his shoulders. He made my head spin and my heart beat faster. He left me breathless and yet I felt incredibly safe and secure wrapped in his arms. He pulled away enough to leave soft kisses along my jaw and up to my ear. I buried my face into his neck. Just enjoying his closeness and the fact he was here, holding me. I could feel his lips tickling my skin and ear as he whispered something. He knew I couldn't hear, he did this sometimes, whispered sweet nothings.

He finally pulled away, and set me back down on the ground. My chest rose and fell rapidly with wild gasps. He didn't look much better. His usual perfect hair was now a mess from my hands.

"Now we can go." He signed with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes. But let a smirk show.

"Glitter?"

"Yes Lady?"

"Time to go. We need to get back to camp."

Glitter and Blackjack reappeared. I swung up into her back. Raph on Blackjack and they shot up into the sky. As we flew towards camp, I called up The Sight. The heat rippled in front of me. I wanted to see camp but something else entirely appeared in front of me.

I was looking at a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California. The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud, with a start, I realized it was the Titan Atlas, holding up the sky.

Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames.

"Quite an explosion," one said. I didn't recognize him. He wore black armor studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side.

"It doesn't matter," the other said. This Titan was dressed in gold armour that reflected the fire that blazed in the brazier. This one, unfortunately I did recognize. This was my grandfather, on my godly side. This was Hyperion. He looked the exact same. His golden glowing eyes, like Kronos, made me shutter. His entire body glowed. His expression was the same last time I saw him; cruel and ruthless.

"The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed."

I had to think, what challenge? Then I remember what that Jones guy said- Typhon was being released. That wasn't good. The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror.

"I will go east to marshal our forces," Hyperion said. "Krios," he pointed to the other Titan, the one with stars glowing in his armour, "you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys."

The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while you have all the fun."

Under the whirlwind of clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony, "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior. Take my burden so I may fight!"

"Quiet!" Hyperion roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty."

"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight."

The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the dawn of the Sixth Age!"

Hyperion erupted into flames and disappeared.

"Oh, sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns."

Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood eavesdropping on the Titans. Nico!

What was he doing here.

He turned and looked to the empty space beside himself, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?"

He waited for a moment and then turned and looked right at me.

"Hey Sparky. Good to see you. You need to convince Percy. We're all dead if he doesn't follow through. I have one more thing to do and then I'll meet you at camp."

The vision changed and I saw a few campers patrolling the boarders of camp. I saw Michael and Clarisse yelling at each other. I saw Chiron clip clopping along the path from the dinning pavilion with an upset Selina. I felt a stab of guilt. She didn't know about Beckendorf yet. I saw my dad at school, he looked distracted and stressed and I noticed new worry lines on his face. I also saw Sally, she was pulling some blue cookies out of the oven.

The Sight changed one more time and I saw Percy standing at the bottom of the ocean, beside Tyson and an old man. And with a start I realized it was Posiden. He was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into a huge three-pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.

"I'm sorry about that," he told Percy. (Clearly I was listening in on a conversation that was right in the middle.)

A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium.

Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. Ka-boom! The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.

"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against Oceanus is going poorly."

He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent.

"Oceanus," Percy said, slowly, like he was thinking out loud. "The Titan of the sea?"

Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This is...well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side."

"He looks stupid," Percy said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"

"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.

Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me- sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them."

There was an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he was wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms- a hundred flailing, fighting arms.

Percy seemed to realize at the same time- "Briares!" Percy said.

"Percy, we may not have much time," Posiden said. He turned towards Percy and his eyes flicked up and landed on me, like he could see me. "Eleanora. Welcome to my Palace. Sorry I cannot give you the grand tour, but you are welcome."

Percy spun around and with a yelp tried to hug me. But he went right through me and like sunlight reflecting on the water, I rippled.

"Percy's sister!" Tyson bellowed and tried to hug me too.

"Wait. Are you not here? How are you here?"

"It's like a hologram. I'm using my Sight."

"Ah. Okay, that makes scene." He nodded.

"Percy's sister can talk again!" Tyson pointed out.

"Yeah, sorry my BFC. Only in dreams and when I use my Sight powers."

Tyson frowned. "That's no fare."

"Trust me. I agree!" I turned to Posiden, "I'm..uh...Sorry- I didn't mean to eaves drop! Sometimes I have no control over what it does!"

"It's fine, child." Poseidon assured me.

"I'm just glad your safe!" He paused and then his eyes went wide, "Beckendorf?"

I was already shaking my head. "I tried I tried so hard. And I tried to heal him, he wouldn't let me." My voice choked, and I had to take a second to breathe and swallow the emotion. "He's a hero."

Percy looked close to tears but he nodded. Poseidon laid a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?" He looked at me, "clearly he didn't finish with his plan to use you."

Together Percy and I filled him in on what happened.  While Percy explained what happened, and how they got separated, I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I explained the hastily made plan and how I shoved Percy towards the water and I did my best to save Beckendorf.

I had more tears running down my cheeks and I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless.

Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Nora. Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed."

"But we didn't kill him, did we?" I grumbled.

As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill.

"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time."

"There were demigods on that ship," Percy said.

"They made their choice." I spat bitterly.

Posiden nodded, "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not... as Nora said, they chose their path."

"They were brainwashed!" Percy cried. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Look what they did to me Percy!" I held up my arms, and showed him my wrists they were branded and scared in white with dark magic symbols. "Those kids did that. Not Kronos. The twins of Hecate. And a another son of someone, tried to stab me in the back. They chose their side, just as we did."

Percy looked away, as Tyson laid an arm over his shoulders. "Not your fault, brother. Or brother's sister Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick."

I nodded in agreement.

"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat."

"The bigger threat?" Percy asked.

My stomach dropped out of my body. I knew what they were talking about.

A shadow passed over Poseidon's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp."

"Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!" He protested

"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere."

The Sight vision disappeared and I saw us descending to the Beach of camp as Percy's head broke from the water.

🔆

Long chapter today.
Hope you are all enjoying this story so far!