I continued to scan reports with Percy while he followed Annabeth as she inspected a few more cabins. Demeter got a four. Hephaestus got a three and probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckendorf being gone and all, we cut them some slack. Hermes got a two, which was no surprise. (All campers who didn't know their godly parentage were shoved into the Hermes cabin, and since the gods were kind of forgetful, that cabin was always overcrowded. And something deep inside me got angry again.)

Finally we got to Athena's cabin, which was orderly and clean as usual. Books were straightened on the shelves. The armor was polished. Battle maps and blueprints decorated the walls. Only Annabeth's bunk was messy. It was covered in papers, and her silver laptop was still running. I raised an eyebrow.

"Vlacas," Annabeth muttered, which was basically calling herself an idiot in Greek.

Her second-in-command, Malcolm, suppressed a smile. "Yeah, um . . . we cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to move your notes."

Probably safest, I thought. Annabeth had a bronze knife that she reserved just for monsters and people who messed with her stuff.

Malcolm grinned at me. "We'll wait outside while you finish inspection." The Athena campers filed out the door while Annabeth cleaned up her bunk. I spun on my heel and left. I didn't want to be in here.

I waited on the front steps reading another report. It was hard to concentrate. I watched blankly as a few more Ares and Apollo campers fought. One shook a fist clearly yelling in rhyming words, while Apollo shot arrows that looked more like cooked spaghetti. I snorted, I wasn't sure if it was sadness, resentment, amusement, derision, frustration...maybe all of it. I laid the reports to the side and ran my hands through my hair and pressed the heels of my hands into my eyelids.

Percy was facing the end of his days, quite possibly. I had some dark and creepy prophecy- I still had no idea who these 'Heavenly Light and Splendour Sight'  were, and why I needed to conquer them. Within a week, Olympus might fall. If the Age of the Gods really did end, the world as we knew it would dissolve into chaos. Demigods would be hunted to extinction. There would be no more summers for us...I might not be coming back.

The door behind me opened and Percy and Annabeth came out. They both looked rather agitated. I sighed, this wasn't going to go well.

🔆

On the way to the Big House, we read the last report, which was handwritten on a maple leaf from a satyr in Canada. If possible, the note made me feel even worse.

" 'Dear Grover,'" Percy read aloud, he did so slowly so I could focus on lip reading (signing, reading and walking with his hands full of reports was difficult, I cut him some slack.) "'Woods outside Toronto attacked by giant evil badger. Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to Ottawa. Please advise. Where are you? -Gleeson Hedge, protector.'"

Annabeth grimaced. "You haven't heard anything from him? Even with your empathy link?"

Percy shook his head dejectedly.

Last I'd heard he was in Central Park organizing the dryads, but nobody had seen or heard from him in two months. We'd tried to send Iris-messages. They never got through. Percy had an empathy link with Grover. He had hoped he would know if anything bad happened to him- so he told me. Grover had told me one time that if he died, the empathy link might kill Percy too. But I wasn't sure if that was still true or not, seemed a bit extreme. But who knows.

I wondered if he was still in Manhattan. Then I thought about Percy and our shared dream of Rachel's sketch—dark clouds closing on the city, an army gathered around the Empire State Building. Percy seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me because he finally stopped. Shoved all the papers under his arm and used both hands now to sign.

"Annabeth." He stopped her by the tetherball court. He glanced at me.

"Now?" I signed.

He nodded. I knew he was asking for trouble, but I knew Percy trusted Annabeth, he always depended on her for advice. So I waved my hand to continue.

"Listen, I- we...Nora and I, somehow, had this same dream about, um, Rachel..."

Percy told her the whole thing, even the weird picture of Luke as a child. Annabeth glanced at me a few times and I nodded along. Percy kept the details of the picture of me out, but said there was a picture of me too, blades raised fighting a monster.

For a while she didn't say anything. Then she rolled up her inspection scroll so tight she ripped it. "What do you want me to say?"

"I'm not sure. You're the best strategist I know. If you were Kronos planning this war, what would you do next?"

"I'd use Typhon as a distraction. Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods were in the West."

"I said that last night at the war council. People didn't seem to believe me..." I protested.

"And it's just like in Rachel's picture." Percy nodded, pulling his eyebrows together.

"Percy," she said, I assumed her voice was tight, just like her face. Her body language was tight and coiled. "Rachel is just a mortal."

"Ha! A mortal who can see through the mist and has visions of our world!" I protested.

"And what if her dream is true? Those other Titans- they said Olympus would be destroyed in a matter of days. They said they had plenty of other challenges. And what's with that picture of Luke as a kid-"

"We'll just have to be ready."

"How?" I signed, feeling the anger bubble to the surface. "Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other." I pointed to the two Waring cabins.

"And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped." Percy added bitterly.

She threw down her scroll. "I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy." Her face was angry and hurt. "All it did was scare you. You run away from things when you're scared."

Percy stared at her, completely stunned. "Me? Run away?"

"Your head get kicked by a Pegasus? Where's that shit coming from?" I asked, my teeth grinding, I could feel the temperature around me spiking.

She got right in my face. "Yes. Percy. He's a coward!" She turned to Percy now. "You. You're a coward, Percy Jackson!"

We were nose to nose. Her eyes were red, and I suddenly realized that when she called him a coward, maybe she wasn't talking about the prophecy. But it didn't matter. Percy was anything but. My hands formed fists.

"If you don't like our chances," she continued, "maybe you should go on that vacation with Rachel."

"Annabeth-"

"If you don't like our company."

"That's not fair!"

She pushed past us and stormed toward the strawberry fields. She hit the tetherball as she passed and sent it spinning angrily around the pole. I threw my arm back ready to shoot her with a fire ball- but Percy grabbed my wrist. His face was twisted in hurt and anger. But he still shook his head.

"Even a small fire ball?"

He gave me a small smirk, but shook his head. I huffed and turned away. I'd like to say our day got better from there. Of course it didn't.

🔆

That afternoon we had an assembly at the campfire to burn Beckendorf's burial shroud and say our good-byes.  Even though Raph and I burnt the body, Chiron still wanted this, for his brothers and sisters and the others at camp. Even the Ares and Apollo cabins called a temporary truce to attend.

Beckendorf's shroud was made out of metal links, like chain mail. I didn't see how it would burn, but the Fates must've been helping out. The metal melted in the fire and turned to golden smoke, which rose into the sky. The campfire flames always reflected the campers' moods, and today they burned black.

Percy and I sat at the back. I sat arms crossed and eyes staring ahead. I felt holes being drilled into the side of my head. But I refused to acknowledge them. I was still so hurt by what Raph did. He hadn't come to talk to me once. He didn't even give me a reason. I made it very clear at the meeting I could care less about the damn chariot, give it to Clarisse, let them use it. Or have one camper from each cabin ride together. But heaven forbid we share loot. I sat and scowled until everyone was dismissed. Percy sat beside me with the same angry scowl.

Annabeth left without a word to Percy. Most of the other campers drifted off to their afternoon activities. Percy and I just stood there staring at the dying fire. Silena sat nearby crying, while Clarisse and her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, tried to comfort her.

Percy deflated and with a slight nod of his head I followed and together we walked over. Selina sniffled. Clarisse glared at Percy and glared at me, though slightly less. Chris would barely look at us. He'd been one of Luke's men until Clarisse rescued him from the Labyrinth last summer, and I guess he still felt guilty about it.

"Selina...I really did..." I stopped for a second, I sunk down beside her.  "His last words were: Tell Selina I love her and I'll wait for her." I paused. "He's a hero."

"Wait...you were with him when he died?" She looked up, her face was pale and her eyes were red rimmed.

I nodded slowly, gulping down my unease. I shivered, remembering what he looked like and how painful that would have been.

"I did my best to shield him from the explosion. But...Greek fire...and I'm not very big. He blew the boat. It was a hero's death. I...I didn't have a burial shroud but Raph and I built a pyre. He had a drachma for the ferryman."

"And...Silena, you know Beckendorf carried your picture. He looked at it right before we went into battle. You meant a lot to him. You made the last year the best of his life."

"It's true. When we worked together...that's pretty much all he talked about, was you!" I added.

Selina burst into tears. I hung my head. I thought telling her he died a hero's death would help.

"Way to go you two bone heads!" Clarisse scolded. I looked up, my own glowing tears falling down my face.

"No, it's all right," Silena signed, her hands were shaking slightly. "Thank . . . thank you, Nora. Thank you Percy. You two have been very...sweet. I should go."

"You want company?" Clarisse asked.

Silena shook her head and ran off.

"She's stronger than she looks," Clarisse muttered, I had to squint to read her lips. "She'll survive."

"You could help with that," Percy suggested. "You could honor Beckendorf's memory by fighting with us."

Clarisse went for her knife, but it wasn't there anymore. She threw it on the Ping-Pong table in the Big House.

"Not my problem," she growled. "My cabin doesn't get honor, I don't fight."

I threw my hands into the air with frustration, I really wanted to tell and rage. Just let out a frustrated scream.

"You know? That's Eos's chariot, right?! She messed with Raph's head. You really want Malibu Barbie's chariot as loot? I'm ready to set that dam thing on fire!"

"Not the point Nora. And not my problem," she growled, her sign was sharp, just as angry as her face. "My cabin doesn't get honor, I don't fight."

I noticed she wasn't speaking in rhymes. Maybe she hadn't been around when her cabinmates got cursed, or maybe she had a way of breaking the spell. With a chill, I wondered if Clarisse could be Kronos's spy at camp. Was that why she was keeping her cabin out of the fight? But as much as I disliked Clarisse, spying for the Titans didn't seem like her style.

"All right," Percy told her. "I didn't want to bring this up, but you owe me one. You'd be rotting in a Cyclops's cave in the Sea of Monsters if it wasn't for me."

I raised an eyebrow. She clenched her jaw. "Any other favor, Percy. Not this. The Ares cabin has been dissed too many times. And don't think I don't know what people say about me behind my back."

"Oh fuck that." I swore at her and rose to my feet. Clarisse doing the same.

"If you want my help so bad, tell Apollo to give us the chariot."

"I did you big baby."

She charged me, but Chris got between us, and Percy yanked me away.

I continued to curse at her. I hated this. All of this. Percy picked me up tossed me over his shoulder. Clarisse tried to charge me again. I tossed a fireball at her, she dodged it and it ignited the grass.

"Whoa, guys," Chris said. "Clarisse, you know, maybe they got a point?"

She sneered at him. "Not you too!" She trudged off with Chris at her heels.

"Hey, wait! I just meant- Clarisse, wait!"

I watched as Chris ran after Clarisse. Percy hauled me away. I finally managed to wiggle out of his grip and I headed toward the sword-fighting arena. I needed a break, and I wanted to see an old friend. Percy followed, whether to make sure I didn't roast anyone or he needed a break as well, I wasn't sure. But he followed anyways.

🔆

Mrs. O'Leary saw us before I saw her, which was a pretty good trick considering she's the size of a garbage truck. I walked into the arena, and a wall of darkness slammed into me. The next thing I knew I was flat on the ground, laying on top of Percy with a huge paw on my chest and an oversize Brillo-pad tongue licking my face.

"Ow!" I groaned silently. "Hey, girl." I signed. "Good to see you too. Ow!"

It took a few minutes for Mrs. O'Leary to calm down and get off me and Percy. By then I was pretty much drenched in dog drool. She wanted to play fetch, so Percy picked up a bronze shield and tossed it across the arena.

We played fetch for a while, until she started barking- a sound so loud it vibrates the ground, like she needed to go for a walk. In the forest.  The other campers didn't think it was funny when she went to the bathroom in the arena. It had caused more than one unfortunate slip-and-slide accident. So I opened the gates of the arena, and she bounded straight toward the woods.

Percy and I glanced at each other and shrugged. We jogged after her, not too concerned that she was getting ahead. Nothing in the woods could threaten Mrs. O'Leary. Even the dragons and giant scorpions ran away when she came close.

When we finally tracked her down, she wasn't using the facilities. She was in a familiar clearing where the Council of Cloven Elders had once put Grover on trial. The place didn't look so good. The grass had turned yellow. The three topiary thrones had lost all their leaves. But that's not what surprised me. In the middle of the glade stood the weirdest trio I'd ever seen: Juniper the tree nymph, a very old, very fat satyr. And-

"NICO!"

"Hey Sparky."

Nico was the only one who didn't seem freaked out by Mrs. O'Leary's appearance. He turned towards us, and I ran, the first smile on my face in a long time. I tackled my little emo buddy and held him tight in a hug.

"What's wrong?"

"What? What do you mean, what's wrong?"

"Nora. Don't lie to me. You're terrible at it."

I scowled at him. Nico was always able to read my emotions and I didn't like it. He nodded when he saw Percy, then went back to scratching Mrs. O'Leary's ears. I noticed how the rips of his ears went pink. But he was very interested in Miss O'Leary. She seemed just as interested in Nico. She sniffed his legs like he was the most interesting thing since rib-eye steaks. Being the son of Hades, he'd probably been traveling in all sorts of hellhound-friendly places.

The old satyr didn't look nearly so happy. "Will someone—what is this underworld creature doing in my forest!" He waved his arms and trotted on his hooves as if the grass were hot. "You there, Percy Jackson! Is this your beast?"

"Sorry, Leneus," Percy said. "That's your name, right?"

The satyr rolled his eyes. His fur was dust-bunny gray, and a spiderweb grew between his horns. His belly would've made him an invincible bumper car. "Well, of course I'm Leneus. Don't tell me you've forgotten a member of the Council so quickly. Now, call off your beast!"

"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary said happily.

The old satyr gulped. "Make it go away! Juniper, I will not help you under these circumstances!"

Juniper turned toward Percy. She was pretty in a dryad-y way, with her purple gossamer dress and her elfish face, but her eyes were green-tinted with chlorophyll from crying.

"Percy," she sniffled. "I was just asking about Grover. I know something's happened. He wouldn't stay gone this long if he wasn't in trouble. I was hoping that Leneus-"

"I told you!" the satyr protested. "You are better off without that traitor."

Juniper stamped her foot. "He is not a traitor! He's the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!"

"WOOF!"

Leneus's knees started knocking. "I...I won't answer questions with this hellhound sniffing my tail!"

"She wouldn't hurt a fly." I signed, and started her belly as she flopped onto her back. The old fat satyr looked at me blankly. Percy looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes, but translated what I had signed. Leneus just shook his head.

Nico looked like he was trying to not crack up. "I'll walk the dog," he volunteered. "And your coming with me. I need to talk to you."

"I'll go too." I rolled my eyes. I started to walk away, Nico on my heels, he whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded after us to the far end of the grove.

We stepped into the dark coolness of the forest again.

"Explain."

I huffed. But I explained as quickly as I could what had happened since the train station mission.

"Shit."

"Ya, about summs it up." I answered gloomily.

"Okay. First things first. Let's go deal with Eos's chariot. Right now."

"What did you have in mind?"

"Burn it so no one can use it. Then what the hades they gonna fight about?" He gave me a twisted smile.

"You're a bad influence son of Hades." I copied his twisted smile. "I like it!"

We hastily made our way to the edge of the forest.

"Where is it?"

"Hidden. And only a child of Apollo can get through the traps set."

Nico nodded and followed me through the trees. Everyone was busy with their training and other things. I knew right now the chariot was put away and guarded. I marched towards the lonely little shed and ripped the doors open. There it was. Gleaming in its brilent gold glory. Mocking Helios and Apollo's chariot by being so similar. But unlike Apollo, Eos was a complete....I shook my head.

"Stay here. I don't need you rhyming in Disney songs for the next week."

"Yeah, no thanks."

I marched over to the stupid chariot that had given us so much grief; that had caused our best warriors to step away. I didn't even bother to unlock it or unchain it, or move it. I set my hands aflame and held to the chariot. It went up in flame. I was so angry. And so upset. So scared and frustrated. All my negative emotions came bubbling to the surface. I let a scream rip from my throat- of course it was silent. But I let all my pent up hurt and bitterness and anger out. I was glowing gold, I could see the aura around me. I was vaguely aware of the tongues of fire around me. The heat I was giving off was unmatched, it rippled around me in solid sheets- like full solid walls of heat. I watched in satisfaction as the stupid chariot melted.

It spired me on. I destroyed Malibu Barbie, now I could destroy this too. She ruined everything. She was rotting in Tarterus and she still managed to take my boyfriend away, all because this stupid chariot.

"Hey Nora? I think it's cooked."

I blinked and looked around. The chariot was a melted puddle of bubbling gold, celestial bronze and ash. Fire blazed around me, the walls of the wood shed were crawling in flames. I extingished my hands. And with a wave of my hands, the raging wild fire around me was put out. I stepped over the still boiling melted metal and walked away. Nico by my side.

"Feel better?"

"Yes actually. Thank you." I smirked mischievously at him. He snorted and rolled his eyes, but he had a wild unhinged look in his dark eyes.

"I should stop calling you Sparky and start calling you El Diablo or... piccolo demone! Dam girl you were all kinds of scary. Did you know you could do that?"

"Really!? The devil or Little demon? Just add del fuoco. Piccolo Demone del fuoco!"

"Little fire demon? Hmm. Got a nice ring to it. You looked like a Piccolo Demone! You didn't manipulate the fire ...you became the fire. Also when did you start speaking Italian?"

"When you started learning sign language."

He gave me a side eye. But didn't say anything, though I saw a small genuine smile tug at the corner of his mouth.

"So did you know you could do that?"

"A little." I shrugged. "Never really put my full skills or powers to the test. And they seem to be enhanced with the Achilles curse."

He was quiet for a second and then nodded. Like he was thinking over my answer.

"Did you talk to Percy about it?"

"Yes."

"And?" He sounded a little too eager.

"He was still unsure. But seemed more open about it when I told him I did it."

"Good."

I just hummed.

🔆

Super long chapter. Sorry... not sorry...