[ira furor brevis est]

Without another word, Madi swept into Tessa's bedroom, her bloodstained hands trembling. The hazel-eyed girl perched herself atop Tessa's desk, and despite the casual stance, Madi's irises kept darting around the room, as if she were expecting an attack.

Tessa shut the door, turning on her heel and facing her sister with urgency. "Madi, what has been going on with you?"

Madi sucked in a quick breath. "I was getting to that."

Tessa barked out a laugh, folding her arms across her chest. "Then please get to it." She beseeched her sister, pleading in her eyes.

Fidgeting with her fingers, Madi nodded. She glanced down at the floor, taking a sudden interest in the carpeting. "S-so you know I got to camp about a year ago, right?"

Tessa nodded, remembering the day she'd been cleared from the infirmary after coming back from her quest and discovering that Madi had arrived and been claimed in the time she was gone.

"Well," Madi drew out a breath, her tense frame relaxing ever so slightly. "I'd known I was a daughter of Poseidon for a while before that."

At that, Tessa's turquoise eyes widened. "What? How is that possible?"

Madi simply held up a hand, stopping her sister's words in their tracks. "Let me explain."

"I was raised in Washington state, in a tiny town on the outskirts of Olympic National Park. I've lived there my whole life, and was practically raised outside—my mom was a biologist, so she was always teaching me about the forest and the water and nature in general. Even as a kid, the woods never scared me; how could I be afraid of a place that was practically my second home? Regardless, life was pretty good for me up in Washington. My mom and I were super close, my three best friends and I had a lot of great times...everything was good. And of course, that was bound to change.

"Around spring of last year, I started to see strange things in the woods. I know now that they were monsters and spirits, but back then, I couldn't tell. I'd feel like someone was watching me, that I was about to die if I didn't get out, and just like that, my second home became one of my biggest fears. Not only that, but I started to develop abilities. I could breathe underwater, I could sense shifts in the earth...that's when my mom explained it to me. She said I was the daughter of Poseidon, and for some reason, that only angered me. I complained to my friends, who could see through the Mist, but they all told me to try and accept it. I didn't want to listen.

"I remember it all clearly. Night was falling, and I had an argument with my mom. I stormed out of the house and to the woods to clear my head, and while I was nervous about the darkness, I was in such a mood that I wasn't afraid. I knew something was wrong though. And that something was the man in the woods. He materialized out of nowhere, and every step he made caused me to feel an unexplained amount of anger. He kept bugging me about who my parent was, and that he'd leave me alone if I told him. So I did.

"The man disappeared, and out of the blue, I heard a voice in my head telling me to run back home, to get to safety. It sounded like a man's voice, as harmonic as the waves—Dad. Given the weirdness of the day, I listened to his advice and sprinted back home. But by then, it was too late."

Madi's voice broke, and tears began to well in her hazel eyes. Tessa listened in horror, her heart pounding in her chest.

"W-when I got home, the door was busted open. There were signs of a struggle, and I called my mom a few times but I didn't get a response. Then I made it to the backyard and...and I found her. The man was standing before her, and my friends were there too. They all were gagged and bound, and I could feel their panic." Madi paused, taking a breath. "The man was Menoetius, the Titan of violence and mortality. He explained to me that he was doing this because I was a godsborn, and that in due time, I'd understand why he did what he did. I tried to stop him but...b-but I wasn't fast enough.

"Madi, you don't have to continue—" Tessa tried to interject, attempting to spare her sister the pain but the hazel-eyed girl only shook her head.

"You need to know," Madi breathed, sniffling. "Anyways, I was forced to watch as Menoetius killed my friends and my mom. He kept talking as he killed them, his voice overpowering their muffled screams and cries. I couldn't stop him, he'd cast some sort of spell to keep me in place. All the while, he kept saying that this was my fault for being born, for choosing Olympus over a higher power, and that I'd learn to be as malicious as him someday after what the gods would put me through. And when he plunged his sword through my mom's heart, her dead body collapsing atop those of my friends, he looked at me with a grin and disappeared.

"I couldn't even call 911 or anything. How was I supposed to explain my best friends and my mother being stabbed through the heart by a Titan? Instead, I found myself praying to Poseidon for the first time in my life. We were right on the waterfront, so with tears in my eyes and apologies on my lips, I sent them into the lake. They dissolved into light—the result of my prayer—and that's when the water shimmered. I could see a valley in the reflection, filled with cabins and Greek columns, and unsure of what to do, I touched it. The next thing I knew I woke up on the shores of the Sound, with a glowing green trident above my head."

Silence filled the room for one second, two, until a minute had passed. Tessa wasn't sure what to say; she'd experienced a lot of traumatic experiences in her life, but Madi had never let on to what she'd gone through, even in the short amount of time that existed between the tragedy and her meeting Tessa. She'd always seemed bubbly and exuberant with everyone, but then again, the people with the saddest stories tended to have the brightest smiles.

"Madi, I'm so sorry," Tessa whispered at last, her heart breaking with each word.

The hazel-eyed girl shook her head slowly, looking up. Even with her eyes on the brink of tears and shudders racking her frame, Madi seemed as composed as ever: she'd just lifted a huge weight off of her shoulders. "As for who's been stalking me, it's myself. I've woken up to dreams where a girl who looks exactly like me is the one killing my mom and my friends, and I wake up with blood on my hands. For a while, I thought it was some twisted metaphor, until I saw her in person."

"Your doppelganger," Tessa realized.

Madi nodded. "It didn't make much sense to me at first, but word got around between what happened in the Principia the other day. Only people with ties to you, Kaden, and the rest know, but as soon as Ben told me, everything just kind of fell into place."

"But she'll just keep coming, won't she? With more threats, more guilt, there's no end." Tessa figured, running a hand through her hair in exasperation.

Madi inhaled a quick breath, her body tensing. "That won't be possible."

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not?"

"Because she's gone," Madi met her sister's gaze full-on, hazel irises flickering with electricity. "I can't explain it, but it just feels like she's gone."

Tessa narrowed her vision, trying to formulate a logical explanation. "She could have just gone back to the other side."

Madi shook her head. "No, that's not it. She's just...gone. Whenever she was around, in either universe, it was like something inside of me was stirring. Now, it's stopped. I feel like myself again, which says a lot."

At the mention of Madi's feeling, Tessa felt a shiver run down her spine. She'd been experiencing the same thing as well—the darkness inside of her, purring and drifting from consciousness more so than usual. Now that Tessa knew about her alternate self, the General of the Regiment, the feeling only terrified even more.

"I just want you to be safe, Madi," Tessa placated.

Madi laughed wryly at that. "Fat chance of that happening anytime soon, but I'll try." She hopped off of Tessa's desk, a completely different air to her. Tessa could understand: she'd said her piece, and now she was free from this burden. Her half-sister made her way to the door and without another word, left Tessa standing.

~~

The rest of the week was a blur, given the circumstances. However, despite the autumn sun in the sky and the laughter and chatter of other students, Tessa could almost feel how the Fates were twisting life itself. The wind felt colder, each rattle of leaves the equivalent of rattling chains of a spirit from beyond the grave—or beyond dimensions.

Nonetheless, the entire valley was preparing for something on the horizon in some shape or form. At Camp Jupiter, legionnaires faced more rigorous training routines, and were kept on a more vigilant watch. In New Rome, new policies went up to keep the citizens safe, and sentries guarded the city at all hours. Even if the other students at New Rome University didn't know the gravity of the situation, Tessa noticed that more of them were armed, more of them were tense. They knew something was coming, they just weren't sure what.

After Tessa's last class of the day, Madi's story still buzzing in her head, she made her way from the campus grounds towards the Principia. Kaden and Kaya had apparently missed classes, running official business as praetors on a new confidential project that they, Tessa, and a few others would have access to use in light of the oncoming times.

Her footsteps echoed along the immaculate floors of the Principia, and even if Tessa had been inside the praetorian building before, its grandeur still astonished her. She passed the tribute to Alex Devan, the fallen praetor who had leapt in front of an arrow for Tessa in order to save his city. The son of Mars had to have achieved Elysium, and while Tessa knew that he'd died the way a hero should have died, she'd never get over the feeling that his blood was still on her hands.

"Tessa?" Kaden's voice shook her out of her reverie. Her boyfriend stood by a golden door in the far corner of the foyer, watching her intently. He was donning dress clothes and his violet officer's cape, his golden gladius hanging at his side.

The daughter of Poseidon tore her gaze from the marble statue, meeting Kaden's gaze. She smiled to him in greeting, despite the pang of her heart, and walked towards him. "Hey."

"Hey," Kaden responded, his voice soft. "How you holding up?"

Tessa shook her head. "Barely."

She couldn't bring herself to tell Kaden about Madi's unfortunate tale, but given that it regarded a possible hint to how to defeat the Regiment, she filed it away as things to bring up soon.

Kaden nodded, reaching forward to grab her hand. "On another note, come with me."

The son of Venus led her through the golden doors, a lock clicking into place by itself when it shut behind them. They descended down a set of stairs, torches lining the walls.

"So what's this secret project?" Tessa asked, her voice reverberating through the air.

Kaden met her gaze, a mischievous smirk on his lips. "You'll see."

"If you're leading me to my doom, I'd at least like I heads up."

Kaden's laugh filled the air, making Tessa's heartbeat skip a few beats. He squeezed her hand, giving her a reassuring smile. "While I'll never get tired of your sarcasm, there's no need for it right now. The project is just something Kaya and I have been working on to help defend camp."

At that moment, they reached the bottom of the staircase. They stood before another golden door, gilded with labyrinthine designs and patterns. Two identical purple silk banners hung from either side of the door, golden prints of a laurel wreath and SPQR along them.

"Ready?" Kaden asked, reaching a hand forward.

"As I'll ever be." Tessa decided.

Kaden rested his hand on the center of the door, where the pattern of a laurel wreath was embezzled. In a flash of light, the door hissed open like that of an elevator, and Kaden led Tessa inside.

Instantly, Tessa wasn't sure if she was within the Principia anymore. Whereas the rest of the praetorian building was made of white marble and gold, this room was made of metal and light—a high-tech fortress. Tables with computers monitoring traffic cameras and various other forms of intel were set up, and along the walls hung illuminated cases of weaponry. It seemed like something out of a superhero movie, like they'd just walked into the Batcave.

"This is new," Tessa noted, eyes wide in astonishment as she looked around.

"There you two are," Reese's voice chimed, averting Tessa's focus to the center of the room. "We thought you both had run off to do who knows what?"

"I think you're thinking of yourself and Imogen, dude," Kaden retorted, stepping onto the raised circular platform in the center of the room. A metallic table sat atop it, with swivel chairs surrounding it. Reese, Imogen, Dale, Kaya, Sophia, Jett, and Eli all sat around, waiting.

Kaya nodded to Kaden and Tessa as they approached, a dark look in her already dark irises. "Glad you both could make it."

"Wouldn't miss it," Tessa managed, still in awe over the room. "What's all of this for?"

"Well," Kaya began. "Given the rising threat of an alternate Regiment, Kaden and I figured that it was time to take action. We need to be ready in case of another attack, and I will not have any Roman or Greek casualties this time; at least from our universe."

"And so Kaya used some of her magic to turn the Principia's basement into this," Kaden gestured around the room. "It'll serve as our headquarters, and can only be accessed by the people standing here today. We can't let word about what's on the horizon spread, we can only hint that we need to be ready to the legion."

Imogen pursed her lips, fiddling with the compact mirror that Tessa knew held her bow, Romeo. "So we'll be running this...whatever it is covertly?"

Kaya nodded, her hands on the back of a seat. "From here, we'll keep an eye on San Francisco and nearby cities. Given what Matthew Baines has told us, the General's way of preparing for war is to hit major cities, make them think that they're under attack. We can't be sure when they'll strike, but at least through this, we'll have a clue."

"So basically," Jett interjected, folding his arms over his purple shirt. "We've assembled our own little Justice League."

Kaden's lips quirked up into a smile at that. "In a way, yes."

"I'm down."

Sophia hopped down from the platform, sauntering over to the nearest computer. "Are these equipped to see through the Mist? There's no way that the Regiment would risk being caught by facial recognition or anything like that."

"Ye of little faith," Kaden held a hand to his chest in mock offense, following the daughter of Athena to her computer. "Not only has Kaya enchanted them to do so, but I've run just about every software code that I could through their systems. We'll be able to have eyes on every major city in the country, inside Olympus and the Labyrinth, everywhere."

Sophia arched a brow. "Impressive."

"Regardless," Kaya's voice muted theirs. "There'll be one of us down here at all times. Each of your phones are hooked up to the system, so if something happens when you're not around, you'll be able to know."

Tessa folded her arms across her chest, mulling everything over. While she was glad that they were taking action, it meant that this situation was becoming all too real. These horrific figures were no longer figments of her dreams, but they would be coming to torment them if they didn't stop it.

"So what's our first task?" She averted her gaze to Kaya and Kaden.

Before anyone could speak, the glow of the screens in the room went dark, overridden by static. Kaden's eyes widened in shock, and he dashed to the central monitor, clacking away at the keyboard.

"Someone's hacked into the system," He reported, his emerald irises scanning the monitor before him at lightning speed.

"What?" Reese exclaimed in disbelief, dashing over. "I thought you rigged them to be all covert."

"So did I," Kaden responded, his voice low. His fingers moved expertly over the keys, and despite the situation, Tessa couldn't fight the thought that seeing her boyfriend become a prodigy at such a skill was sort of attractive.

"I'm tracking the source now," Came the son of Venus' voice, his face etched with concentration. Lines of code appeared on the screen as he typed, and soon enough, everyone had crowded around him to watch.

"Wait, what's that?" Eli pointed at the screen. The son of Ahklys honed in on a particular line of code, one that blinked more rapidly than the others.

Kaden knit his eyebrows. "Operatio Victorem..."

"Operation Conqueror?" Kaya, Imogen, and Jett all said in unison, translating the Latin. Reese, Sophia, Eli, and Tessa met one another's gazes and shrugged.

Kaden ran a quick scan of the code and a screen popped up on the monitor. Then, one by one, they lit up the other computers until a video stream was playing, and Tessa's heart stopped at seeing what came on the screen.

"Hello, New Rome University!" Vinny's voice blared from the screen, smiling maliciously into the camera. "Miss me?"

~~

[Camp Half-Blood]

Mark watched with his face pressed up against the glass as the rainstorm beating down on the valley began to dissipate. Amelie and her siblings must have strengthened the border, but there was the faint flicker of hope within Mark's chest that maybe it was just some freak fluke. Maybe Zeus had just gone, LOL MY BAD up on Olympus and called off the storm.

But then again, he wasn't that lucky.

"How do you feel?" Adhara's voice chimed from the couch in the Big House. She sat perched on its arm, poised like a cat, which said a lot about how the daughter of Nemesis carried herself.

Mark shrugged, looking away from the window to face the Nepalese girl. "Fine, I guess."

Adhara rolled her violet eyes. "You almost got struck by lightning and you feel fine?"

Mark averted his gaze to the floor, taking a sudden interest in the hardwood. "Would you rather me say petrified? Shell-shocked? Oh, I know! How about crispy?"

The daughter of Nemesis scoffed, fiddling with the end of her necklace. "You're ridiculous."

"You know, for someone who looked terrified to see me face my imminent death out there, you're being a little cold," Mark retorted. Something twisted within him, and he could feel the effect his words had on Adhara. He couldn't stop the venom, but maybe it was the part of him that wasn't so infatuated with her that had spoken in that moment.

Adhara froze, the pendant of the necklace swinging back to the base of her throat. She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it promptly. She averted her violet gaze, and in that moment, Mark felt like the biggest idiot of all time.

Way to go, Akagi. She'll totally like you now!

Then, as soft as a breeze, Adhara spoke. "I'm glad you're not dead."

It wasn't the confession of adoration that Mark had been daydreaming of, but he'd take it. He shrugged the momentary lapse of tension away, and turned his focus to the source of footsteps echoing in the distance.

A moment later, Amelie appeared in the room. She was flanked by Calum Brooks, the son of Hephaestus, on one side, and a trail of magic on the other. Mark had begun to notice that in the daughter of Hecate; anytime she was agitated, magic began to spark off of her. It had happened more frequently since January, but its reasoning only made him feel guilty.

"Did you guys fix the barrier?" Adhara perked up, her violet eyes meeting Amelie's misty ones.

The daughter of Hecate inhaled slowly, sitting down in an armchair. The magic in her wake wrapped around her like a cocoon before disappearing entirely. "For the most part, but there are still a lot of repairs to be done. Whatever caused that storm, it wants camp to be as weak as possible."

"Wait, something caused it?" Mark interjected.

Calum nodded, folding his dark arms over his chest. "It wasn't a normal storm. If it was, it would have skirted around the valley. This one was fueled by magic, which is why it was able to break the barrier."

Mark knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "But—"

Amelie held up a hand to cut him off. "That is not your concern, Mark, it's mine. I'll figure out what caused it, so don't get any ideas."

"Wasn't going to," Mark put his hands up in mock surrender. "But while we're at it, I'm getting some ideas about something else."

The daughter of Hecate arched a dark eyebrow, and Mark took that as an incentive to speak. He explained to Amelie and Calum what had been happening to him lately; the blackouts, the visions, the memories coming back to him. By the time he finished, Amelie's eyes glazed over with thought.

"Mark, what do you remember of your time in the Regiment?" She asked him.

The son of Iris shook his head, shrugging. "Barely anything."

Amelie pursed her lips. "Do you remember how long you were there for?" Upon Mark's answer, she continued. "Five months, give or take a few weeks."

Mark's almond eyes bugged out in disbelief. Five months?! He'd been out of it for that long? He'd allowed his friends to think he was dead for five months?

"T-that can't be true," He stammered, a pang of panic flaring through him. What had he done in that time?

"It is," Calum confirmed, a sad look in his eyes. "I know it might be difficult to believe, but it is."

Mark exhaled raggedly. He felt like he was standing in the middle of that storm again, with the wind picking up around him until he felt like he was about to swept away into a vortex. In this case, that vortex was another blackout.

He'd been in that hell hole for five months, doing who knew what under Orion's mind control. He fought, he trained...what if he killed?

"I need some air," Mark choked out.

Despite his friends' protests, Mark ran out of the room, back outside. He didn't stop until he reached his cabin, collapsing onto his bed. With his hands over his eyes, he forced himself to think of anything but the gruesome possibilities, but they seemed to be hardwired into his brain.

His cabin was empty save himself, so when Mark let out a groan of frustration, no one was bothered. He sat up, burying his face in his hands.

And then there it was again. That chill that seemed otherworldly, the one that spider-walked down his spine until he couldn't bear it. It sank into his skin, froze his nerves, until he had no choice but to stay put.

Mark saw something out of the corner of his eye, and felt his heart constrict when he turned his head. Laying at the foot of his bed was his father's katana, the forsaken object that had gotten him into this mess last summer.

But it didn't add up. Tessa, Eli, and Dale had destroyed the weapon, breaking Mark's bond to it and freeing him from his service to Orion. So why was it here now?

Mark didn't want to touch it; he knew what would happen. But it was like something was taking him over, making his decisions for him because the next thing he knew, the katana was back in his grip and an arc of pain racked his body, so strong that everything went black.