[nos compos mentis]

The crickets of night faded into the birds of morning as Tessa rolled over beneath the covers of Kaden's bed, humming a protest to having to awaken. She cuddled back up to Kaden's side, and her boyfriend pulled her to him on instinct. She could have stayed there forever; enveloped in Kaden's strong arms, feeling the warmth and serenity that seemed to permeate the room, knowing that nothing could harm her if she remained in this bliss.

The brush of Kaden's lips against her own was enough to draw Tessa out of her slumber, her sea-green eyes fluttering open to see Kaden's smiling down at her.

"Good morning, my love," The son of Venus grinned, pressing another sweet kiss to her lips.

Tessa smiled into the kiss, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning," She met Kaden's gaze, and as if it had been quelled by her dreams, the memories of last night flooded back to her. Her cheeks burned, and she looked away.

"So that happened, didn't it?" She chuckled sheepishly, biting her lip.

Kaden let out a soft laugh, running a hand through his disheveled chestnut hair. "It did."

They both met one another's blushing gazes, and after a moment of silence, succumbed to laughter and smiles. Kaden leant forward through his laughter and brushed his lips across her forehead tenderly, and Tessa felt the universe fall into place in that morning combined.

"Do we have to get up?" She sighed, falling back to the rumpled pillows and sheets of Kaden's bed.

Kaden joined her, and the two rolled over to face one another. "We've got important stuff to do today, Tess."

"You're important to me," Tessa smirked. "So do you count?"

Kaden's cheeks turned red, and Tessa felt a smug sense of pride. How did he like having the tables turned on him when it came to flirting?

"You're such a dork," Her boyfriend laughed under his breath.

"But you love me anyway." Tessa sang, reaching forward to flick his bare chest.

"Can't argue with that," Kaden grinned, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

Tessa smiled and rolled out of bed. She pulled on a t-shirt of Kaden's and stretched, sighing in content. "Remind me what we have to do today?"

"Oh, you know," Kaden said, getting out of bed, his hands in the pockets of his low-hanging sweatpants. "Figure out a way to save the world from another one that's led by our evil doppelgangers."

Tessa padded into Kaden's bathroom, dragging a brush through her tousled chocolate locks. She huffed a breath, frowning in the mirror. "Wonderful."

Kaden followed her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He rested his head on her shoulder, pressing his lips to the soft skin beneath. A shiver ran down Tessa's spine, but she forced herself to turn around, poking him away.

"Enough with those, I already have enough," She taunted, pulling the collar of her shirt aside as evidence.

Kaden only smirked, and Tessa had the sudden urge to wipe that smug look off his perfect little face. But as he said, they had work to do.

And yet, as his lips found hers with nothing but happiness and serenity backing it, her defenses came tumbling down. They stayed that way for a while, their arms wrapped around one another while they whispered sweet nothings and kissed one another to their heart's content, and in that moment, Tessa knew that there was nothing that she couldn't do if Kaden was at her side. He was her strength, she was his sunshine, and together, united, they made for a force of nature unequivocal to anything. They were stronger than love itself, all it made up coursing through their veins.

~~

"Well, you two look happy," Eli noted as Tessa and Kaden walked into the Principia's new secret headquarters hand-in-hand. "You're too happy. Why are you happy?"

Tessa shrugged nonchalantly as Kaden whispered something in her ear, pecking her cheek before sauntering away to the computers. "No reason," She told Eli, walking past him.

The son of Ahklys arched an eyebrow as Tessa swept past, but decided not to push on the subject. And as fate would have it, he wouldn't have to. Imogen cast a suspicious look towards Kaden and Tessa, as if analyzing them. Then, with a quirk of her eyebrow, her jade eyes filled with knowing.

Tessa blushed, averting her gaze to the daughter of Demeter sitting at one of the computers on the platform. "So, Dale, what do you have for us?"

The daughter of Demeter swiveled around in her computer chair in response, her golden irises electric from twelve hours of caffeine and staring at a screen. "Not much," She deadpanned. "But I did some digging and I think I found something that could help."

Dale pushed herself over to another monitor, typing away until what she was seeing on her own screen was displayed atop the other computers on the platform. "As we know, we've been getting some visits from our friends across time and space, which isn't good. Now, based off of the Battle of New Orleans, the time-traveling trip that some of you took, and Matthew's story, I was able to find something. The portals being used only stay open for a certain amount of time, allowing their users to jump between dimensions as frequently as they want in that time frame."

"They aren't being sustained?" Kaya knit her eyebrows together, watching the screen where Dale had played traffic-cam footage of their doppelgangers jumping out of various portals.

The daughter of Demeter shook her head. "Not at all, but that brings me to my next point. It'd take a little more research on my end and other's, but there is a possibility that we can breach a portal to the other side."

Tessa's eyes widened, her head snapping from the screen before her to Dale sipping her soda. "What?"

"You heard me," Dale nodded. "If—and I do mean if—we pull this off, we can send a task force across into the other dimension."

"To do what?" Tessa stammered. "We don't know anything about the alternate universe, aside from that it's run by our evil doppelgangers and basically a living nightmare!"

Across the room, Reese went quiet. His sapphire eyes shimmered with strategy, like he was developing a plan in his head. "We could rescue Flynn."

Kaden bit down on his lip, glancing at his best friend. "Reese, it's too risky. The other side is run by people who look exactly like us, it'd be pretty obvious that something was wrong."

"Then we learn," Reese retorted, a spark like blue fire in his eyes. "We go to the other side, gain intel, and rescue Flynn. Then, we come back and figure out a way to take down the Regiment."

"I agree with Reese," Dale chimed. "It'd be advantageous."

Tessa balled her fists at her side, forcing herself to remain calm. But how could she do that when her friends were practically volunteering for a suicide mission.

"No," She spoke. "No. It's too dangerous."

"Like that's ever stopped us," Reese retorted, a wry tone in his words.

Tessa held his gaze, forcing him to realize the cost of the mission he wanted to pursue. Reese was supposed to be the logistic one of their group, the one who took everything, every little detail, into account before acting. However, with the possibility of rescuing his brother clouding his gaze, it'd be difficult to get him to see reason.

"When's our window?" Reese turned to Dale.

The daughter of Demeter clacked away on her keyboard. "Assuming we can get everything together with the portal...two weeks."

Tessa took a shaky breath. "That's not enough time."

Kaya walked forward, her cloak draping at her feet as she paced. She conversed with Kaden quickly, and Tessa prayed to the gods above that they'd figure out another way to rescue Flynn and defeat the Regiment. But not like this. Please gods, not like this.

Kaya stepped away from her conversation with Kaden, and judging from the sad look in her mocha eyes, Tessa knew. "We'll meet with the Senate to debate a possible plan of attack. But for now...the mission is a go."

Something tensed inside of Tessa, and she channeled her anger out of her system. She couldn't afford to have red vision in a situation like this, no matter how much it frustrated her.

"How do you expect we prepare?" She drawled, leaning against the table behind her.

Dale stood from her seat. "We need Amelie. She's had the experience in developing intricate portals like the one we need. I'll head to Camp Half-Blood to talk to her about it."

At the mention of Camp Half-Blood, Tessa thought of Mark. She still hadn't heard from the son of Iris, elevating her worries, but if Dale was headed back to their home, hopefully they'd be able to get some answers.

The meeting dispersed to Tessa's exasperation, with Dale and Kaya developing a portal back to Camp Half-Blood on one side of the room, and the others beginning to strategize a plan. However, Tessa caught glimpse of Reese on the opposite side of the room, as he slid his gaze across the room, as he snatched a few papers off of Dale's work corner, as he stuffed them into his pocket and hurried from the room.

~~

"Where do you think you're going?" Tessa called, her voice freezing Reese in place. The son of Apollo had made it to the courtyard of the Principia before Tessa had caught up with him.

Reese turned on his heel slowly, matching Tessa's gaze and stature. He didn't look fazed, not in the slightest, but he drew out the papers he'd stolen from Dale's desk.

"Let me guess," He drawled. "You're here about these."

Tessa made her way down the marble stairs of the Principia, meeting Reese halfway. "Whatever idea you have about this whole thing, you need to get it out of your head."

"Tessa, you have no idea what this is like—" Reese began, and thus ignited the flame within Tessa's being.

"Oh, really? I don't know what it's like to lose someone? Well, let me think. It's not like I went half a year thinking that my mother and best friend were killed because of something inherently tied to me. It's not like I watched as someone died to save myself and their city. It's not like everywhere I turn, death is just around the corner. So I'd say I do know what it's like to lose someone, Reese, but I'm not going to barrel into danger without at least thinking it through first," Tessa spat, her words laced with venom. She was seething with rage, practically trembling, and she saw how Reese began to balk at her words.

The son of Apollo took a deep breath, folding the papers in his hands. "You're right," He spoke, his voice soft.

"Damn right I'm right," Tessa folded her arms across her chest, eyeing the boy before her. "Now will you please hear me out as to why I'm so apprehensive about this?"

Reese waved a lazy hand, as if gesturing for her to continue.

"We don't know enough about the other side," Tessa explained. "If what Matthew said is true, our doppelgangers lead the Regiment with an iron fist. There's no way that they wouldn't know that something was up, that there were imposters among them. We need to think out a more rational approach, and then we can move forward with the plan."

Reese pressed his lips into a thin line. "Tessa, I've been having these dreams. Ever since I found out Flynn was alive, I've been able to catch glimpses of him on the other side. He's being tortured, he's starving and dehydrated, but he won't give up hope that we're coming to get him. I can't let him down." His voice cracked, and Tessa felt her bravado chip away.

"Hey," Tessa reached out and rested a hand on Reese's shoulder, despite the height difference between them. "We won't let him down. We'll save him, and then we'll defeat the Regiment on the other side."

"Easier said than done," Reese barked out a wry laugh, a dark look in his eyes.

Tessa let her arm fall back to her side. "We'll figure something out. There's got to be a way to defeat them, we just haven't found it yet."

"Do you think we'll find it in time?" Reese asked, a skeptical look in his oceanic eyes.

In all honesty, Tessa wasn't sure. So many things were blurred before her, and it didn't help to consider how many variables there were in the situation. But for Reese's sake, for her own, and for Flynn's all the way in the prisons of the Regiment, she nodded.

And then prayed to the gods that she was right.

~~

[Camp Half-Blood]

Mark's eyes fluttered open to reveal a familiar face scowling back at him, so he assumed that everything was back to normal. While his initial panic remained underneath his skin, he staggered to sit up in his cot, watching as everything came into focus.

Surely enough, Adhara sat at his bedside with her signature frown on her face. Upon seeing him awaken, the daughter of Nemesis stood from her seat, snatching things off of the shelves around them.

"What was it this time?" The violet-eyed girl asked, handing him a medicinal concoction of nectar and herbs.

Mark took the glass gingerly, sipping the contents. It tasted a bit like a mix of peach juice and basil, which only made him cringe. "I'm...I'm not sure. I saw something that triggered me to pass out, and the next thing I know, I'm here. How long was I out?"

Adhara glanced at the clock on the wall and shrugged. "A few days. Nearly a week, I think."

Mark's almond eyes bugged out of his head. "What?!"

"You heard me," Adhara's violet gaze pinned him in place, and if he looked long enough, Mark was sure that he could get lost in the magic that was her eyes.

"Hmm?" Mark hummed, shaking himself out of his reverie.

Adhara rolled her eyes, but not before Mark caught the pale pink tinge on her bronze complexion. "I said," She asserted the words. "That you've been out for a few days because of whatever happened, so try to recall as much as you can, or else this'll be happening a lot more than usual."

Mark chewed on his lip, suddenly feeling like he was standing on the edge of a cliff. If he confessed to Adhara about what was going on, they'd be able to get answers and find a way to stop it. But if he didn't...

"You won't believe me if I tell you," Mark tried to placate the daughter of Nemesis, but the dark-haired girl didn't look fazed.

"Try me."

So Mark told her. He recalled storming back to his cabin and finding the cursed katana on his bed. He told her about the visions he'd been having, and how he'd felt oddly compelled to rebind himself to the weapon that had damned him to begin with. By the end of it, Adhara only looked mildly confused, which Mark supposed was a good thing.

"Well, that's...that's not good," She glanced down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers and the assortment of jewelry adorning her wrists and fingers. Then, her head snapped up, something forming behind her violet irises. "Yes, it is."

"Come again?" Mark echoed, a small flare of panic-laced confusion panging in his heart.

Adhara shot up from her seat without an answer, and she headed towards the door. "Come on!" She called over her shoulder.

Mark mumbled a few curse words under his breath, but staggered to his feet. He bounded after Adhara, wondering where in the world the daughter of Nemesis would lead him next. But something told him that he wouldn't mind, regardless of the outcome.

~~

"You want me to do what?" Mark echoed, staring at the two figures before him incredulously.

"Fight him," Adhara nodded to Orpheus, the son of Hebe, who had agreed to join them for whatever this was.

"Yeah, I got that much, but why?" Mark asked.

Adhara gave him a sour look. "You said that something was compelling you to embrace your darker side, the part of you that once hurt and killed others for enjoyment and power." Mark winced at that, but the girl continued on without remorse. "If you still harbor those wills, they'll come out now."

Mark averted his gaze from Adhara down to the sword in his hand. "Are you sure this will work?"

"Mostly," Adhara confirmed, sauntering towards the sidelines of the arena. "Good luck! Try not to kill each other."

Mark chewed on his bottom lip, suddenly feeling how he did on his first day of camp. He had had no friends—save Dale—and no idea how to do just about anything that would ensure his survival. He'd held a weapon in his hand awkwardly, without so much as an inkling of how to use it. Four years of progress later, Mark felt like he was back where he started.

"You're not gonna hurt me, Akagi," Orpheus shook him out of his reverie. "I'm one of the best swordsmen at camp. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine."

Mark took a deep breath, shaking the nerves from his frame. He allowed his demigod senses to peak through his anxieties, causing for him to slip into that state of being where survival was all that mattered. The sword in his hand didn't feel as awkward anymore, his stance became surer.

And then, fast as an adder, Orpheus struck. Mark parried the jab away with his own sword, and the fight engaged. The two boys darted around the arena, swiveling around and jumping from side to side to avoid the other's blade.

Mark caught a quick glimpse of Adhara on the sidelines, pacing back and forth with her eyes on the fight before her. Maybe it was the boyish part of him, the side that could never get enough of seeing her face, but Mark found himself compelled by a new drive as he swung his sword at Orpheus. Even if this was for some sort of science, Mark wanted to impress her.

Suddenly, something shifted as the fight continued. Mark's attacks were more punctuated, and he was leading the offense. Orpheus was restricted to merely defense, and with an elaborate swipe, Mark was able to disarm his opponent.

That's when Mark felt the chill encroach upon his heart, like it was freezing over by some arcane power. He continued to attack, even if Orpheus was unarmed, but he wasn't willing the attacks. It was like he was having an out-of-body experience, watching himself stalk towards the bright-eyed boy before him.

"Mark," Orpheus started, pacing backwards. "What're you doing?"

The Japanese boy didn't respond. Instead, he raised his blade as if going in for the killing stroke—

Mark came back to himself, his eyes widening in horror of what he'd done, or was about to do. He lowered his sword arm, dropping the weapon. It clattered to the sandy floor of the arena, kicking up dust in its wake.

"I'm," Mark stammered, his throat dry. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what just happened."

"Yes, you do," Adhara's purr of a voice chimed. The daughter of Nemesis sauntered back over to them, carefully eyeing Mark. "You just don't want to admit it."

Mark didn't want to speak. He could hardly meet the gazes of those before him, but there was something about the look of realization and impression in Adhara's gaze that made him meet her eyes.

"You've got a dark side, alright," She spoke. "You just need to control it."

Before Mark could react, the sound of rapid footsteps filled the arena. Mark turned on his heel and faced a girl of small stature racing towards them, with long brown hair and light eyes. She looked young and familiar, and that's when it hit Mark—Willow, Dale's half-sister.

"Hey, Willow!" Orpheus greeted brightly, as if he'd completely forgotten about what had almost just ensued.

"Hey," The daughter of Demeter nodded to her friend. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," The three demigods said in unison.

Willow arched a dark eyebrow, but thankfully shook off her suspicion. "Alright...well, anyways, I have news. Dale's back and she wants to see you." She looked dead at Mark with a slight of air of impatience, but at the sound of his best friend's name, the son of Iris was already on his way out of the arena, kicking up sand in his wake.