[de memoria]

Tessa hit the punching bag at full force, imagining that it was a Regiment soldier she was pummeling rather than a leather sack of sand. She panted as she continued to throw punches and strikes at the bag, bouncing back for momentum before swinging back with a kick. Each jab was enough to spur her focus, distract her from what she had to face.

The portal breach was scheduled for tomorrow—how two weeks had passed so quickly, Tessa had no idea—but her friends were ready to take action. By this time tomorrow, Flynn could be back in their world, his captors destroyed, problem solved.

Then why did Tessa still feel so...shaken?

"Careful, or you'll split one of the seams," Madi's voice chimed through the gymnasium. Tessa turned at the sound, spotting her half-sister sauntering towards her with a file folder in her hand.

Tessa glanced at the punching bag behind her, still swaying from the force of her punches. "That would be the least of my issues right about now."

Madi's lips twisted up in a small smile as she met Tessa halfway, holding up the folder. "Your assignment for tomorrow, as directed by Kaya and Kaden."

Tessa scoffed, but snatched the folder out of her sister's hands. She opened it, scanning the contents for the one bit of information she so desperately wanted to see—her position during the breach. At last, Tessa's turquoise irises settled on the print:

TESSA BRENNAN: HOME BASE

Tessa shut her eyes and the folder in relief, exhaling. The coil of nerves weighing down in her soul managed to dissipate the slightest bit.

"What?" Madi asked, arching an eyebrow.

Tessa shook her head. "Nothing, just...I don't have to go to the other side tomorrow." She set the folder down on the nearest bench, sitting down beside it to catch her breath.

Madi blinked her hazel eyes in confusion, frozen in place. "I'm sorry, are you telling me that for once in your lifetime, you won't be on the front lines?"

"Precisely," Tessa nodded, flashing a grim smile. "Shocking, right?"

Madi shook her head, laughing under her breath. "Shouldn't you be...I don't know, livid at having to stay here on the home front?"

If the situation were anything but what it was, that would most definitely be the case. However, even with all of Tessa's abilities and experience, she didn't feel ready to go face this other world. On that side, she was a cold-blooded leader of an anarchist group, who executed those who interfered with her plans. How was she supposed to assume that personality overnight?

It wouldn't be that hard, a small part of her mind thought. You're practically there already.

Tessa inhaled sharply, forcing the thought out of her head. She met her sister's curious gaze, smiling thinly. "I'd be of more use to the effort over here."

Madi still looked skeptical, but to Tessa's relief, she bought the act. She folded her arms, taking a step towards Tessa on the bench. The second daughter of Poseidon was silent for a moment, her face scrunched up in thought like she was trying to compose what to say.

"Madi?" Tessa asked, snagging her sister's attention.

"Yeah, sorry," Madi cleared her throat, looking up. "I was just thinking...if I saw my doppelganger repeatedly, and then she just disappeared one day...I wonder if it was something I did that made her go away?"

Madi's haunting tale came to the forefront of Tessa's memory and she could almost feel the blood that had coated her hands, the pictures of her half-sister's late friends. Maybe it was Tessa's imagination, but a chill seemed to permeate through the gymnasium.

Tessa bit her lip in thought, but Madi cut her off with a small laugh. "I don't know what I'm saying," The hazel-eyed girl shook her head. "But I hope that you guys are able to figure out how to stop them."

Before Tessa could interrupt, Madi turned on her heel and sauntered out of the gymnasium, the chill in the air seemingly following her out.

~~

As Tessa walked into the Principia's headquarters, she was greeted by a cacophony of different noises. Kaden stood atop the central platform, talking into his cell phone animatedly with a look of exasperation on his face. He smiled at Tessa as she walked in, before returning to the conversation. Imogen and Reese stood in a nearby corner, with the former giving the latter what seemed to be a posture lesson. Eli was fiddling with some devices atop a nearby desk, which pulsated with a beeping noise that Tessa found insufferable. Kaya and Sophia were nowhere to be seen, but judging from the fact that everyone else was busy, they probably had their own tasks to run.

"Hi, Tessa," Eli greeted without looking up from his devices. "Good to see you."

"Feeling's mutual," Tessa concurred with a slight laugh in her voice. "Whatcha working on?"

Eli stuck his tongue out in concentration as he prodded at the small watch-like devices on his worktable. He sighed in frustration at one of them before meeting Tessa's eyes. He simply said, "You'll see," and returned to fiddling with his work.

Tessa walked away from Eli's desk and headed towards the central platform, where Kaden stuffed his phone into his pocket with a deep sigh.

"Something wrong?" Tessa asked.

Kaden exhaled, running a hand through his chestnut hair. While Kaden was never a disheveled person by any means, he radiated that sort of aura. This mission was stressing him out just as much as it was Tessa.

"I can't get ahold of Dale," The son of Venus confessed. "I've called just about everyone back at camp, and they say that she's busy doing something with Mark. Why they can't go get her is beyond me."

Tessa knit her eyebrows, feeling a slight flare of anxiety. Dale was tasked with returning to Camp Half-Blood to retrieve Amelie, and if the two girls didn't get back in time for their window tomorrow, the mission would be doomed.

The daughter of Poseidon shook her head. "I'm sure everything will be fine." She met Kaden's frazzled gaze, and held it until he sighed once more.

"Tell that to Reese," Her boyfriend nodded to his best friend in the corner. "He's got the hardest job out of us all."

At that, Tessa followed Kaden's gaze to the son of the Apollo in the corner of the metallic room, and that same chill that Tessa had felt earlier seemed to return. Reese's features seemed to be cut from stone, his eyes raw sapphires. He stood with more confidence, more power, and his golden bow and quiver were at the ready. However, with one nod from Imogen, Reese's façade crumbled to reveal the awkward yet loyal boy beneath.

"Think he'll be alright over there?" Tessa asked, turning to Kaden.

The son of Venus made a considerate face. "I'll do my best to keep an eye on him but he's got his own game plans to execute."

Tessa nodded, the coil of nerves in her heart tightening. Reese, Kaden, Matthew, and Kaya were the four chosen of their group to breach the portal. Matthew would serve as their guide, assuming the role of himself having been captured once more to grant them access through the Regiment's headquarters. Kaden and Kaya would be masked so as to not be questioned, but Reese would be acting as himself from the alternate universe in order to assert authority. Kaya and Kaden would go to apprehend the real dark Reese, while their Reese was led to the dungeons to retrieve Flynn and the other prisoner.

Kaden's phone rang, ripping Tessa out of her reverie. "Gotta take this, love, excuse me," He pecked her lips quickly before answering the call, walking away.

Tessa walked over to the bulletin board they had set up along the wall, scanning it for her exact position tomorrow. She was in charge of overseeing the home-base operations; Imogen and Jett would serve as border patrol; Amelie—should she and Dale arrive in time—would sustain the portal; Dale would oversee the technology behind the mission; and Eli would...well, actually, Tessa wasn't sure what Eli was supposed to do. Something to do with his little gadgets, she assumed.

"Hey, Tessa?" Imogen chimed, causing Tessa to turn and face the blonde daughter of Cupid. "Can you come with me to the Archives?"

Tessa furrowed her eyebrows at her friend, but Imogen seemed to wear a look of desperation on her face as prominent as the fashionable clothes on her figure. "Sure," Tessa spoke, setting her file down on the table and following Imogen out the door.

"What do we need from the archives?" Tessa asked.

Imogen held up the scroll in her hands. "Need to return this. But that's not the only reason I pulled you aside."

The two girls made their way into the Principia's immaculate foyer, headed to the Archives on the opposite side. As soon as they were in the red and gold room, Imogen's aura deteriorated.

"I'm worried about Reese," The daughter of Cupid's voice cracked, causing Tessa to turn around to look at her in bewilderment. Sure enough, Imogen's jade eyes were flooding with tears.

"It's just...he's so sure that he'll find Flynn and make it out without a complication that I don't want him to face something he didn't expect," Imogen sniffled. "And even worse, if something happened to him."

Tears began to slip down her face, and Tessa snatched a box of tissues off of a nearby table, handing a fistful to Imogen.

"I know how you feel," Tessa said softly, resting a reassuring hand on Imogen's shoulder. "But we can't afford to think that way."

Imogen nodded, taking a shaky breath. "You'd think that finding out Flynn was alive would make him happy, but if anything, it's just stressed him out even more."

"Because now if he screws up..." Tessa began.

"Flynn's death, among others, could be on him," Imogen concluded. "He's basically the leader of a quest, and while I know he's capable, I'm just so incredibly worried. How do you and Gray deal with all of this?"

In all honesty, Tessa didn't know, Considering the fact that she'd died before, she thought that they'd been through with the worst surprises the Fates could throw at them. However, she and Kaden had an unshakable bond, despite the distances they were forced to endure.

"In times like these, love is all you can really fall back on," Tessa found herself saying, "The love for a friend, a family member, a partner...it's more compelling than any crusade can ever be."

Imogen sniffled at her words, and Tessa knew that her words might not have helped. The daughter of Cupid had a...peculiar take on love and what it entailed, but being with Reese might have helped alter that.

"And to think I thought that love was a game," Imogen shook her head, a soft laugh lacing her voice.

Tessa allowed a ghost of a smile to trace her lips, and offered Imogen a few more tissues to wipe away the remains of her tears. Before she knew it, the daughter of Cupid had recovered, and all glimpses of the teary-eyed girl washed away.

As the two girls went about their business in the Archives, Tessa found herself lost in thought. If the Regiment on the other side was honed to a deadly point, made up of killers and monsters, did they have any breaking points? Was love a foreign language to their darker sides?

Tessa froze, her turquoise eyes widening as she slowed to a stop.

Imogen turned to look at her. "Tessa? What's up?"

It couldn't be that easy. Could it?

"Where's Matthew being held?" Tessa asked numbly, her mind flying at a thousand miles a minute.

Imogen looked like someone had hit her between the eyes. "I can show you."

"Please do," Tessa said, her words practically cutting into one another.

"Okay," Imogen hedged. "Why do you want to see the look-a-like of the man who single-handedly ruined your life?"

"Because," Tessa exhaled. "I think I know how to defeat the alternate universe."

~~

[Camp Half-Blood]

Having Dale back was one way that Mark could find happiness back at camp. Being surrounded with one of the two pieces that completed him was enough to put a smile on his face, bring him back to his usual jovial demeanor. They were partners in crime, and no distance could defeat that.

However, the only downside to having Dale back only made him miss the others even more. They kept passing Cabin Three, now a temporary home for Lukas Abbott, who was serving as an ambassador to Olympus most of the time; Mark kept expecting to see Tessa bound out the seastone cabin's door, ready to take on the world. Where Mark saw two boys goofing around, he expected to see Reese and Kaden, somehow charming everyone with their shenanigans. Hell, even seeing an Athena kid made Mark think of Sophia, who he'd never think to be fond of.

"So what'd I miss?" Dale asked as they walked down the trails of camp. Her golden irises flickered in the sunlight, as if they were honing in on Mark's internal thoughts.

The son of Iris shrugged. "Not much."

Dale arched an eyebrow, slowing to a stop. "Mark Akagi," She began. "I will have none of this nonchalant bullshit. Tessa and I have hardly heard from you since we left. 'Fess up."

Mark frowned, cursing the bond between them for that split second. Dale could read him better than anyone, and usually in the blink of an eye. However, part of him didn't want to tell Dale all that had happened. How was he supposed to explain the visions, the lapses, the unfamiliar strength?

He never got a chance to, as fate would have it, because as soon as he opened his mouth, Amelie came bounding down the trails toward them. Her dark hair was twisted up in a lazy bun, the freckles dotting her cheeks standing out in the flush of her run. She looked like she'd been sprinting all the way towards them, and whatever it was, had to have been important.

"Amelie!" Dale exclaimed. "Just the girl I wanted to see."

Amelie looked at Dale like she'd seen a ghost. "I know what you're here for. The portal breach?"

Dale knit her eyebrows together. "How do you know about that?"

"I just called Kaden," Amelie breathed. "But please, please tell me that you guys aren't actually considering it."

"Wait, considering what?" Mark asked, holding his hands up in a 'time-out' signal.

"We are," Dale confirmed. "It's set to start...what, today? That's why I'm here, because I need your help."

Amelie's cheeks paled while her eyes shined a little brighter. "Oh my gods, this is really happening."

"What is?!" Mark demanded.

Amelie met his gaze, practically pinning him down with the power of it. Mark swore he saw universes form in her irises, what with their kaleidoscopic color. "Flynn's alive, and our friends are going to another universe to rescue him."

~~

The crash-course came quickly after that, followed by the dawning of realization that hit Mark like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, all that he'd been struggling to understand was sharpened with clarity but the anxiety that flared within him outshined the realization.

What happened after Amelie's confession was all a blur to Mark. One moment, he felt like he'd been hit between the eyes; the second, his lips were moving a mile a minute, and he was telling Dale and Amelie all that he'd been seeing. He confessed it all: the visions, the power, the lapses, all of it. Amelie nodded patiently, whereas Dale looked like she was about to implode.

"Mark, what the hell? Why would you never tell us this?" Dale exclaimed.

"I didn't think much of it, but had I known that the version of myself that I was seeing was actually my doppelganger on another, darker universe, I would have said something!" Mark retorted.

Dale clenched her fists, shutting her eyes to calm herself down. Maybe it was his imagination, but Mark swore that he saw the grass at her feet begin to yellow. However, just as quickly as he had seen it, it was gone.

"We have to stop them," Mark looked wildly to Amelie.

"We can't," Amelie shut him down. "This could be the only chance we get to gain both intel on the alternate universe and rescue Flynn!"

Mark racked his brain, praying that his friends were smart enough to establish an entire alphabet's worth of back-up plans. He'd witnessed this hell first hand, and there was no escaping it if you were ensnared.

Unless...

Mark remembered his training with Adhara, how she'd been certain that she knew how to dispel his lapses. She'd mentioned embracing that darker power and learning to control it...

"We need to go," Mark looked up, practically bouncing on his feet. "We need to stop them before they go."

"Why?" Dale asked. "Mark, what do you have in that head of yours?"

Mark couldn't find words, he was practically bursting at the seams. That was how they could defeat their dark sides; accepting them. Controlling them. Seeing the darkness as a different level of yourself rather than a separate entity. The answer had been within him all along, yet he'd dodged it this entire time.

"How much time do we have?" Mark beseeched Amelie, who was already ready to go sustain the portal. However, the dark-haired girl blinked like she wasn't sure what to do.

"I told Kaden that I could sustain the portal from here," She spoke.

"The time, Amelie!"

"Ten minutes!"

Mark turned on his heel, unsure of where to go or what to do. He needed to stop his friends before they went, at least to tell them how to stop their darker sides, to give them a fighting chance. However, his warpath was quite literally stopped by Adhara Wren, marching down the trails towards him.

"Mark, is everything okay? I haven't seen you in a few days," The daughter of Nemesis spoke, a twinge of red on her bronze cheeks.

At that, the son of Iris quirked a brow. Adhara? Worried about him? What a concept, despite the fact that it warmed his heart.

"No, actually," Mark straightened his posture, assuming the confidence that he knew he possessed, somewhere deep down inside. "I need to go do something that I'm not sure I'll walk out of alive."

Dale poked her head around from Mark's side. "Meaning Tessa will probably beat him up to the point of no return if he screws this up."

Adhara nodded, but confusion was evident in her violet irises. "I'm...what?"

While Mark still had some confidence, he allowed himself to act on the whim possessing him. He had a mission to complete, friends to save, and in that ultimacy, he needed to pretend like what he was about to do, he'd never have a chance to do again.

So when Mark swept forward and pulled Adhara to him, pressing his lips to hers passionately, he was entirely surprised that she didn't pull away to slap him across the face. However, Adhara melted into the embrace, and Mark felt his two identities settle into one within his heart.

Mark pulled away begrudgingly, smiling his impish grin. "Don't worry about a thing," He said. "I couldn't have figured this out without you, and that's just one way of showing my appreciation!"

Adhara's cheeks burned, and while Amelie and Dale both were trying to drag him away, she leant up to kiss him once more. "You're quite possibly the biggest buffoon I've ever met. But go save the world, dork. See if I care."

Mark grinned fiercely. He turned to Dale and Amelie, who were watching in a mix of shock and frustration. "I love this girl."

"Seven minutes." Amelie deadpanned.

"Right," Mark's eyes widened. He turned wildly from Adhara to Dale and Amelie, then took a deep breath and faced Amelie. "Lead the way. Let's go."

And with that, the three demigods embarked on their mission, and despite Mark's racing heartbeat, he prayed with every ounce of his being that they wouldn't be too late.