Clarisse cracked her knuckles as she stepped away from the now-faded restraints, rolling her shoulders like she was ready to punch someone—probably Percy. The League still looked tense, but they weren’t making any moves to stop her. For now.

“So?” Percy crossed his arms. “Start talking.”

Clarisse sighed, looking around at the demigods, then back at the Justice League. “This isn’t exactly the best place for this conversation.”

Batman narrowed his eyes. “You’re not leaving until we understand exactly what you are.”

Clarisse groaned. “Oh, for the love of—look, I’m not your enemy. I’m a demigod. I fight monsters. I don’t do ‘saving kittens from trees’ or whatever it is you people do. And I don’t have time to be interrogated by a bunch of superheroes when there are actual problems to deal with.”

“Like what?” Thalia asked, tilting her head.

Clarisse hesitated for a second. It was brief, but Percy caught it. For all her bravado, something had her rattled.

She exhaled sharply. “Like the fact that there’s still a war going on, Seaweed Brain.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

“What do you mean?” Jason asked, his expression darkening.

Clarisse ran a hand through her tangled brown hair. “I mean the battle didn’t end when we defeated Gaea. It didn’t just stop. Maybe for you guys, but for the rest of us? We didn’t get a happily ever after. Something’s been pulling us apart, scattering us across different places, and I don’t think it’s random. I’ve been looking for answers, but all I keep finding are more missing people.”

Percy felt a cold weight settle in his chest. He had assumed—hoped—that the war had ended. But if Clarisse was right, if demigods were still being dragged into something bigger…

“Who else?” Piper asked softly. “Who else do you know is out there?”

Clarisse clenched her jaw. “I don’t know exactly. I’ve seen signs of other demigods, but I haven’t found anyone I recognize. I keep running into places where people should be—but aren’t. It’s like someone’s deliberately wiping them away.”

Nico’s expression turned grim. “That sounds a lot like—” He stopped, his eyes flicking toward Batman, Wonder Woman, and the other League members.

Clarisse scoffed. “Yeah, yeah, don’t go spilling all our secrets to the capes.”

Superman stepped forward, his brow furrowed. “If there’s a larger conflict happening, then we need to know.”

Clarisse narrowed her eyes. “Yeah? And what exactly do you plan to do about it? Because so far, all I’ve seen you guys do is lock people up first and ask questions later.”

Batman’s gaze was unreadable. “If the world is in danger, then it’s our responsibility to protect it.”

Clarisse rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. The world’s always in danger. It’s just usually our job to fix it, not yours.”

Percy took a slow breath. “Clarisse, do you have any idea who is behind this?”

She hesitated again. And then, quietly, she said, “No.”

A heavy silence filled the air.

Thalia exhaled sharply, rubbing her temple. “Great. Another mystery.”

Jason turned to Batman. “We need to find the other demigods. If they’re out there, we have to bring them back before it’s too late.”

Batman didn’t respond right away. His gaze flicked to Superman, then to Wonder Woman, before he finally said, “We’ll assist in whatever way we can. But if this war is still ongoing, we need to be prepared for the worst.”

Clarisse huffed. “I hate to agree with the Bat, but yeah. Whatever’s coming? It’s gonna be bad.”

Percy clenched his fists.

The war wasn’t over.

And whatever was coming next was going to be worse than anything they had faced before.