Victor's POV

I walked through Camp Half-Blood, watching as demigods talked and fought. The whole thing reminded me of my fun times when we were in Olympus. Zeus used to training me then. Being the son of his favourite daughter, he had offered to training me himself and I accepted. He liked Mackenzie and I a lot, her maybe more so. In fact, his demigod son Archer Stryker, had been her best friend; though honestly, I had been getting suspicious that he may really like her.

I needed to ask Zeus what happened to him. Since Thalia told me about her story, I kinda hoped he might have done the same for Archer. He was a good kid and we were good friends and rivals. I walked past the cabins and into the forest.

I leaned on a tree, relaxing in the darkness. I always felt better in the dark, probably because my mom was goddess of the moon. For a second the place felt cold. Placing my hand on my watch button, I looked around. A footstep fell nearby and I pressed it, whirling in that direction, now pointing my sword.

"Exactly why are you out here, Victor?" a voice said. It was Nico.

I put away my sword and looked at him, "Oh, it's you. I'm just thinking about something."

"Like what exactly?" he asked, staring at me.

"The past. You were in there too. How long do you think we were in there? I asked Annabeth but she never answered," I asked, dreading the answer.

"About ninety five years ago."

"Oh," I said. There was no other way to say that.

"By the way I have some news on your Stryker friend. Not sure if it's good or bad though," Nico said. He hadn't stopped looking at me.

"Just tell me," I ordered, tapping my foot.

"Hades-I mean dad, doesn't have any records of his death at all. Either he missed something or Archer Stryker found a way to live up to now," Nico informed me, closely watching my reaction.

"I have to find him. I swore on the River Styx to protect him and failed. I'm going to tell Mackenzie," I said, searching for a reason to leave. I turned until-

"I know how it feels to envy someone."

"Wait-what?" I asked, ever so intelligently.

"You heard me. I know you envy your sister's power, Nemesis said it. I envy Percy," Nico explained more thoroughly.

"Percy seems like a good guy. What do you envy about him?" I asked, he had caught my attention.

"Percy's a son of Poseidon. The hero, the one in the prophecy, everything. I'm just that creepy kid of Hades, who feels like death. I used to look up to him, but then my sister Bianca died. She apparently sacrificed herself to save them. He had promised me to keep her safe and failed. I got over it though and then I made a bargain that cost his trust. He never forgave me since. His life seems easier. Mine is just full of problems."

"Wow. Truth be told, I can relate to Percy. Before Uranus and company took Mackenzie, she made me promise to keep Archer alive. She had made them swear not to touch anyone on the River Styx. She knew that she hadn't gotten all of them to swear. Archer was 'killed' distracting a group of giants to let us escape. In fact he saved my life. Now you say otherwise. She hated me for months and wouldn't talk to me until the day the curse of Artemis' virginity picked us up. There was nothing I could do," I explained my side.

"That's what Percy had tried to say to me back then. Eventually after getting to talk to Bianca, I understood," Nico informed me, "I'll let you tell Mackenzie the news."

"Okay, see you."

"And Victor?"

"Hmm?"

"Try not to take any offers of power. It seems like that's your fatal flaw, envy. You envy your sister's power."

"Okay Nico, thanks for the heads up. I will try not to," I walked off a bit before muttering, "It's a possibility though."

.....................

Annabeth's POV

We met Chiron again at the Big House along with the other head of houses. As for Mackenzie and Victor, they couldn't decide which one should go for Artemis so they both came. There was a tension between the two as Mackenzie sat next to me while Victor sat next to Thalia. That part was hardly coincidence.

I had asked Mackenzie about the visible tension and she only said that I'd find out at the meeting. I hate not knowing anything. It must have something to do with their former time. Chiron cleared his throat loudly and we all turned to him.

"I have called this meeting to tell you news from the gods. With Uranus growing stronger by the minute they would like to see some action towards it. They request a quest and a prophecy," he announced.

"Ha! Why don't they just do something themselves instead of waiting for us to do their dirty work. We don't exactly exist to risk our lives because the gods say so," Mackenzie muttered almost inaudibly. She must really be mad, she never said anything bad about the gods from what I knew.

"How many people are going to go on the quest Chiron?" I asked.

"That is unknown. We must see what the prophecy says first," Chiron said, "Nominations for the person to get the prophecy?"

"Annabeth," Will Solace said.

"Percy," Miranda Gardiner voted.

"Percy," both Stolls said in unison.

"Annabeth," Piper said smiling.

"Percy," Jason said.

"Mackenzie," Clarisse said. We all looked stunned at her. "Look I'm certainly not voting for Percy and Annabeth isn't bad so I vote Mackenzie." Mackenzie smiled weakly at Clarisse.

"Annabeth," Pollux voted.

"Annabeth," Mackenzie voted, she gave me a small smile.

"Mackenzie," I said smiling as she looked shocked at me. I simply nodded.

"Percy," Christopher voted. I frowned as the memory of Leo passed through my head. The gods let him die.

"Mackenzie," Thalia Grace voted, winking. I guess hunters of Artemis really are truly loyal.

"Mackenzie," Percy voted, grinning. We rolled our eyes.

"Mackenzie," I turned to see that it was Victor who had voted. Mackenzie looked at him before she asked a question.

"Why?" she asked.

"It just felt right," he said vaguely. The others voted until Percy tied with Mackenzie. I had dropped out.

"Well it appears that two have tied. You shall go together then. Percy show Mackenzie to Rachel. The rest of us have matters to discuss."

......................

Percy's POV

We climbed down into the cave where Mackenzie stayed, rooted to the spot. "Why'd you stop?" I asked.

"Claustrophobic. Is there an opening at the other end?" she asked nervously, rubbing her hands on her arms soothingly.

"No, sorry. Should we turn back?" I asked concerned.

"N-no. I'll be fine. Just please don't tell anyone!" she said worriedly. She closed her eyes calmly.

"I won't. Just stick close and you'll be fine," I reassured her.

"Okay," she opened her eyes and walked closely alongside me, not putting down her arms. 

"Rachel! It's me Percy! Are you awake?!" I called, squinting through the darkness.

"Yes!" the cave got lighter. "Hey Perce, here for a prophecy? Who's this?" she walked up to us.

"Rachel meet Mackenzie. Yes we're here for a prophecy," I said.

"Okay," green smoke came out of her mouth and her eyes glowed green. Mackenzie stared at her expectantly. Apparently she was used to this, "A journey to the lost underwater land, to release a time-frozen man. The apparent betrayal of a close friend, is crucial in a plan to win. The father of the sky and the heavens, has a plan to be defeated by the power of ten and revenge. Daughter of time and darkness also the power of lustfulness, is the key to a side's success. A war reigns throughout the land, to be ended by a fatal bargain. The powers of the gods shall falter after all, the future to be decided by a demigod's final call." She collapsed in a chair.

"That was the third great prophecy. I thought it would be over after Kronos, then Gaia and now Uranus? When will we get some peace?" I groaned as we climbed back out. Mackenzie stayed silent before speaking.

"I think I know the underwater city and demigod...I'll tell you when we all are together," Mackenzie said, nervously rubbing her hands together. We walked back to the big house just as the others left. Chiron walked over to us and we repeated the lines to him. He frowned thoughtfully, as did Annabeth behind him.

"You must choose the leader of the quest. Percy, Annabeth, Mackenzie who will it be and who comes with you?" he asked expectantly.

"Percy," Annabeth and Mackenzie both agreed.

"It's always me. Why not one of you two?" I complained.

"I'm not as experienced as you with this whole quest business," Mackenzie spoke sheepishly.

"You're always the leader, Seaweed Brain, why not now? You're better suited for the job anyway," my girlfriend explained.

"It's settled. Now who comes with you?" Chiron asked.

"Me, Percy, Mackenzie, Thalia, Victor, Jason, Piper, Nico, Grover and whoever that time-frozen guy is," Annabeth spoke, counting them off on their fingers. "Any ideas on the prophecy?"

"The first line of the prophecy, 'A journey to the lost underwater land, to release a time-frozen man', I think that it's probably the lost city of Atlantis. As for the demigod, Victor, said that Nico told him that my old friend Archer never really died. Is there any way for me to talk to Zeus?" Mackenzie asked. Annabeth had told me that they had a huge argument. About what we had no idea.

"You may ask one of his children to contact him. I believe you know Thalia Grace already. The other is Jason Grace, who is really from the Roman side of Zeus; Jupiter. He joined us recently along with Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite," Chiron spoke.

"So if that is true, how did Zeus keep him alive for so long?" my girlfriend asked, her gray eyes clouded with thought.

"Nico said there were no records of his death, so he must have been alive before Zeus revived him. As for the other lines of the prophecy, 'The apparent betrayal of a close friend, is crucial in a plan to win. The father of the sky and the heavens, has a plan to be defeated by the power of ten and revenge. Daughter of time and darkness also the power of lustfulness, is the key to a side's success. A war reigns throughout the land, to be ended by a fatal bargain. The powers of the gods shall falter after all, the future to be decided by a demigod's final call'. Apparently someone wants revenge on Uranus; not really definite as he has the goddess of revenge on his side-" Mackenzie said.

"The daughter of time and darkness is probably you, but what desires do you have?" I asked curiosity filling me.

"None really," the daughter of Artemis said, her eyes darkening-literally. She glanced down at the floor. I could tell she wasn't telling the truth.

"You're lying. Even Nemesis said that you have many desires and wants. Lust is an extremely fatal flaw as you will do anything for power, knowledge; anything," Annabeth said.

"Later. Anyways someone will make a deal with someone that might kill someone? With who?" Mackenzie changed the subject.

"The gods' powers are failing and a demigod has the choice of what the future will be like? This is worse than the last one," I added. Annabeth gave her a look before nodding.

"This prophecy is different for sure. We need to tell the others and think of our first move. Call everyone to the fire and tell them there's been a new great prophecy," she spoke and walked out of the big house.

......................

Thalia's POV

The whole camp sat around the fire and the fire was small, blue and purple. Everyone was apprehensive, this was the third great prophecy. These prophecies never seemed to let us live without injury or death. I was not eager to head to war again. Annabeth and Percy stood in the middle, with Mackenzie fidgeting nervously at the stares she was getting. Word had spread of the two forbidden children of Artemis in camp. Either she was claustrophobic or she just hated attention.

"Before we get into the prophecy Mackenzie will tell you what it is. Take it away," Percy said. He whispered something to her and she breathed deeply.

"Well the third great prophecy goes like this," she breathed before starting again, " A journey to the lost underwater land, to release a time-frozen man. The apparent betrayal of a close friend, is crucial in a plan to win. The father of the sky and the heavens, has a plan to be defeated by the power of ten and revenge. Daughter of time and darkness also the power of lustfulness, is the key to a side's success. A war reigns throughout the land, to be ended by a fatal bargain. The powers of the gods shall falter after all, the future to be decided by a demigod's final call. Annabeth.." she called out, quickly walking to the sidelines.

"We have decided that to agree with the prophecy, we are going to have ten people come. The demigod in the prophecy is the last. Any volunteers?  We need six more," Annabeth spoke authoratively. She had the right to though, she had been here the longest out of anyone.

Naturally I stood up first, "I'll go of course." Then Victor stood after me.

"Me too."

"I'll go too, can't let Percy get all of the fun. I'm Jason Grace by the way," my brother added to the siblings as he stood.

"If Jason goes I go. Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite," Piper, my brother's girlfriend said.

"I'll help you, Perrcy. But I'm not going to fight," Grover said, he walked forward.

"We need one more," Annabeth said anxiously. She looked around. A figure stepped out of the darkness next to Mackenzie, startling her.

"I hear you need another member. I'll join but I'm only doing it for Mackenzie," Nico Di Angelo informed him coolly, glancing at Mackenzie.

Mackenzie turned away from him and I could just see that her cheeks were as red as a tomato. Huh, my younger cousin of Hades and the daughter of Artemis, not a bad match. I smirked and Nico noticed, sending a warning glare at me. I faked innocence, turning back to the others.

"Well that's that then. We need to discuss what we're going to do. Meet me at the Poseidon cabin ten minutes from now," my other cousin, Percy said walking with Annabeth.

Since I didn't really have anything to do I was about to follow when Nico grabbed my hand. "Forest! Now!" he pulled me behind him as I wasn't trying to resist and we entered the forest.

"Yes cousin? What could you possibly want to talk to me about?" I said faking cluelessness.

"You know what!"

"What do I know?" I retorted.

"Don't get any ideas about me and Mackenzie. I saw your look!" Nico shouted.

"Why? Do you like her?" I asked, smirking.

"No! As a friend, not like that!" he had spoken too quickly.

"Liar. You said that too fast! Do you like her or not?" I pressed. I felt like one of those love-obsessed children of Aphrodite.

"No-i-no-fine, yes! Please don't tell anyone," Nico pleaded.

I chuckled and he glared at me. "I won't. It's kinda cute to see my little cousin have a crush on someone. You're growing up," I said, ruffling his hair.

"Great. It was already untidy from before. Thanks a lot Thalia," Nico muttered fixing his hair.

"No problem," Thalia said, "Time's up by now I think it's about one minute left."

"Well then let's go," Nico said, glaring as I smirked back.

........................

Mackenzie's POV

We were inside of the Poseidon cabin waiting for the others to come. I had met Jason and Piper and they seemed like sincere, good people. I preferred Thalia more than Jason though. I thought about Annabeth's words earlier. Lust is an extremely fatal flaw, as you will do anything for power, knowledge; anything.

She was right though. In the past, well lets just say I did many things I was not proud of. My motives weren't all that great. I even struck a bargain with a Titan; Metis. She gave me her cunning, deviousness, manipulation, wisdom and knowledge in return for something powerful; Pandora's box. One of the gods had discovered it and taken it, they didn't know how she got it. Only Archer knew and he swore on the River Styx not to tell anyone. So yes I was lustful.

Percy cleared his throat. "So guys what's our first step?"

Everyone looked at Annabeth and I. "What?" we both asked simultaneously.

"You both are the smart ones. So we're asking you two," Percy explained sheepishly.

"Well...First we need to talk to Zeus about the demigod that's frozen in time and-" I began, rubbing my arms with my hands. I did this when my claustrophobia acted up at times. Right now I just wanted some fresh air and space. I drank some bottled water.

"Locate the lost city of Atlantis. We believe that's what the first line in the prophecy meant." Annabeth continued.

"We need a way to travel though. Percy, water boy, any ideas? Boat, ship?" I added.

"I should be able to find a ride," Percy told us.

"As for you three: Nico, Thalia and Jason," we both spoke at the same time, looking at each other. Annabeth continued, "Are you okay with that or should we travel a different way?"

They shook their heads, "No. Percy, I hope your dad really likes you I wouldn't want to end up at the bottom of the sea," Jason said half-jokingly.

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "You'd probably just fly off the ship."

"And what, my sister, would you do?" Jason challenged.

"I can't fly so I'd just sink with the rest of them," she said, "Anyways, one of us; me or Jason could probably contact dad."

"Good," Annabeth said.

"So when do we leave?" Piper asked.

"When I find a ride and talk to Zeus," I said.

"Well come on then. Which one of you wants to talk to dad?" Thalia asked.

"I'll go. You can come if you want Mackenzie," Victor said, not looking at me.

Did I really want to see Zeus again? Well I wanted to know about Archer so  I guess I have to. "Alright."

"Okay, follow me to my cabin," Thalia said walking out of the door.

........................

Victor's POV

We stood in front of the statue of Zeus and Thalia touched it, muttering some words. After a few moments, lightning struck outside and Zeus appeared in all his glory. All three of us bowed.

"Hello father," Thalia said as she bowed.

"Your majesty," I said with my sister. We glared at each other. See that promise that I failed to keep, to protect Archer...She hated me for not fulfilling it and now that he was actually alive, my sister was reminded of it. So basically, we got into a huge argument and now wanted to kill each other when we got the chance.

*Flashback*

"Sis, try to understand there was no way I could save him then! He basically jumped in the way of that blast to save me! Would you prefer I had died to him?" I had said back then. She never answered.

"That's not the only reason I'm angry at you. Nemesis said that you despise me. Is that how you felt all of the time? I even looked up to you and thought of you as a great big brother. I guess you were a fake all along," she snorted, anger flashing through her eyes. A little bit of betrayal passed too and I winced in regret.

"That's not true. Nemesis can't be trusted-" I began.

"She's the goddess of revenge and desire, I think I know who to believe! I can't believe I fell for your act. You hated me and envied my power all along," Mackenzie shouted, no emotion showing through her eyes.

"That's not-"

"No, it is. Have you any idea what I have to go through? No you don't. Every day someone wants to kidnap me or manipulate my power. How do you think I felt when all of my friends died trying to protect me?! I live everyday with the guilt. Guess what? You weren't the only one I asked to make a promise! I asked Archer to keep you safe too! He saved your life because of me. I was never angry at you, I was angry that I couldn't have saved the both of you! The whole reason I went with Uranus is to keep the both of you safe," Mackenzie said, "My own brother who I looked up to feared my power and hated me. Don't tell me that it's not true. You even are so blinded by envy you want my power for yourself!"

"Alright! You want to know if it's true? Well fine, it is! You strut around the place with your i-have-the-most-problems-in-the-world look. Well guess what? You don't. Dozens of people have worse than you! I'm your older brother so I have to care for you. Ha, don't make me laugh! You couldn't take care of yourself even if you tried! You can't even control your own fatal flaw! Yes, sky boy wasn't the only one who knew of your little bargain with Metis! You can't even control your power well, your emotions have more control than you actually do. Please, you practically killed all of Uranus' army back then. All because Stryker died and you don't expect me to fear you? I could probably handle that power better than you," I had fired back irritated.

"Well then in that case. I'll let you have my powers and you see how great it feels to be capable of getting everyone around you killed. Don't say I never told you so! And I can't control my fatal flaw?! Why don't you look in a mirror and see who could put the world in danger for an offer of power!" she retorted coldly, her voice like ice. At least I was showing emotion, but seeing my little sister so cold and detached frightened me.

"Fine then I bet that I will be better at it! Listen to yourself right now! You sound like a cold, manipulative monster!" I shouted angrily. Her next words chilled me to the bone.

"Well maybe it's because the only person I felt I could trust, betrayed me. Have fun with your envy. I hope you see that there's a chance that that I might just be that person who makes that 'fatal bargain' in the prophecy," she said her voice now glacial. Her eyes had only the emotion of pure hatred as she glared and walked away. What have I done? I had vaguely thought to myself.

*end of flashback*

Now we hated each other. To avoid questions we tried to act like our normal selves. I could tell that the others noticed though. Zeus looked at us before saying, "Hello Thalia. Glad to see you are doing well. Stand and tell me why you have called me." he said to us.

We stood. When Mackenzie made no move to speak I did. "Sir, it's good to see you again. Victor La Nocturne, your former student. Thank you for helping us escape back then."

"Yes Victor, my best pupil. I remember you well. I see that your sister is still alive," Zeus said looking at me then Mackenzie. Something about Zeus, he never blamed me for Archer's 'death'. When he had spoken about it he just seemed to blame Mackenzie. In fact, if we weren't the children of his daughter Artemis, he probably would have struck her with lightning by now. Poseidon was partial to the both of us and Hades preferred Mackenzie.

"Yes well I don't die easy, sir," she never looked at me but I could tell she wasn't going to ask him about Archer.

"Sir we came to talk about your son Archer Stryker. Nico Di Angelo, the son of Hades told us, that there were no records of his death. Is there anything that you know that happened?" I asked. I saw Mackenzie stiffen next to Thalia.

"Father we need to know. It might be a part of the great prophecy," Thalia added.

Zeus sighed, "Thalia you aren't the only child of mine I've saved. Many years before I had a child by the name of Archer Stryker. He was fifteen when I saved him, one year older than Mackenzie and one year younger than Victor. I struck a bargain with Poseidon and asked him to help me save him. That was a humiliating moment, he wouldn't shut up for years. Anyways I stopped his death by freezing him in time and healing him. Poseidon kept him underwater in the lost city and gave him the ability to breathe underwater. However there is only one way to wake him up."

"What is it?" Mackenzie asked.

"You must locate the Sibylline Books. They are in Camp Jupiter, I believe your brother knows where that is Thalia?"

"Yes," Thalia nodded.

"They will tell you how to wake him. Ask the praetors Reyna Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona and Frank Zhang, son of Mars. Only three are capable of finding them that I shall choose. Jason, Victor and Percy, shall find them," Zeus said, "It was good to see you two again and Mackenzie." With that he was gone.