Bleh.

My mind felt dead. I could've been, I mean, I didn't want to wake up early again. I wasn't able to sleep at all that night, mostly thanks to the vivid memories that made me burn as hot as a nuclear bomb exploding inside of a volcano. I restrained from slapping myself senseless by pounding my fists into my pillow.

Dragging myself out of bed and into proper attire, which is just a plain blue shirt and jeans, I changed and tied my disheveled hair back into a ponytail. There was a knock on the door, and Reyna peeked through. Her dark brown bangs were swept across her forehead almost as if she also just woke up, but she seemed prepared for a fight, "Sorry to barge in, but are you ready?"

I yawned and gave the "okay" symbol by placing my index finger against my thumb, making a small circle. She nodded and left. I shoved my teddy bear in my backpack, and zipped it up tightly. The other day while we were still in the Roman fort, we discussed our plan on the Titan camp. It was a rather... Risky one. I pulled my backpack over my shoulders and left the comfort of the mattress behind.

* * *

"So... Are we Titan enough?" I asked, holding out my arms to have Serena examine me.

"What does that mean?" Lance raised an eyebrow.

"Does it look like we'd fit in with a bunch of semi-titans?"

The small girl shrugged, obviously not caring about what I looked like, "Sure. Whatever."

"Can someone remind me what the plan is? I'm feeling a bit nervous," Leo chuckled, fumbling around with random bits from his tool belt. We all were gathered in front of the Senate House, with the pegasi anxiously pounding their feet against the pavement.

Annabeth tightly gripped her Yankees hat anxiously, "Leo, for the third time, pay attention! Reyna, Lance, Astra and Austin will be sneaking into Camp Iniquitous by pretending to be semi-titans. You and Calypso will be here, setting up a defense group in case anything goes wrong, and Astra will send an Iris-message if that happens." I flipped my golden drachma in the air to verify. "I'll be heading back to Camp Half-Blood for an update with Blackjack. Can you remember that while I'm gone?"

Calypso placed a hand on the son of Hephaestus' shoulder, "I'll remind you if you continue to daze off." He grinned thankfully.

Michael brought over one of Camp Jupiter's pegasi, and it shook its brown feathers. I'm only here for the snacks, I heard it snort, and I nodded in agreement. I'd do anything for a good chocolate bar. Reyna and Austin mounted the pegasus, with Serena in the front to guide them. I hopped onto Rigel's back, and Lance followed my actions. He tried placing his hands on my waist, but I slapped them away and he grasped my shoulders instead.

"See ya, Astra," Michael winked, and I snickered back at him.

"Nice meeting you, bestie," I replied, and Rigel immediately took flight, accidentally blowing Michael's hair back.

Lance frowned, "Who's that?"

"A friend I met the other day."

"Hm," He muttered, and his forehead crinkled as if he was deep in thought. The pegasus with Reyna took off right after, and we headed out of New Rome. The sun's rays were growing brighter, even though it was early in the morning, almost if Apollo had no control over it. How many days has it been since we've left Camp Half-Blood?

"We should park the horses outside the perimeters of the camp," Reyna explained as the pegasus flew next to Rigel, "It'd be a little absurd to crash in the middle of a bunch of semi-titans."

"That reminds me," I said, looking at Serena, "If it's a camp full of Titan children, does that mean there will be borders like the other camps? Like the times I couldn't get into either?"

"You'll be fine," Serena picked at her fingernails, "The camp doesn't have any restrictions because they're pretty confident. Their egos are bigger than their strength. But if you're worried, I'll hold your hand." Now, I know I shouldn't be calling a twelve year old names, but there were a bunch of words that I didn't say out loud. There was something circling my mind though; if Eris worked for Ouranos who was in charge of the camp, then why does she want us to steal something from them? And what side was Serena actually on?

The horses flew over a body of water, which was the break between San Francisco and Mt. Tamalpais. The brief scent of salt burned my nostrils, and I sneezed while wiping with my hands. Ew... As I pretended to braid Rigel's mane while intensely scrubbing my fingers between the hairs, he grunted angrily, you're wiping mucus all over me, aren't you?

"No..." I laughed nervously, removing my hands from his mane.

"What did he say?" Lance leaned over with interest. I elbowed him in the stomach, and he lurched back, nearly falling off Rigel for possibly the third time. "What was that for?!"

"Stop arguing," Reyna demanded, pointing towards the oncoming land, "We're nearing the state park. Be on your guard; there might be sentries lurking around." She grasped her sword's hilt, as if she was getting ready for war.

Austin snorted, "What's there to worry about? It's not like we'll be doing the tango to display our arrival. No need to be so tense." Reyna shot him a glare, and he shrunk away from the eye contact. It was obvious that they were possibly not the best pair in the world. The horses went for a slight dive, and we started to head down into Mt. Tamalpais State Park. It wasn't much of a park though; more like dead, creepy that block out the sun's rays (which was pretty good, considering how bad it's been these past few weeks).

Rigel pawed at the branches and they snapped under his hooves. It will be difficult to land here with all this unnecessary obstruction, Rigel said, you'll have to jump off.

I scanned our surroundings. "Okay. But find a place nearby to stay. We'll hopefully find you in a couple of hours." After relaying the message Rigel told me to the others, I leaped off of his back, gripped a tree's trunk like a cicada and slid down as if mimicking a fireman. As soon as my two feet landed hit the dirt, I watched as Reyna leaped off of the pegasus, did a flip in midair, and landed on the ground. She flipped her braid over a shoulder without a drop of sweat.

"Show off," I complained, and she smirked. Austin had Serena clinging on his back, but he managed to drop down just fine by falling face first into a pile of worm corpses.

"That's gross," Lance said as he slid down the tree next to me. Serena got off his back but stepped on Austin, making his face get very personal with the worms. "Never mind. That's grosser."

Serena started walking into the forest, and we all followed after her. "Would it be considered trespassing if we illegally entered a state park?" I asked while twiddling my thumbs nervously.

"Is it okay for Ouranos to take over the world? I'm sure legal business will be the last things on our minds," Reyna said, with her hand permanently resting on her hilt. A loud crunch echoed under my feet, and I looked down, noticing a tiny skeleton of some sort of animal. Okay, I was already scared to begin with, but now I want to hide in a fort of pillows. After a while, there was some sort of rickety looking arch ahead. It was rotting wood with the words "Camp Iniquitous" carved on a dangling plank. No wall or weapons to form a defense line. If anything, it looked as if nothing was on the other side.

"You're tricking us again, aren't you?" Austin demanded, pointing an accusing finger at the twelve year old Hunter.

"Just watch, impatient midget," Serena said, and walked right through. A shimmer surrounded her, and with the blink of an eye, she disappeared.

"She called me a midget?!" He clenched his fists furiously and stomped right after her, "Oh, I'm going to push her down the rabbit hole where she will never see the light of day-." As soon as he took a step through, Austin also disappeared. Us three gave weird looks at each other obviously having high suspicions of what was going on.

"One way to find out," I inclined and headed for the mysterious arch myself. Bracing for something to happen, I ducked under and blinked. As if I entered a whole different dimension, there were cabins and campers roaming around with matching red shirts. Not as many as the people in New Rome or Camp Half-Blood, but still plenty of children to have a miniature army. The sky was a little overcast, but there wasn't any rain. Lance and Reyna soon stumbled behind, and they also watched with wide eyes.

"No wonder no one's sensed anything," Reyna muttered, "That's because they couldn't see anything."

"Hey Serena!" A kid around her age yelled, "Where've you been? Who are those people?"

She waved back, "Newcomers. Had to find them for you know who." He nodded in agreement and ran off.

Austin, who's seemed to be in a pretty bad mood all day, grabbed the daughter of Poseidon by her shoulders, "Let's get this over with. Where would they keep the Necklace of Harmonia?"

Serena pointed at a large, wooden house a couple of feet away, "There. The Treasury. All the items that the semi-titans were able to nab of the years. You guys are going to have to go ahead, though. I have to write a log every time I come back. I'll meet you here after I'm done; it'll only take a few minutes." She pushed him off and walked away.

"She better not do anything suspicious," Lance said, "Come on. Let's go before we're noticed."

I undid my hair clip and it morphed into a bow in my hand just in case. As we trudged towards the building, I saw another kid run up to me with his own quiver and bow over his shoulder, "Hey, newbie! The archery practice is that way," He pointed in a direction completely opposite of the Treasury. "I'll lead you there, since you're new." He also seemed to be a little younger than Serena. I looked around at all the other kids. All young, possibly in middle school or younger. How long ago was this camp established?

"I-, uh," I looked at the three for help.

Reyna moved her hand, "Go ahead. You need catch up with your lessons. We'll do your part of the cleanup duty." Wow, she was a natural actress.

"Yeah, thanks," I awkwardly smiled, "Meet you here later."

The kid grabbed me by the arm and pulled me away. "So," He said, "I'm Aaron Vectis. You seem pretty old to be a semi-titan." He tugged on his red shirt and looked up at me with big, golden eyes.

"Yeah, well," I laughed nervously while trying to act normal, "My parent was a little ahead of everyone's game. Who's yours?"

"Mine's Hyperion," Aaron chuckled, "He met my mom sometime around the Battle of the Labyrinth. You haven't gotten your Camp Iniquitous shirt yet?" He gestured at my clothes.

"Nope, just got here," I swung my arm with my cheeks hurting from the fake smile.

"You know, you're one of the first people I like talking to," He grinned, "Not many people interact here. And if we did, we'd all be at each other's throats. The instructors are working on table manners right now." His light brown hair rustled as he moved his fingers through it.

"You sure do talk a lot," I murmured under my breath. Aaron didn't seem to notice, though.

"You didn't tell me your name. What is it?"

"Uh, it's Aria," I said, going for the name that Mr. D often called me, "Aria Waterhose."

"That's a weird name," He giggled, "Look! There's the practice." He yanked me towards the targets. Only a few others were with us, and they often missed their mark. Pulling the bow the wrong way, not figuring out how to properly nock and arrow and I could've sworn one kid tried to launch one backwards and nearly impaling himself in the process.

"Um, aren't you guys doing it a little wrong?" I asked, gesturing at all the other kids.

Aaron sighed, "Yeah, well, the Titans think we can do it on our own. Can't waste any of their time, you know?" He awkwardly nocked his own arrow against his small bow, but was unable to launch it. I suddenly had a realization. These kids weren't doing anything wrong at all, or even knew what was going on. Their parents just didn't have the thought to help them. There was a sudden pang of sympathy. Even though I knew I shouldn't, I did it anyways.

"Look," I demonstrated, holding up my own bow and arrow, "This is how you do it." I pulled the string back and let go, watching as the arrow sunk right in the middle of the target. All of them turned to me, wide-eyed.

"Teach me how to do that, miss!"

"I wanna learn too!"

"That was amazing!" Aaron squealed, clapping his hands as if he just saw a magic show.

I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment and finally genuinely smiled. "I'll show you guys how to do it again, then."

* * *

For about half an hour, I taught the kids how to properly use a bow and arrow. A couple actually managed to land on target; granted, they were way off of bull's-eye, but were doing great in that short amount of time.

"Thanks, Aria," Aaron clung to my waist delightfully, "You're the best." My heart hurt, feeling absolutely terrible for them. Here they were, slaving away for Titans who didn't even want to help prepare them for the war.

"You're wel-," I was interrupted by a loud alarm blaring off.

"SOMEONE STOLE FROM THE TREASURY!" A camper shouted, yanking out a sword, "EVERYONE GET THEM!" Reyna, Lance, and Austin. Oh no, were they going to get caught?

Aaron was covering his ears in fear. I bent over and uncovered one of them, "Listen, Aaron!" I tried to say over the noise, "Whatever you do, work hard. I believe in you, okay?" He nodded, shaking his head so fast I thought it was going to fall off. I squeezed him quickly, let him go and ran off to find the others. "REYNA?!" I yelled over all the chaos, "LANCE?! AUSTIN?! SERENA?!"

"OVER HERE!" I heard Lance shout over by the arch. I dashed as fast as I could in that direction. Reyna wasn't too far behind, and Serena was already there.

"Let's go!" Reyna ran right by me, and we nearly made it to the arch when we heard someone yell.

"AGH!" Austin yelled, being caught by the kids with chains.

"Austin!" I nearly turned around, but he gestured with his head for us to go.

"We'll come back and get him!" Reyna grabbed my arm, "But we have to leave now!" We burst through the arch, reveal the dreadfully dark and eerie forest. The cries of semi-titans were right behind us, and we all sprinted through the park.

"We've got the necklace, but where are the horses?" Lance gasped, slicing through all the branches. Even Serena seemed to be exhausted.

Some small building seemed to be ahead, and I pointed at it, "Look! There!" It was a cabin with the lights on inside. "Let's go there!" We bounded up the stairs, and pounded on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Lance asked, ramming his fist again the door. The shouts were about a mile away, and I stomped my feet anxiously.

It pulled open, revealing a confused man with greying hair, "May I help you?"

"We're in a bit of a troublesome situation; we know it's random but may we come in?" Reyna tried politely asking, and turned around to see the orange glow from torches approaching.

"Well-, yes, come in," He obliged, and we pushed ourselves in. Closing the door behind us, the man locked it carefully. "Please, have a seat. I'll grab you four something to drink." He motioned towards the small chairs and headed towards his kitchen. There was a burning fireplace, even though it was summer, and maps littered everywhere.

"That was close," Serena sunk into the only couch.

"You could say that again," I sprawled onto the ground like a skinned bear rug. How was Austin doing?

The man came back with a tray of cup with ice water, handing each to us. "I wonder what was going on," He said, "What was the emergency?"

"Huge tag game," Lance replied with a nervous chuckle while taking a sip, "We were almost going to get caught. Thanks for your help though."

The man smiled, "I wish I could be your age again. Oh, how delightful!"

"Sorry for the intrusion," Reyna placed her cup on the ground, "We hope we haven't inconvenienced you."

"No worries," He laughed, almost father-like, "I'm glad to get some spontaneous company. May I inquire who you are?"

"I'm Aria," I said while getting off the ground in a sitting position and coming back to the fake names, "That's... Luke, Renee, and Samantha."

"Yes," Serena coughed, "I'm Samantha."

The man smiled again, and that struck some sort of tingling sensation inside of me. I guess I'm all full of feels today. "I'm Tukiyo Windlass, an astronomer. A pleasure to meet you."

Tukiyo Windlass?

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Boy, I really procrastinated this time. But I have a valid excuse for once: I joined a new fandom. *whispers* if any of you are Miraculous Ladybug fans talk to me and we'll be best friends.

And in all honesty, I'm slowly starting to lose interest in this series. I would love to finish it, and I still have many plans and ideas, but I'm beginning to fall out of PJATO. Hopefully I'll get my mind back into gear soon, but for now, expect a lot more procrastination time in between updates.

Do you think Aaron's going to be important?

Drop a vote/comment if you enjoyed! They might be able to motivate me to finish >.<

XOXO,
Arisa