The end of the world was starting, and I was eating a stack of pancakes.

Granted, I had no idea, but I was hungry. And why in the world would you not want to turn down a stack of pancakes from the camp's greatest chefs: the nymphs? While I was shoveling my third plate into my mouth, Nico slid across from me. I stared up at him in mid bite; kids from other cabins aren't supposed to sit at others tables except for their own. Luckily for him, nobody was here; Mr. D was probably up in Olympus and Chiron was trying to find any leftover compact mirrors. Half of the campers were gone as well. They were all in the infirmary. Or pottery class, although personally I ditch those on purpose. He looked better than yesterday; he wasn't bleeding to death and he seemed to be able to move his right arm perfectly fine. Will had amazing healing powers. I wonder if you touched his yellow hair and sang a song, would it gleam and glow?

"Alright, I want to ask what's wrong, but you're already a bit messed up so that question's not entirely going to work," I swallowed the bite, savoring the flavor.

Nico's eye twitched, "You haven't heard anything?"

"About what?"

"The Hephaestus cabin. They were attacked last night," He explained, pointing in the cabin's general direction. "And we don't know who. The sentry Harpies didn't see anything unusual, and they would've pounced on any campers who were up past the time."

"The whole cabin?" The pancakes were being unsettled in my stomach, and all of a sudden I wished I didn't eat three plateful stacks of pancakes. "That's not possible. Nyssa's really bada-."

He held up a hand, pausing my words, "I know. That's why we need all the campers who can help back at the infirmary. Just wanted to tell you."

I leaned over the table, "The thing is... Why only the Hephaestus cabin? If a spy wanted to stop the camp, they should've hit every single cabin."

Nico shrugged, "Maybe they thought that the others are too tough for them. If I were them, I wouldn't want to fight against a skeletal army." He tugged his aviator jacket up to his chin and settled in its warmth. I frowned as of still wearing a torn tank top and shorts. It's freaking summer and he's not sweating buckets. "Any news on Jason and Piper?"

"No..." I said anxiously with my forehead wrinkling with anxiousness, "Nothing. I'm actually sort of scared for them; I've been thinking of flying back and helping them but the camp is in a bit of a situation." I picked up my goblet of water and lifted it to my lips to take a drink.

"I agree with Lance," Nico took the fork from my hand and began poking at my leftovers. Ever since he stayed at camp, he's been getting healthier. His skin wasn't quite as cold to the touch. He ate more. He shares his dessert. "You should go back. Your father's in trouble. Go help him."

Water and spit went flying right into Nico's face.

"You were listening?!"

"Well I was worried," He sighed, obviously used to my spontaneous reactions and swiped the napkin from under my plate. He rubbed it against his face and looked down to realize that water was all over his skull shirt as well. He hasn't entirely accommodated to the Camp's bright orange attire.

My face blushed into a bright red, "T-Then you heard."

"Yup. It takes no genius to figure out he had feelings for you."

I slammed face first with the table, which by the way had a white cloth with purple trim if you were interested, and sprawled my arms out. "Even you knew... Sometimes I wonder if I'm dense."

"More like ignorant," Nico waved the stabbed pancake on a fork in the air before placing it in his mouth, "But yeah. Brainless, if you will. Simpleminded. Empty-headed. Brainless-."

"I get it!" I sat right back up and held out my hands to stop him.

He got up from his seat, "I'm going to change. Have you offered anything to the brazier yet?"

"Oh chocolate fudge, I forgot. Thanks for reminding me!" I picked up my plate and rushed over towards the bronze brazier. The pavilion was framed in Greek columns with a beautiful view of the sea. There are no walls or roof to cover the mess hall, which meant that if the gods were in a bad mood, Zeus in particular, we could end up drenched with rain. Torches blaze from the columns and the flames in the bronze brazier the size of a bathtub lay in the middle.

I held my plate up half-heartedly. There was a single pancake left and a half eaten strawberry. If the gods weren't happy with me already, then they certainly wouldn't like this offering. A young girl, possibly around eight years old, poked at the flames, and she looked oddly familiar. She wasn't a camper; she wasn't decked out in our amazing fashion sense. She wore a scarf over her head so she looked like a pioneer kid. Mousy brown hair peeked out from under the scarf and she wore a simple brown dress. The girl looked up at me, and immediately I felt warm and cozy from her red eyes.

"L-Lady Hestia," I quickly curtsied, nearly tripping over my own feet but somehow regained balance. She nodded, giving a small smile and turning her attention fully to the hearth. I stopped moving. I knew she came here every once in a while. But to not say anything? What was going on?

Keeping my suspicions high, I scraped whatever left was on my plate into the flaming hearth. "To Artemis," I prayed, "And Aphrodite for her return."

I spun on my heel and turned away, bowing at the goddess again before leaving. As I began to walk away, a large burst of heat erupted from the brazier. I whipped around to find someone emerging from the flames. Hestia calmly sat there, doing nothing in the situation.

It was a woman. By the way, she wasn't on flames. She had perfect features, complementing her graceful neck and body. Her long, flowing hair cascaded past her waist. She had light make up on her face, but that only emphasized her beauty. Her eyes were kaleidoscopic, but were tinted with pink as if she was infuriated. Her face kept changing though, I couldn't entirely hone in on what she looked like. She wore a simple dress that was embroidered with the perfect image of a clear blue sky.

Aphrodite. Nobody else could be as flawless.

She stepped out of the fire without hesitation. Aphrodite held out a slender index finger and pointed at me. "You." She then moved the finger to her feet, "Here."

"M-Me?" Looking past the goddess, I saw Nico still at the edge of the pavilion, behind Aphrodite. He slowly took out his sword from its sheath and gave me a two fingered signal, the index and middle finger pressed together, to indicate that he'll sneak around.

"Who else would I be talking to?" She asked, "The air? Frankly, Boreas is a bore. It's stated in his name."

I slowly made my way to the goddess of beauty. She held out a hand, and I carefully reached out to her, knowing that if you turn away a god's offer to hold their hand then bad things could happen. As soon as my fingers grazed hers, my body burned. Literally. I was aflame, and the goddess was enveloped in them too. "AHHH!" I shrieked at the pain, feeling the heat tear and burn away at my skin.

"YOU'LL BE COMING WITH ME!" The goddess' expression morphed into anger as she hissed with her eyes glowing an even brighter pink. My eyes widened; not from the pain, but from realization. She was the voice from the Iris-message. She was the one chasing down Jason and Piper. I immediately winced at the extreme flames, closing my eyes and screaming loudly.

The last thing I heard was Nico's yell from the distance.

* * *

"Astra!" A voice whispered, "Wake up, please!"

My eyes fluttered. My skin throbbed. My limbs ached. I tried to sit up, but I instantly fell over in pain. "Ow..." I murmured, "This is fun."

"How is she even alive..?" A low voice said, "She should be dead from those burns."

"Thanks for the concern," I groaned, lying on my back. Forcing my eyes to open, I saw three fuzzy figures huddled together. Trying to separate my arms, I realize I couldn't. They were tied together, and so were my legs. I need to count how many times I've been held hostage.

"Astra," A soothing voice said, "Relax." I immediately did. My shoulders slouched and my legs stopped aching.

"Wha..?" I squinted. It was Piper leaning over me, using her charmspeak to try to help.

"You'll be okay," She said and I believed her. I don't know why.

Next to her were Jason and Annabeth, all three in bonds as well. "I'm glad you're alive," Annabeth sniffed, as if there was something stuck in her nose, "We thought you weren't going to make it."

"But something miraculous happened," Jason chuckled in the tough situation, "You began to glow silver, kind of like back with the Chthonian. And all of a sudden, your burns didn't seem as bad and you weren't wheezing. The thing that's worrying me now is how Aphrodite became a fire bender."

"No..." I looked down at myself. It was true; my arms weren't bright red with very visible burns. The pain was beginning to fade. "No, no, no!" Shaking myself wildly, I tried to rip the bonds apart. They rubbed against my wrists and it hurt, but not as bad as the realization I got. "Another star! Burst of energy and strength my butt, it freaking healed me! I bet an exploding star isn't going to heal me if it's the last one!"

"Astra?! What the Hades is wrong?!" Piper began to raise her voice, "Relax!"

And I did.

Piper sighed heavily. Her face was covered in soot and dirt, as if she had a make out session with the ground. Their clothes were torn. Piper's knife was missing from its sheath. "Where... Where are we?" I began, trying to calm down.

"Mt. Tamalpais' peak." Annabeth gestured with her chin. I wormed myself up, and scooting with my feet, I was able to see the view. Giant golden pillars stretched towards the sky. A large Greek temple with a flight of stairs as long as the ones in Kung Fu Panda were above us. The three of us were sitting at the base of the staircase. "They're going to be summoning Ouranos."

"Which explained why Aphrodite and the cabin went missing," Jason finished what Annabeth was trying to explain, "Aphrodite was born from Ouranos' remains. She would have to turn to him if he came back." His glasses were crooked on his face, and he wrinkled his nose to try and get them back on the bridge. I sort of hoped he'd fail.

"Wait. Where's Percy?" I asked, looking around them.

Annabeth frowned, "Percy? Why, isn't he back at camp?"

"You two are frustrating," I took a breath, "Recap: his arm got healed, learned you never showed up to camp, went to find you. Now he's missing too; I'm so done."

"Wait, can you slow down-." Annabeth tried to say, when all of a sudden, there was a bright orange light from the temple. Cracks in the sky began to appear as if they were shards of glass. They crumbled to the temple like a vacuum, revealing a pitch black background. Out of the blue, Piper began to scream.

It was ear piercing.

"Piper!" Jason tried to yell over her, but it was no use. Her eyes began to glow pink. There was a loud whoosh, and it stopped like a plug. The whole sky was gone. Don't try to get me to explain how we were still able to breathe and all that science nonsense, because this is Greek mythology. Anything can happen.

The light was gone. Piper's eyes rolled back and she slumped onto the ground. Jason scanned over quickly and his voice shivered, "I-I don't think she's breathing."

Step.

Step.

Step.

The three of us turned to the stairs. A sole person was walking down the stairs, with each step echoing against the mountain. The whipping wind stung at my skin as I tried to see who it was.

Step.

Step.

Step.

The figure finally reached the end of the stairs. It was a man's figure. He had greying hair and high shoulders. "Astra!" He rushed over to me, a look of worry washing over his face. "This game of tag has gone too far!" He got onto his knees while running his fingers over the bonds as if contemplating on how to get me free.

"M-Mister Windlass?" I stuttered, "What?"

Tukiyo, well, my father, seemed perfectly normal; no signs of godly possession anywhere.

"Who's that?" Jason muttered, "A mortal?" Annabeth remained silent.

"What are you doing here, sir?" I tried to laugh it off, scooting away from my father. "This isn't any place for an astronomer."

A low chuckle emerged from the man.

I tried laughing with him this time, "Is something funny?"

"You are, my dear," A rich tone flowed over me. It was sickly and sappy, sticky to the sound. "I'm surprised you found my acting... Appropriate." He blinked. His eyes changed color: from a dark, chocolate brown to a shining gold.

"Hold on a second," I said. Something clicked. "I never told you my name was Astra."

My father, or in actuality, whoever was in my father's body reached out to touch the side of my face. He held it gingerly, and the expression he had almost seemed genuine. "Great attention to detail, darling," He sneered, the sides of his cheeks pulling up into a Cheshire smile, "You seem smarter than I've heard."

"You have no right to call me 'darling'," I snarled, wanting to bite his hand. I didn't want to injure my father, though. "Only my mother and father can call me that, and I know for a fact that you're not him."

"Oh, darling," Ouranos stressed on the word. "I am your 'father'. You're made from the stars, and I am the sky. You're made of me."

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ONE MORE DAY FOR VOTING ON thefanfictionawards COMPETITION! I JUST LEARNED THAT I'M THE ONLY PJO NOMINEE SO PLEASE VOTE FOR ME. I WOULD BE SO HONORED TO REPRESENT THE PJO FANDOM FOR 2016. MORE INFORMATION IS ON MY MESSAGE BOARD AND IN CHAPTER 20'S A/N.

Thanks to TheGirlofSmarts for the gorgeous artwork! If you want to submit any fan-art for the next chapter, email me at [email protected].

Brief message: the Demigod Journals will start being updated more often thanks to a new team of assistant writers and editors! If you've requested an OC a while back and still want to be featured, please leave a comment here so I can validate everything. Thanks!

I know updates on this book have been inconsistent; I'm running out of ideas, managing a Team, and juggling high school all together. Please forgive me; I'll try to work out a schedule for myself where updating is consistent. Four more chapters left!

XOXO,
Arisa