~Playlist: "My Version of You" by Beth Crowley~

"I put you on a pedestal, gave you so far to fall"

Annabeth's POV

The hospital is getting more and more filled with every passing day. Bianca has new company in the form of a stabbed Reyna. I'm sitting by her side with Piper. Will Solace, a young doctor, insisted on putting her on morphine to dull the pain. However, the affects of the drugs knocked out the dark-haired girl, resulting in us still not officially knowing who caused her to end up in this white room.

"It couldn't have been Willow," Piper insists uneasily. "We would have known, right? We would know if she got into the palace and stabbed someone."

"I don't know, she did get to Bianca. It seems that she's still in the castle, somehow," I argue, not wanting to be right.

Piper's nose wrinkles in confusion. "But how is that possible? Everyone here knows that she's wanted."

I release a sigh. "I'm not sure what's happening, Pipes. All I know is that it looks like we're in even more danger than what anyone else thought."

"I knew the Selection would be brutal, but I never thought it would be like this," says Piper with a half smile on her face. "I never thought that I'd fear for my life."

Reyna's dark eyes snap open and she looks around as if expecting to see her attacker. Piper takes her hand immediately and tries to calm her down.

"Shh, you're okay here, Reyna. Everything is fine," she says soothingly.

I, however, am not as delicate with her. "Reyna, who was it? Did you see who stabbed you?"

She nods her head firmly and tries to speak, but nothing comes out. Reyna motions to her mouth, the universal gesture for water. Piper obliges and runs out of the room in search for it. I stay by Reyna's side and study her nervous expression. But she doesn't seem scared by what all just went down. No, Reyna's much stronger than that. She looks scared of what she's about to say. For some reason, Reyna looks scared of telling me.

Piper reenters with a glass of water in her hand. She doesn't appear to notice the droplets that trickle down her arm as she hands it to Reyna, who downs half of it at once. She moistens her lips before speaking.

"Annabeth..." she says, sounding uncertain and slightly scared.

And just like that, I know who it was. I think I knew it all along, but didn't want to realize it. The same person who wrongly identified Luke's body. The same person who has been avoiding me ever since the Elite were announced. The same person who I used to trust.

I stand up and leave, ignoring Piper's confused expression, ignoring Reyna's sympathetic gaze. The only thing on my mind is finding her.

I turn the corner and run right into someone. "Sorry," I mutter before moving past.

"Woah, what's up?" the person asks. I recognize those sea green eyes at once. Percy.

"Nothing. Just the whole thing with Reyna, really. Kind of has me on edge," I half lie.

His light eyes darken. "You're telling me. And she's still not awake."

I blink in surprise. "Yes, she is. I was there when it happened. Piper is with her right now. She woke up a few minutes ago."

"How is it that I'm the Prince of this country, yet I never hear about anything first?" Percy demands before running down the hall I just came from.

I continue my quick pace until I reach her room. I don't even bother to knock, I just walk right in. She's sitting on her bed writing something. Thalia looks up in surprise and fear. Once she sees it's me, she visibly relaxes.

"Hey, Annie. What's up?"

"Not much. Reyna's awake," I say, acting as if I'm completely clueless.

She freezes in place, the fear obvious in her eyes. "That-that's great."

"Yup. I left before she could tell us who the attacker was. But it's obvious as to who it was. Willow did it, just like all the times before," I say, trying to put her at ease.

Thalia relaxes visibly. "Yeah, that's pretty obvious. It was Willow. Er, I'm going to go visit Reyna and see how she's doing. Catch you later."

"Great!" I say in a peppy voice. "I'll come with you!"

She stops, her hand outstretched towards the door knob. "On second thought, she must have a lot of visitors. I'll hold off for now."

I fight the urge to yell at her. "You can cut the act right now. I know you were the one who stabbed Reyna. And I know that you wrongly identified Luke's body. The only question is why."

Thalia's blue eyes image those of a deer trapped in headlights: Knowing that she's seen and catastrophe is seconds away. And there's nothing she can do to stop it.

"Annabeth, why would you blame me?" She questions, her voice surprisingly calm. "Why would I do any of those things?"

"Most likely because you love Luke. If he's working for Willow, then you are too." The words hurt, and her eyes show that they are true. My own family, the people that I found when it felt like I had no one, are working against me.

"You disgust me," I say, glaring at Thalia to stop the tears from spilling. "You coward."

"You don't understand! She threatened me! The only way no one would get hurt is if I agreed to work with Willow!" Thalia protests, her hands balling up into tight fists.

"You hurt Reyna! That's not exactly 'no one getting hurt'. And even if Willow did threaten you, why didn't you tell someone? Why didn't you tell me?" That's the part that hurts the most. Thalia acts like she never had anyone to turn to, but she did. She had me.

Her expression turns stony and hard. "I could handle it. I didn't need your help."

I wave my hands in the air, gesturing around the room. "This is what you call handling? Someone gravely injured because you thought that you could handle it? I thought better of you, Thalia. I thought that I could trust you. Apparently not. I can't trust Luke, now you."

I leave her room, my mind telling me to walk until I can't remember. Part of me wants to walk out of the castle's doors and never come back.

A/N
Finally, an update! Another one will happen today as well to make up for lost time.