It was already the most chaotic fight Jason had ever been in. Once Gaia appeared, it turned the intensity into absolute insanity.

  “AWAKE.” Her great form basked in glory, looming above everyone and everything. “The paltry magic of your statue cannot contain me.”

  “Stand fast!” Piper shouted, charmspeak loud and clear. “We can fight her together!”

  The land of Camp Half-Blood bent toward the Earth Mother, yearning for her embrace. The earth rumbled, throwing demigods and monsters alike off their feet. Trees, stones, and the ground all writhed and swayed unnaturally, as the Earth itself prepared to join the battle.

  “FIGHT ME?” Gaia laughed lightly at the thought. “THE GROUND YOU STAND UPON IS MY BODY. HOW WOULD YOU FIGHT THE EARTH ITSELF—”

  Her speech was interrupted by a sudden flash of bronze. A blast of fire hit Gaia so hard it sent the twenty-foot figure flying into the sky. The land returned to normal as Gaia sprawled in the air, and for a moment Jason could only stare at the scene, dumbfounded.

  Shaking out of stupor, he hastily summoned the wind and a tornado sprang to life under Gaia, propelling the goddess up again.

  On the Greek side, he watched Percy cut down a dozen monsters and stab his sword into the ground. A hurricane joined Jason’s tornado, and the two typhoons kept Gaia suspended thirty feet above ground.

  “HOW DARE—!”

  The earth started to shake again as Gaia raged in the air, but the quake was much more manageable now that she had been separated from the ground. The Seven started attacking from all sides: From the left, Hazel rode Frank the dragon into battle, slashing at Gaia with her spatha. From below, Jason and Percy pummeled her with their storm, funneling it around her like a cage. And from above, Leo and Festus blasted her with flames, the son of Hephaestus shouting fiery insults.

  Even weakened and separated from her element, Gaia was still very much so a force of nature. She sent stones, dirt, and sand in every direction, violently trying to break free of her tempestuous prison. Jason could barely contain her strikes.

  “ENOUGH!”

  A powerful shockwave erupted from Gaia. Her fury was so great it blasted their storm cage apart for a moment. The goddess immediately turned to sand, trickling back down to the ground. In a blind panic, Jason lashed out with the wind, trying to catch each grain as Percy hurriedly revived their storm.

  Leo and Festus torched the sand, turning it into glass. Gaia was trapped again, giving them a quick breather, but it was growing clear that they couldn’t keep this up forever.

  “I have to be up there to charmspeak her!” Piper shouted.

  “It’s too dangerous!” Percy stumbled, dropping Riptide to use both hands to control his hurricane. “You’ll never make it with all the shrapnel!”

  Annabeth’s voice startled them. “Watch out!”

  Indeed, a huge boulder was flying straight at them at that moment. Neither Jason nor Percy were prepared to stop it, and Jason felt his face slack in shock. How did it get past their combined storm?

  A jagged spike of glittering rock sprung out of the ground, crashing into the boulder and sending it flying away. Carried by Frank in the air, Hazel’s hand was outstretched toward them.

  There was no time to thank her. Annabeth screamed, “Frank, bank right!”

  Jason cursed himself for losing focus again, but it was too late. Gaia had taken advantage of their surprise and sprayed a barrage of stones at Frank and Hazel.

  Frank roared in surprise and swerved, but the shrapnel still nicked him. Hazel was thrown off violently as the dragon crashed into the ground, where all around them, demigods fought their hearts out against an endless swarm of monsters. Jason saw Reyna in the thick of the fighting, her blade flashing left and right in a blur. He spotted Nico and Will dashing through the violence.

  Annabeth and Piper ran over to check. Thankfully, Hazel didn’t seem much worse for wear. On the other hand, Frank had transformed back into a human, and his arm was bleeding profusely.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine.” Frank grunted, pressing his free hand on his wound.

  “We have to stop her. I have to get up to her!” Piper insisted.

  Jason was starting to see spots with how much his head ached, but he gritted his teeth and said, “There’s no way I can fly you up there. It’s taking everything we have to keep her restrained.”

  “I’ll do it.” Frank declared, getting to his feet. “I can still transform.”

  “But you’re hurt!” Hazel fretted.

  Frank didn’t waver. He looked more determined than Jason had ever seen him. “I have to. It’s my duty.”

  Annabeth looked at Gaia with worry. Leo and Festus were doing all they could to fight her, yet she still had enough power to attack the storm around her and the metal dragon at the same time.

  She bit her lip. “Go, Frank. Hurry!”

  Jason felt his mouth dry. “Pipes–”

  “I’ll be fine. We can do it!” She said.

  He slowly nodded, even though everything inside him screamed at him to stop her. Frank transformed into a dragon again, and Piper hopped on. They joined Leo in the sky, and Frank flew Piper so close it made Jason’s bones tremble in anxiety.

  Gaia lashed out at them, but slowly and surely, her movements grew more sluggish as Piper charmspoke her face to face. It felt like ages, as Jason’s muscles groaned and his skull throbbed. He had never made such a concentrated storm, one that had to contain and restrain rather than destroy. It took much more focus, much more finesse.

  Percy didn’t seem to be doing much better. His eyes were unfocused. Beside them, Hazel looked at them worryingly.

  Gaia desperately lashed out again at Piper and Frank, and this time Leo was too far to help them. Hazel screamed as Frank put his own dragon body in between the attack and Piper, letting her continue her charmspeak.

  He wanted to scream too, but Jason could only watch as Frank used himself as a human shield while Gaia attacked. Again and again, Frank took all the Earth Mother’s blows to protect Piper. It wasn’t long before he was dripping blood all over, his flight becoming more unsteady and wobbly.

  Hazel covered her mouth with her hands. “He’s…he’s going to get himself killed!”

  “What?” Percy looked horror-stricken, his eyes slowly fluttering upward.

  Suddenly, Festus grabbed Gaia’s form with one talon. She tried to dissolve into sand again, but fiery dragon breath instantly forced her to become glass. Leo cried out triumphantly, and suddenly Gaia began to go up and up.

  “W-where are they going?” Annabeth stammered. “This wasn’t part of the plan!”

  Frank and Piper followed them, and they got higher and higher. Their storm faltered away, with Gaia suspended by Festus alone. Her attacks doubled in ferocity, and without the storm as a deterrent, Frank’s roars of pain grew louder.

  “No!” Percy shouted. His and Jason’s typhoon dissipated, leaving nothing for the two to do. “Jason, get us up there!”

  Jason stared at him for a moment. Something inside him told him that it would be a terrible idea to interfere. Piper’s charmspeak was slowly but surely working, and while he didn’t know what Leo’s plan was, he knew to trust his best friend…

  Then he met Percy’s terrified eyes and remembered Piper was up there. He wrapped an arm around Percy’s waist and they flew up.

  “Wait!” Annabeth called, but it was too late.

  They gained altitude quickly, Jason’s wind fueled by fear. As they got closer and closer, he could hear Gaia’s labored voice.

  “I–YOU DO NOT SPEAK—NOT FOR ME–”

  Frank was barely able to stay airborne, Jason could tell. The dragon seemed to be flying by sheer will alone; Jason couldn’t believe that his wings could flap with how torn they were. But anyone could tell Gaia was slowing down looking at her downright sleepy movements. Piper’s plan was working well, and Jason had a sinking feeling that he and Percy shouldn’t have come.

  “You want one thing.” Piper cooed, and Gaia seemed to sway to her words, her primordial eyes flickering open and closed. “Just one word, permission to close your eyes and forget your troubles.”

  Leo looked down in surprise, being the only one to notice Percy and Jason joining them. Flames covered every inch of his body so that he looked like he was made of fire, but Jason could still see his eyes widen.

  “What are you guys doing–”

  In her last waking moments, Gaia’s hand wearily thrust out at Frank’s chest, as sharp as obsidian. Determination flashed across the dragon’s face, and he made no move to dodge.

  But then Percy screamed. “Frank, no!”

  He freed himself from Jason and launched himself forward. Riptide flashed into existence, blocking the attack and shattering Gaia’s arm like glass.

  So many things happened in the next few moments. It all happened too fast for Jason to do anything.

  The shattered arm sent sharp shrapnel flying everywhere.

  Without thinking, Frank ducked his giant head to dodge the deadly debris.

  Why? Maybe Percy had surprised him. Or perhaps it was a split-second lapse of judgment.

  But by avoiding it, Frank had left Piper defenseless.

  One of the shards flew straight at her as if pulled by the strings of fate.

  Piper was too engrossed in her charmspeak to notice, ready to deliver the final words to put Gaia to sleep.

  She never got the chance. The piece cut deeply into her shoulder, cutting her words off with a cry of pain.

  Percy fell into a free fall, and Jason instinctively dove after him.

  Piper was gasping in shock and pain.

  Jason grabbed the son of Poseidon by the arm.

  And then the world seemed to explode.

  The next thing Jason knew, the Seven were all back on the ground. Festus was broken into pieces next to an unconscious Leo. Frank, back in human form, was out cold and covered in blood. And Gaia was now taller than any giant Jason had fought, her green eyes blazing in hatred. Her drowsiness was fading fast, replaced by earthshaking rage.

  “YOU DARE TRY TO MANIPULATE ME WITH YOUR WORDS?! ME!? THE EARTH ITSELF!” She screamed, and Jason choked as a force pressed all of them into the ground. The Earth Mother raised her enormous arm to destroy them once and for all. “DIE–!”

  A gold comet suddenly flew into the air and crashed into her head, eighty feet in the air. Jason thought he heard a girly scream from inside the projectile, but his disoriented brain was probably playing tricks on him. The Earth Mother stumbled, but Jason knew it was useless. Now that she was back in contact with the ground, Gaia was unstoppable.

  “YOU THINK THAT CAN STOP ME–”

  More golden fireballs flew at the Earth Mother, hitting her once, twice, three times. Gaia was pushed back, roaring in pain. The force pinning them down disappeared, and Jason got to his feet with difficulty.

  “Get up!” A voice shouted at them. It was Reyna, her face ashen. “All soldiers, protect the Seven!”

  Monsters swarmed toward the defenseless demigods, but a disciplined wall of armored legionaries fought tooth and nail to intercept them. Jason couldn’t stop the feeling of despair from rising as he looked at his friends around him.

  Percy regained his bearings first, looking around in disbelief.

  Piper opened and closed her mouth, for once at a complete loss for words.

  Annabeth’s gray eyes flashed back and forth in desperation, but the look on her face told Jason that even she didn’t have a plan this time.

  Hazel cried as she tried to wake up Leo and Frank.

  “Fire the onagers!” Reyna ordered, and Gaia was pelted by imperial gold artillery once more.

  Hazel choked a sob back. “It won’t work. That won’t kill her now.”

  Percy looked shell-shocked. “D–did we just…lose?”

  “YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!” Gaia declared. She swatted one of the giant projectiles out of the air, her wounds from the other attacks rapidly healing. “THIS IS YOUR RECKONING!”

  And then all at once, the earth erupted with her wrath.

  Jason opened his eyes.

  It probably spoke volumes that these nightmares didn’t scare him anymore.

  Not that the terror wasn’t there. But at this point, Jason could usually contain and compartmentalize all the panic and agony from the dream. Keeping his cool while under fire, no matter how scary, was something Jason was very used to.

  Especially recurring memories…he had lived through them already. The fear in his sleep was nothing compared to when it had happened in real life.

  He sat up in his bunk slowly, taking a moment to process the emotions.

  It had taken Jason and the Seven a long time to make sense of everything that had happened that day. It turned out Leo had his own plan to destroy Gaia by turning Festus and himself into a solar flare. However, Leo realized this would kill everyone around him, and so he carried Gaia much higher than they had initially planned, preparing to go out in flames.

  Frank and Hazel were the only ones who had known. Perhaps they should have been angry at them for hiding it from them, but it kind of fell flat when the plan ended up failing despite their secrecy.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Besides, there was a lot more to be angry and afraid about.

  There was a lot of blame-shifting and finger-pointing in the wake of the battle. Gaia’s full power had shaken them to the bone, and they were all running high on adrenaline and panic; no one was thinking straight.

  Annabeth angrily told Leo he should have told her the plan. They needed to work as a team, and they couldn’t do that if they weren’t on the same page.

  Leo defended himself, saying his plan would have worked. He accused Percy and Jason of screwing everything up by interfering.

  Percy hotly argued back, declaring that he couldn’t let Frank sacrifice himself.

  But they were all shocked when Frank, of all people, started screaming like Ares himself. He shouted that Percy should have let it happen, should have let him die. Frank said that this was why they didn’t tell them, and revealed Mars’ words to him about his duty and the war going sideways.

  If not for Piper managing to calm them all down, the Seven may genuinely have come to blows under the tense situation.

  Still, they eventually moved on. Once the heat of the moment died away, they were able to think calmly and let all their grievances go. The gods had thrown blame around for the majority of the war instead of doing anything. The Seven had refused to do the same.

  So they put the bitterness of the loss aside and put all their focus and effort on surviving and saving as many people as they could. It wasn’t enough, but it was the best they could do.

  The rest was history, of course.

  But Jason still had his own thoughts about their first loss to Gaia. He didn’t know what the others thought, but Jason had come to terms with it. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that their loss was his and Percy’s fault.

  Frank believed that his duty had been to make sure Gaia fell, even if his life was on the line. Percy tried to interrupt it, and Jason let him. And now, just like Mars said, the war had gone sideways after Frank failed to accomplish his duty.

  Percy wouldn’t agree with this, but Jason could recall Kymopoleia’s words in the Old Atlantis. The Son of Poseidon’s fatal flaw had come back to bite him. He had been unable to step away, and the world paid the price.

  Frank was ready to do the right thing. And Leo’s plan was the right choice. They were right not to tell the rest of the Seven. But it hadn’t mattered, because Jason had made the wrong decision.

  What if Jason had not agreed to Percy’s offer? What if Jason had convinced him to stay on the ground, and let Leo, Piper, and Frank finish Gaia off?

  Leo could be dead. Frank could be dead.

  But the world could have been saved.

  Jason sighed and got up from the bunk. He decided to do something to take his mind off the depressing thought spiral. There was little point in reminiscing now that it was all over, after all.

  Unless it wasn’t the last time a sacrifice had to be made…

  He washed up and got ready, duly noting the bags under his eyes. They would always be there; it was only a matter of how dark they would be. Today, Jason clearly did not sleep enough…it was much too early for breakfast, and most legionnaires wouldn’t even be awake yet.

  There was no way he was getting back to sleep, though. Jason quietly exited his barracks, hopping over a sleeping bulldog along the way. He couldn’t help but grin. Once upon a time, Frank would have been much too self-conscious to sleep like that in front of so many.

  Jason went to the mess hall, waiting at the steps for it to open. Jason sat down and found himself looking around aimlessly, eventually deciding to admire New Rome in the distance like he did countless times before. The temples shone in the morning sun and the Garden of Bacchus glowed at the top of its hill.

  The Garden of Bacchus…that was Reyna’s favorite spot in Camp by far. He wondered how she was doing.

  As if the dawn wasn’t enough of a light show, a rainbow flickered into existence to join it. Piper, Annabeth, and Percy appeared in the image, looking relieved to see him.

  “I told you he’d be awake,” Annabeth said.

  Piper frowned at her. “We still could have waited, though. We already don’t get enough sleep as it is…”

  “It’s okay. I’m glad you called.” Jason smiled. “It’s really early, but hey, I’m already awake.”

  “And because it’s so early, there’s less of a chance for people to see us,” Annabeth added. “We don’t want to put Jason in that tough spot.”

  Piper rolled her eyes, sighing. “Alright, alright. You win. But what if we had woke him up? Wouldn’t you feel bad?”

  “Again, you didn’t, so it’s okay. And even if you did,” Jason studied their faces. “I’m assuming this is something important?”

  “Yeah. It’s something we probably should have talked about earlier, actually.” Percy nodded.

  Jason looked at Piper. “If it’s something important, Pipes, I don’t mind at all if you wake me up in the middle of the night, okay? I’ll always be there to hear you out, don’t worry.”

  It wasn’t hyperbole, either. Ever since they’d decided to start over, they had been talking over IM any time they could, any hour of the day. Normal boys his age would stare at their phones for a text message or anxiously wait for a call. Meanwhile, every time Jason saw a rainbow a denarii would be in his hand, Piper’s name already on his lips.

  He suspected it was the same way for her, even if she had to be more careful. Camp Jupiter didn’t use Iris Message at all, and it would be completely foreign to any passing legionary, unlike the Greeks. Like Annabeth had said, it wasn’t a spot Jason wanted to be in.

  But for Piper, it was probably worth it.

  Anyway, Piper seemed a little flustered at his words, nodding a little too quickly. Beside her, Percy raised an eyebrow. “Uh, us too, right?”

  “Huh? Oh yeah. Any one of us, of course.” Jason hastily added.

  Percy smirked, unconvinced. “Really feeling the love, bro.”

  “Shut up, Jackson.”

  “Anyway,” Annabeth shut them both up with a single pointed look. “Remember how you and Percy transformed during the quests last year?”

  Jason instinctively glanced down at his wrist. The veins in his arm glowed gold ever so slightly, rhythmically pulsing like a heartbeat. “Yeah?”

  Annabeth gestured to Piper. “We had an incident during our last quest. And well, do you notice anything different about Piper?”

  He blinked, obligingly turning to stare at the daughter of Aphrodite. From her unblemished skin to her lush brown hair, to her color-changing eyes, Jason just saw the same beautiful Piper. But other than Piper starting to look a little uncomfortable, he wasn’t quite sure what was new.

  “Is she more beautiful than normal or something?” Jason joked.

  “Actually, yes,” Annabeth frowned. “Isn’t it weird? She’s not wearing any makeup and didn’t style anything at all. In fact, we just dragged her out of bed, Jason.”

  Now that she pointed it out, Piper did indeed look more careless than normal. Her hair was casually thrown to the left lopsidedly. The crinkles by her eyes and crumpled mismatched clothes suggested an ‘I-just-woke-up-like-this’ look, just like Annabeth said.

  That didn’t mean she wasn’t pretty, though. ‘Disheveled Piper’ actually looked even hotter in Jason’s eyes. Her perfect skin was glowing, her choppy hair flowed perfectly past her shoulder, and her eyes…

  “I–I guess I can see it,” Jason realized he was staring again and quickly turned away. “But it doesn’t seem too different. Piper’s always been beautiful, after all.”

  Annabeth seemed a little confused. “Really? Everyone else has noticed. Drew had a whole mental breakdown because Piper suddenly got a ‘glow-up’. It should definitely be more noticeable.”

  “I guess that makes sense. Annabeth is always perfect no matter what. This one time, I saw her with the cutest case of rat’s-nest hair and–” Percy coughed, probably realizing he got distracted. “What I mean is, Piper’s always appeared more beautiful to Jason than others, and now it’s just caught up with everyone else. Funny how love can do that, huh?”

  Piper raised an eyebrow. “That…was oddly perceptive, Percy.”

  Jason held up his hands. “Wait a second. So you think Piper went through the same transformation we did? That this apparent new beauty is because of that?”

  “Yeah,” Annabeth nodded. “When Percy went through his…changes, he said it made him feel like a god.”

  Jason recalled that Frank had told him the same thing, that Jason’s power that day was ‘godly’. “That’s a good description, now that I think of it. It really did feel…”

  “Divine,” Piper finished for him. “It felt divine.”

  Jason blinked at her and slowly rubbed his chin. “So…this isn’t some one-off thing, then.”

  Annabeth shook her head. “No. And it doesn’t make sense, either. Something like this has never happened before, and shouldn’t happen unless some god is handing out his blessings like candy.”

  “I’ve done a lot of crazy things, but nothing came close to that feeling,” Percy added.

  “What does it mean?” Jason wondered. “Is it dangerous?”

  “I don’t know,” Annabeth admitted. “Maybe it’s our leftover power from our past lives. Or just our godly halves taking over.”

  Piper furrowed her brow. “What does that mean?”

  “We’re demigods,” Annabeth said simply. “We’re only half human if you think about it. Maybe the more powerful we are the more godly we are.”

  “And the less human we become,” Percy murmured.

  Jason felt a little hollow at hearing that. Becoming less…human? “But why us?”

  “Who knows? We’re probably the first people to time travel, after all,” The daughter of Athena shrugged. “Most demigods die around our age. We’ve lived twice the lifespan. That could have something to do with it.”

  “What about the Prophecy?” Piper asked. “If we become less human…are we still the seven halfbloods?”

  Percy smiled nervously. “I mean, we can’t become completely god. There’s always going to be some human in us. We’re still going to be demigods, right?”

  Annabeth sighed. “One thing’s for sure. The stronger we are, the stronger the enemies we attract will be.”

  “...I’ll be honest, that’s not exactly what I’m worried about.” Jason dryly said, and Percy snorted. “There’s too much we don’t know. I think it’s probably because we got sent back in time, but the fact that we don’t know if this is dangerous to us is concerning.”

  “To say the least.” Piper agreed. “What if there are side effects? What if we keep using these powers and then one day…something terrible happens because of it?”

  Annabeth shook her head. “We have no evidence of that. That’s the paranoia talking.”

  But of course, it was. The Seven had seen some truly awful events. They had watched what seemed like sure victory, snatched away. They had experienced the worst defeats and most shocking tragedies. They had witnessed the literal end of the world. How could they not worry?

  “It’s not like I can stop using it,” Jason said. “It’s like a part of me now. I don’t even notice the new power sometimes.”

  “Then if there are any adverse effects, I need to know.” Annabeth insisted. “Even something small.”

  Piper agreed. “I passed out last time. It could be just overexertion, but it could also be related.”

  “You passed out?” Jason frowned.

  “She was fine, Jason,” Percy assured. “You pass out all the time, and you’re always okay after.”

  “Don’t you bring this up again,” Jason pointed at the son of Poseidon accusingly, but he couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “Bricks really hurt, dude!”

  Percy coughed to hide his laugh. “I wasn’t going to! But if you want to–”

  “Jason, keep us up to date, okay?” Annabeth interrupted. “We sent Reyna and Hylla your way. Let us know when they arrive, alright?”

  “Of course,” Jason agreed. “It’ll be great to see them again.”

  The sisters would know that Greek demigods existed, which could be a problem. Jason would have to strongly encourage them to not reveal their knowledge to others. He knew Reyna (and Hylla probably, but Jason didn’t know her personally) could keep secrets very well, but Jason was going to get some tough questions from them for sure…

  Still, having her join the fray was certainly a comfort. Jason couldn’t count how many times Reyna had saved him on the battlefield. She was just one of the Seven’s many allies from the Titan and Giant Wars, along with Nico, Coach Hedge, and…

  “Ah, that’s right.” Jason hesitated. “How…how’s my sister?”

  Annabeth’s smile waned slightly. “It…it’s been a tough time for her. We had to tell her how she came back, and so…well, Luke’s betrayal really shocked her, you know?”

  “That’s an understatement,” Percy murmured.

  Jason clenched his fists. He didn’t know Luke at all, and from what he heard from Percy and Annabeth, the guy was a sort of misguided antihero with a savior complex. But what he did know was that Luke betrayed the gods, hurt Jason’s friends, and tried to kill Jason’s one and only sister. Who, by the way, was once Luke’s best friend.

  It was safe to say Jason was not a fan of Luke.

  If the Fates were ever kind enough to send Luke his way this time around, well…Jason wouldn’t be opposed to a fight, to say the least.

  Piper had only met Thalia briefly in her past life. She was cool, brave, and strong; the ideal heroine. From their few encounters, Piper thought Thalia seemed like a girl who would take no backtalk from anyone, but also back her words up with power. Someone who could talk the talk and walk the walk.

  But this Thalia, even though she looked very much so the same due to Artemis’ eternal youth, was very different. Anytime they crossed paths at camp, Piper noticed that Thalia always looked lost and confused. Her eyes always flickered with doubt and worry.

  Maybe Piper was just getting better at reading emotions since Thalia was obviously trying to hide her true feelings. Thalia was hurting, but she didn’t want to admit it. One time, Sherman from the Ares Cabin challenged her to a duel, and she wiped the floor with him. And even though the rest of Ares Cabin had no intention to fight, Thalia decided to thrash all of them next.

  Piper suspected she wanted to burn off steam, to distract herself from everything that had happened. It was a terrible time to wake up, after all. Not only did Thalia miss six years of her life, she immediately was faced with the knowledge that her best friend betrayed and tried to kill her, and a war was on the horizon with her possibly at the epicenter.

  At this time, Piper had just finished talking to Jason (for what, like the third time that day?). The sun was setting and she had to get to dinner. And as she walked to the pavilion, she noticed a figure at the crest of Half-Blood Hill. The person had a hand resting on the pine tree and was staring into the distance.

  It didn’t take a genius to figure out who that was.

  Maybe this was for the best. Thalia had kind of freaked out when Annabeth broke the news to her. It kind of seemed like the daughter of Zeus had been avoiding Annabeth ever since then.

  Piper hesitated, watching the other campers file into the dining hall. She turned her gaze back to the hill.

  Dinner could wait. The most she would miss was Mr. D grumbling about being banned from alcohol again.

  She quietly walked up the hill. Thalia didn’t notice her, still looking at the horizon with a forlorn expression. Piper wondered what she could be thinking. There were too many possibilities.

  “This tree’s named after you, you know?”

  Thalia jumped, her hand going to her Mace canister that was her spear in disguise. Piper raised both of her hands and smiled. “I come in peace.”

  The daughter of Zeus relaxed with a sigh. “Oh, you. You’re one of Annabeth’s friends, right? Piper?”

  Piper nodded.

  Thalia placed her hand on the pine tree again. The one that housed her soul for so many years. “Named after me…so I’ve heard. I don’t understand why. I didn’t do anything more special than any other demigod?”

  “Facing down an entire army from Hades isn’t special enough?” Piper tilted her head. “You’re a camp legend for that. Your tree made the barrier that protects Camp to this day.”

  “That wasn’t me. That was dear old Dad,” Thalia grumbled, glancing at the sky. “Would have been nice if he did something earlier, but apparently turning me into a tree was his best idea.”

  Piper didn’t hear any thunder, so she decided it was safe to laugh. “Still, you should give yourself some credit. You saved Annabeth, Grover, and L-Luke.”

  Thalia’s gaze darkened. “Did Luke…did he really betray us?”

  “I…he did. I’m sorry, but…I was there. He was on a cruise ship full of monsters, and he found the golden sarcophagus with Kronos’ remains.” Piper recalled. “He’s planning on destroying Olympus.”

  “Tch. I can’t believe it…” Thalia shook her head tightly. “We would curse our parents for being deadbeats, but to go this far?”

  Piper paused, choosing her words wisely. “I didn’t know him long before he…left camp. Maybe you should talk to Annabeth about this. She was close to both of you, wasn’t she?”

  “She was. Maybe I should,” Thalia admitted. “Talk to her, I mean. But…it’s so weird, that I almost don’t want to even see her right now.”

  “What do you mean?” Piper ventured carefully. “I’m sure she would listen.”

  Thalia’s hands started moving as she talked, getting more and more emotional. “She’s thirteen, Piper. That’s older than I am–or was. And she’s so put together now, so mature. Annabeth was so…resolute, when she told me about Luke, like she already moved on from his betrayal.”

  She paced back and forth, electric-blue eyes growing teary. “I don’t understand. We were like family! And now Luke has apparently betrayed us, and Annabeth’s accepted it already! It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “Annabeth was seven when we found her. Seven. She’s grown up so much,” Thalia groaned. “It’s like they’re leaving me behind. I guess it’s been six years, but…for me, it wasn’t long ago when it was the three of us against the world. Fighting monsters in the alleys, running from safe house to safe house.”

  Thalia slumped against the tree, sitting down on the grass. She hunched over, looking defeated and sad. Piper slowly sat down next to her. “This has been on your mind lately, hasn’t it? That’s a lot of thoughts and emotions to bottle up…why are you telling me all this?”

  “Why not? I feel like I can’t keep this to myself anymore, so might as well,” Thalia muttered. “Besides, you just seem easy to talk to.”

  Piper nodded. “Thanks for sharing, then.”

  “It’s whatever.” Thalia said bitterly. “I might just be out of touch. Hanging onto a past that’s gone. Luke’s left. Annabeth’s grown up. Maybe our little family just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.”

  “Don’t say that.” Piper immediately said. Found family was something Piper would defend until the day she died, even if one of them was a traitor trying to destroy the world. “Annabeth still cares about you and Luke. She still has the dagger Luke gave her. You just need to talk to her.”

  Thalia hummed. Her blue eyes sparked. “What about Luke, then?”

  Piper hesitated. She probably shouldn’t be defending the bad guy, but… “I think…I think Luke did all this for you, Thalia.”

  “What?”

  “He was really affected by your loss,” Piper explained. “From what I hear, anyway. It made him bitter at the gods. He felt it was unfair, and wanted revenge. And over the years, it just kept building up. I think he’s doing it for all the halfbloods failed by the gods like you, too. When Kronos finally whispered in his ears…”

  She shrugged helplessly.

  Thalia was silent for a moment, before burying her head in her hands. “Luke, you dummy.”

  “Family had to have been important to him.” Piper quietly added.

  “Of course it was. We were lucky to have each other,” The daughter of Zeus said. “The gods never cared about us, so we had to care about each other. But what about demigods less fortunate? What did they have?”

  Piper frowned, a little worried. “That’s why camp exists, right?”

  “But it shouldn’t have to if the gods were just responsible for their own children ,” Thalia scoffed.

  Piper grabbed Thalia’s shoulders, ignoring the shock of static electricity. “Thalia, I get it. The gods have let us down again and again. But Luke is going about this all wrong. The Titans are so much worse than what we have right now. His way won’t save demigods, the people he’s fighting for. It’ll destroy them, like what would have happened if we didn’t get the Master Bolt or Fleece back.”

  Thalia looked at her for a long moment, blinking fast. She blurted out, “We once had our futures told. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but…he said that I would sacrifice myself for my friends.”

  “You said ‘our’,” Piper noticed. “Luke, too?”

  “Yeah,” Thalia hung her head in dismay. “He said Luke would betray his friends one day. I told him he was wrong, that Luke would never betray anyone.”

  Piper nodded sadly. “He once said you would be on his side if you were alive.”

  “Maybe I would’ve been. Our moms were messed up, you know,” Thalia’s voice turned hard with anger. “Maybe if our dads never abandoned them…but still, Luke’s had it worse.”

  Thalia’s voice, which had just been angry a second ago, suddenly turned brittle. “My mom wasn’t a good parent. She was flaky at best, and we argued a lot. But Luke…Luke loved his mom. Or at least, there were glimpses of what might have been. She was like, super weird though. Not all there in the head.”

  Piper wanted to ask if that was why he ran away. She wondered how bad his mom’s…condition could have been to cause that.

  “Anyway, Luke blamed his dad for everything. I don’t know why, but if Hermes had caused that…” Thalia sighed. “That whole revenge against the gods thing…I guess that was another one of his incentives. Maybe that’s what he actually cared about.”

  Was she condemning Luke or justifying him? Piper found it hard to tell. “You two had really similar pasts.”

  “We were really similar, period,” The barest of smiles was on Thalia’s face. “There were times when I hated the gods, but betraying them? Joining the Titans? That’s crazy. I still can’t completely believe Luke would commit to that.”

  “Maybe…it’s not too late?” Piper tentatively suggested.

  She didn’t want to give Thalia false hope, but Piper couldn’t stand to see her so shaken up. With her whole world flipped upside down, Thalia was so frustrated and confused about what she knew about her friends and herself. She didn’t know who to trust or believe, even herself. That was something Piper could really relate to.

  “Maybe you didn’t hear the whole prophecy from that guy. Did he say anything else?”

  “He’s dead, so it’s not like I can find him again. And he didn’t say anything else…” Thalia paused, thinking. “Well, except one thing. I didn’t believe it then, but, with all that’s happened, I guess I have to now.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said…” She hesitated. “He said…that one day…I would see my family again.”