We made it back to the Hecate cabin just as Patricia walked out. Alone.
She sniffed and smiled at us.
"Sorry, uh... Snorri isn't coming. But I am, so, let's go save Harle," she said, forcing enthusiasm as she walked up to us.
"Okay, grab onto me," Nico said. I walked up and grabbed a fistful of his sleeve. Armin grabbed his other arm. Patricia and Claude hesitated.
"Hurry up," Nico snapped. Patricia grabbed onto Armin's arm and Claude grabbed onto mine.
"Be careful, Nico," Will said, sternly. "Don't wear yourself out. And remember, I'm telling Chiron as soon as you leave."
"Whatever. It's not like I'm crossing the ocean, Will," Nico said, sarcastically. "I'm only going a few miles."
"Still."
"I'll be fine, I haven't done this for months."
"That's not a good reason to do anything rash."
"I won't, mother!"
And then he walked toward the Hecate's cabin, pulling us with him. Once he stepped into the shadows of the Cabin, we were plunged into darkness. Before I could fully comprehend the pressure and speed of the darkness all around us, we stepped into the light. I gasped, and my knees buckled, but I quickly leaned against the wall to my left.
"Okay, there's the Empire State Building," Nico said. I shook my head and looked at the rest of us. Nico was fine, if slightly out of breath. Armin and Claude were leaning on the walls of the alley we stood in, and Patricia was on her knees, but rising. She sniffed and wiped her eyes as she did.
"That was... something," Armin said, shaking his arms.
"The first shadow travel is always the worst," Nico said. "Now don't we have a quest to complete?"
"You're coming with us?" I asked, curiously.
"I can't go back to Camp without you guys or Chiron will kill me, so, I may as well hang with you as we confront the god of war," he blew his bangs out of his eyes. "C'mon, let's go."
Armin nodded and walked toward the street. I followed after him, looking back to make sure Claude and Patricia were behind us.
What I saw took me by surprise.
Claude whispered to her. Patricia was still wiping her eyes, even though I didn't see any tears. She tried to shake her head, but then she sobbed and covered her mouth.
"Are... you okay?" I asked, slowly down for them as we walked onto the street.
"Yes, I'm fine," Patricia said, forcing a smile. Claude frowned. She sniffed and wiped her nose, even though I didn't see any snot.
"C'mon, guys!"
I looked forward and zig-zagged through the crowds to catch up to Armin and Nico. "They were in an alley not far from..." Armin's voice was lost in the noise of the crowd. I struggled to keep up with them in all the crowds, but I took comfort in knowing that Armin and Nico were in front of me and Patricia and Claude were behind me.
We walked by the Empire State Building, and I looked up at it, thinking briefly about Olympus.
As I was staring upward, something wet and gooey fell on my face.
"Aaaagh!" I moaned, wiping it off of my nose and cheek in disgust.
And then I realized.
"Oh my gods," I said, beginning to laugh. I laughed harder and harder until I was stumbling forward rather than walking.
"Sherlock? What's... wrong with you?" Claude said as they walked up next to me.
"Nothing, nothing, I just got spit in my eye," I looked at him, and a knowing look crossed his face.
"O-oh."
"Gross," Patricia commented. And then we hurried to catch up to Armin and Nico.
"There," Armin said as we made it to him, pointing toward an alley between two tall, square buildings.
"How do you know for sure?" Patricia asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Well, that's their bikes, for one," Claude replied. I looked and saw Nemesis's motorcycle parked on the side of the road, Ares's parked a few paces away.
"And that's my dad's voice," Armin murmured. I listened and heard a loud voice echoing onto the streets.
"C'mon," Armin said, running toward the alley. We ran into the entrance and paused a few steps in. The three giants stood in front of me, so I walked around to stand behind Nico, looking over his shoulder.
Two even taller giants stood before us, arguing. Ares had a grip on Harle's arm, and she stared up at the gods with wide eyes.
"We've always worked together, why would I turn on you now?" Nemesis snapped, her arms crossed. Her face morphed and morphed, and I waited for her to turn into Lucy, but she didn't.
I stared at her face, surprised to see a girl with curly black hair. It took me a moment to comprehend that I was seeing myself. But...
"That's what you do!" Ares roared, shaking his fist at her. "You're always turning on people!"
"Just let the girl go, Ares!" Nemesis yelled back. "She's not working for me!"
"If you think I'm about to trust you, you can go jump into Tartarus!" Ares exclaimed. "Or even better, maybe I'll throw your minion here into Tartarus!" He pulled Harle forward and she gave a short cry.
"I'm not her minion! I would never work for Nemesis!" she yelled.
"Never say never," Nemesis said, raising her eyebrows.
It was weird to watch myself do that, especially knowing that I did it all the time.
"Hey!" Armin shouted at last, stepping forward. Nico leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, content to watch, I suppose. Claude stepped forward too, to my surprise, going to stand next to Armin. Patricia crossed her arms and went to stand behind them, sticking out one hip in a sassy gesture. I decided it would be best to stay back with Nico. "Armin?" Ares said in surprise. "What are you doing here, boy?!"
Armin didn't reply, leaving a long moment of silence which felt extremely awkward to me.
"We've come for our friend," Patricia exclaimed with authority. "Now let her go!"
Ares looked down at Harle. Harle stared at us rather stupidly, and I assumed she was in shock.
I didn't blame her. It's not everyday that you get kidnaped by your boyfriend's dad.
"She's not your friend," Ares said. "Look, I know betrayal is hard to accept, but the truth is, she's working for Nemesis."
"For the last time," Nemesis exclaimed. "She's not working-!"
"I've got it on good authority that she is!" Ares snapped, glaring at Nemesis. "The zipline incident, the rock wall catastrophe, and then the hellhound summoning? I went to Hades himself, and he said she summoned it, with a little help!" He pointed at Harle.
"What?" Armin said, looking at Harle.
"That's crazy!!" Harle screamed. "Even if I had the ability to do such a thing, I would never summon a-!"
"Never say never," Ares interrupted in a mocking voice.
"Armin," she pleaded, staring at him helplessly. "I swear, had nothing to do with any of those incidents! I would never try to hurt you!"
"Never say never," Armin repeated, quietly. Harle's eyes grew wide.
"Armin-!"
"This must be some big misunderstanding!" Patricia exclaimed, stepping in front of Claude and Armin. "I've known Harle for years! She would never hurt a fly! Your evidence is inadequate, and this is no way to conduct justice or protect your son, so I demand that you release her!"
I was surprised Ares didn't attack her for such a bold statement. But instead he glanced at Harle and then at Patricia.
"You can't have known her for-"
"RELEASE MY DAUGHTER THIS INSTANT."
I whirled around.
An angry woman stood behind us in the entry of the alleyway. She had wavy blonde hair with brown lowlights and blazing green eyes. She wore a loose lavender shirt, a green skirt, brown converse, a pink infinity scarf, a blue bow in her hair, and two dozen colorful wrist-bands with different sayings and symbols on them. She walked toward Ares and Nemesis, her hands clenched into fists.
"Or I will personally ensure that none of your battles are ever favorable again!" she shouted at Ares.
"Tyche?!" Ares exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I have always been your ally, always favored you despite... despite... everything," Tyche went on, passing us by without a glance. "And this is how you repay me?! You kidnap my favorite offspring?!"
"Offspring?!" he looked down at Harle. "Hold on, what's your name, girl?"
"H-Harle!" she yelped.
"What?!" Ares barked, releasing her arm. Harle quickly ran away from him, toward us. Patricia ran to meet her, asking if she was all right. Ares glared at Nemesis.
"That wasn't your daughter?!" he roared. "Why didn't you say anything?!"
"Wa-" Nemesis burst into laughter. "Y-you- you thought-" she kept laughing. Ares and Tyche glared at her.
"You thought she was my daughter?!" Nemesis laughed, pointing at her. "Just look at her! You really think she could be one of mine?!"
Harle's bright green shorts and pink tank-top made the answer obviously clear.
"Harle, huh?" Ares said, looking the demigod over again. "And she's your daughter, Tyche?"
"Yes!" Tyche snapped.
"Huh. Well, my bad. I was looking for a girl named Cecilia."
My heart skipped a beat.
"Do you have a daughter named Cecilia, Nemesis?" Ares asked, looking back at Nemesis. Nemesis frowned in thoughtfulness, and then looked straight at me before shaking her head no.
"Nope. Sorry," she said with a shrug.
"Do you know a girl named Cecilia, son?" Ares asked, turning to stare at Armin.
"Uhhh... no?" Armin said, scratching the back of his head. "I-I don't think so..."
"Hm. Well, I don't know what's going on here, but I am determined to get to the bottom of it," Ares said, firmly, glaring at everyone else in the alley. "C'mon, son, let's get back to the camp."
"But what about-?"
"I said c'mon!"
Ares gestured for him to follow him as he pushed by the rest of us, exiting the alley. Armin gave us apologetic looks as he followed his dad.
As soon as they were gone, Tyche sighed, and visibly relaxed. She smiled at everyone, even Nemesis.
"Hey sis, what's going on?" she said, punching Nemesis lightly in the shoulder. Nemesis rolled her eyes, but I saw the beginnings of a smile forming on her- my- lips.
"Thanks for defending my daughter until I got here," Tyche went on, walking over to Harle and putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it," Nemesis said, heading toward the alley's exit. As she walked by, she ruffled Claude's hair. Claude winced, but she didn't notice.
"I mean it, thank you!" Tyche exclaimed to her back. Nemesis waved a hand over her shoulder as she walked toward her bike.
"Now, won't you look at that? Why can't you two get along like they do?" Patricia said, looking from Harle to Claude with raised eyebrows. Harle laughed and shook her head.
"Aaaaand I'm out, see you guys back at Camp," Nico said too quietly for anyone else to hear but me. He glanced at me, waved slightly, and then was gone, disappearing into the shadows.
"I... I'm glad you're all right, Harle." I looked at Claude, raising my eyebrows.
"Thanks for coming to my rescue!" Harle said, relief in her voice. "I was scared beyond belief... And... I'm still not sure what that was all about. Who's this Cecilia person?"
"I'm not sure," Tyche replied with a frown. "But it sounds serious."
I glanced at Claude, but he stayed calm, nodding and looking from Tyche to Harle. I looked at Patricia, and found she was already staring at me.
"Well, would you guys like a ride back to camp?" Tyche said, clapping her hands together. "Since there are one, two, three, four of you, I can fit you all in my car! Come on, let's go!"
"Thanks, mom!" Harle said. "And... am I really your favorite?" Tyche giggled and linked her arm through Harle's, smiling at her daughter as they walked out of the alley, Patricia at their heels. Claude and I finally made eye contact.
"I wonder who this Cecilia is," Claude mumbled.
"Yeah, I wonder," I snapped, walking faster.
"Sherlock." He grabbed my wrist. I lifted my eyes to glare at him, viciously, but the glare melted away as he stared me in the eyes, concern written all over his countenance.
"Why did we come?" he whispered. "What if he had recognized you somehow? It would've ruined everything, if everything hasn't already been ruined. Why did you come?"
I pulled free from his grip.
"Let's go, before we fall behind," I replied.