War.
I truly had to hold myself back from punching Chris. If you're wondering why the whole 'scared of the dark' thing, it has to do with Nyx. That's all I'm going to say. It was a bad time.
Once I saw Perseus, I knew: He wasn't as strong as I had previously believed.
Of course, I knew he would react horribly to the uh... forced flashback, yeah, let's call it that.
It's easier if I just tell you what happened. When Perseus tried to use his water powers some splashed him, since it was from the Underworld he relieved all of his memories from the place all at once. It can be a little overwhelming. But if I wouldn't've done that then the war would've gone in a completely different direction.
"Perseus. I know what you've been through. You might not believe me but I've been through a hell of alot worse. You're a warrior. A warrior that's been through a lot. Now everyone here is too scared to come close to you, Annabeth is worried for you. Come with me and I can fix that."
He nodded, I knew he couldn't speak, too terrified of what might come out. The great Perseus Jackson held his head under his arms. He wouldn't allow the sunlight to touch his skin. After being in darkness so long the sunlight burned, more painful than the river of fire, the only river safe to drink other than the river of lamentation, but it's the only river to drink if you want to live longer than just a couple of minutes.
I grabbed a chair and sat him down then did a quick scan of my surroundings. Reyna wasn't anywhere near, and I didn't hear Chiron's hooves. We were alone. I pulled off my dog tag and placed it on the ground.
"Connect me to Doleo." I ordered.
The usual shimmering wall appeared, a moment later Doleo set down her dog tag and her image came through.
"Yeah?" She questioned.
"Where's Katrina?"
"Probably by the temples. Why?"
"Find her and tell her she's needed in my cabin."
"Yes sir." She nodded and disconnected the image.
I picked my dog tag up and placed it back around my neck. Perseus' breath quickened, his eyes widened and he slowly started to rock in his chair.
"Oh gods." I murmured and crouched next to him. "Tell me what you see, don't think about the detail."
"Dark." He croaked. "Scared."
Nyx's castle, I should've known.
"Think about Annabeth, okay? Tell me what she's doing, what she looks like." I pushed him further.
"She's laughing. She's beautiful. Brochure. We made her angry and frustrated. We jumped into the palace."
"There's thumping, right?"
He nodded.
"It's getting louder, isn't it?"
He nodded again.
I knew someone had been there.
I just prayed that it wasn't Nyx again.
The door opened and Katrina quickly shut it behind her, she took in her surroundings and took a deep breath.
"I'm not wiping his memory, he's too important to the other camps. I don't want to wipe anyone else's memory—"
"Katrina, I know." I laughed.
"Then why am I here?" She questioned.
"A memory transfer."
"How's that possible with only one person?"
"I will be the other test subject." I pulled a chair up next to Perseus' and sat down.
"What? I can't—"
"Yes you can, and you will." I looked her dead in the eyes. "Now, you imagined Fred disappearing, right?"
She nodded.
"Okay, this time you're going to imagine him fade and then look to me. I will already be faded, I want you to imagine me grow more solid. Can you manage that?"
"I-I think so." She nodded.
"You can start in just a second." I walked over to my desk and grabbed a roll of duct tape.
I ripped a piece off and smacked it over Perseus' mouth.
"The cabins are all soundproof but I really do not want a headache." I tossed the roll of duct tape onto my desk and sat down. "I'll stay quiet. You can start whenever you want."
"Okay." She nodded.
"Whatever you do, do not stop for anything." I ordered.
"Got it." She nodded.
I closed my eyes and got ready for a lot of pain.
She took a deep breath and exhaled, almost not sure if she could do it. But if I spoke it would break her concentration.
Once she went silent pain racked my body.
Perseus started yelling in pain next to me and I clamped my eyes shut.
I saw two versions of the same thing, one from my eyes, and one from Perseus' eyes.
The Arai.
Perseus saw them as demon grandmothers. I recognized then from old ghost stories that Virtus and Angita would tell me in order to "persuade" me into behaving.
The mist hid me from view but I knew they would smell me at some point. Luckily at first they ignored me, they targeted Perseus and Annabeth. She knew what they were and warned him. But of course Perseus didn't listen.
They argued a little, they all did some stupid things (like attacking the Arai), Perseus finally realised that titans and immortals are immune to the Arai.
I wanted to help, I really did, but if I did I would have to explain to them who I was, where I came from, everything. I'm really glad Bob didn't tell them about me, Nico wasn't the only one to visit Bob. I visited him as well.
They started running and I chased after them. Perseus slashed his sword against a tree trunk and I was too slow to avoid it. As he heard the satisfying crunch of monsters being smashed, I heard and felt my leg and a couple of ribs (along with a lot of other bones) being crushed under the tree. I didn't have the satisfaction of being crushed so, as each Arai turned to dust more weight of the tree fell on me.
Somehow I managed to escape, I scrambled over to Annabeth. She was about to fall over the cliff. I pulled her to safety and aimed her toward Perseus. My leg was definitely broken, and it hurt to breath.
The memory kept going and going, I don't know for how long. Once it came to the bad stuff I refused to live through that once more.
I opened my eyes and gasped for my breath back.
"Oh gods, that never gets easier." I coughed, shook my head and stood up.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" Katrina breathed, obviously worried of the consequences.
"Do not worry about it." I shook my head and crouched next to Perseus.
I ripped the duct tape off of his face and he slumped forward.
"There's nectar and ambrosia in the fridge." I motioned to the mini-fridge in the corner.
"But— but, that's forbidden."
"The council forbids it, and I'm guessing you and the rest of the camp have already made the connection why. Now the healers are busy enough so go ahead." I motioned once again to the mini-fridge.
She wavered but walked over to the fridge anyway.
"Perseus. Perseus." I shook him.
He jolted up and I allowed him to put me in a headlock.
"What the hell did you do to me?" He demanded. "Where am I? What'd you do to Annabeth? Where is she?"
I easily slipped out of the headlock and turned to face him. "Welcome to Camp Ops." I smirked at his confused expression.
"What the hell is Camp Ops?"
"Come on, I'll show you around." I motioned for him to follow me.
Not surprisingly, he didn't waver.
"Who do you want to see first, your sister? Your brother? Your girlfriend? Or your old mentor?" I smirked.
"What?"
"Okay we'll start with Annabeth, then you can see your brother."
"Tyson's here?"
"No. He's still with Poseidon and Neptune." I waved it off. "Come on, maybe Annabeth can explain some things to you."
He followed me. Before we left I yelled to Katrina.
"Do whatever you want, just don't trash the place."
We started walking and Perseus got tackled in a hug.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled.
"Hey Wise Girl." He smirked.
"I love you Seaweed Brain."
"I love you too."
Neptuna glanced at me, looking as if she wanted to burst out laughing, but she kept a straight face. She had dry blood down the entire right side of her face, and I hoped it wasn't hers. She also had her helmet and bandana removed.
"So, what'd you do to him?" She murmured to me.
"Katrina fixed him, that is all that matters. Do me a favor and tell Perseus that you still do not have all of your memories back yet. It'll come in handy later."
"Sure, no problem." She shrugged.
Once Perseus and Annabeth regained their composure Perseus saw Neptuna. His eyes widened.
"C-Courtney...?" He breathed.
"M-My name is Neptuna." She stammered, kind of backing up a tiny bit.
I could tell it was genuine, how nervous she was.
"Courtney!" He grabbed her in a hug.
She kicked him back and held her trident to his throat.
I couldn't tell if he was more surprised or hurt. Annabeth murmured something in Perseus' ear.
"He's an ally." I told Neptuna.
She nodded, reluctantly, and leaned on her trident.
"Neptuna, this is Perseus, your brother."
"Regar and Gage are my brothers. I don't know him." She pointed to Percy.
"So is Perseus. You spent time at both Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter."
"Who the hell is Regar?" Perseus growled.
"My brother. The son of Neptune." Neptuna raised an eyebrow at Percy.
"He's right over there." I motioned toward the demigod and whistled for him to come over.
"Hey Carrie, hey sis. And I'm guessing you're my bro." He smirked.
"Don't call me 'bro'." Percy growled. "And don't call my sister 'sis'."
"Well, you're taking it better than your friends." He shrugged.
"Oh, and by the way you might want to talk to Malcolm." I turned to Annabeth.
"What? Why?" She eyed me.
"He's been sworn into secre— oh gods, too late. Max already found him." I rubbed my face and looked to the sky.
"What are you—" The rest of the group turned their gaze to where I was looking.
A giant tree was towering over the camp, and it was still growing.
"Regar, I might need your help." I sighed.
"Got it."
"Okay, let's go." I nodded and took off at a run toward the cabins. "Why is it always apples?" I growled.
"Oh, no. Not again." Neptuna hissed.
"—CAMP HALF BLOOD!" Max was yelling.
"YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT MY CAMP!" Malcolm yelled.
"WHAT WOULD DAD SAY? HUH? IF HE KNEW YOU WERE A CAMPER AT THAT DISGRACE!"
"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT DAD LIKE THAT. HE WOULD'VE LOVED THAT I HAD ENOUGH FREE WILL TO GO OFF ON MY OWN!"
"YOU HAVE NO HONOR! THAT CAMP IS A DISGRACE!"
"THAT CAMP IS MY HOME!"
"BOYS, BOYS, BREAK IT UP!" I yelled and stepped in between them. "Max. Sit down. You are growing a giant tree outside." I growled. "And Malcolm, knock it off. Or I will call Annabeth in here." I threatened.
Max jumped up and sat on his bed as Neptuna jogged in beside Regar. Max gave Neptuna a quick glare before turning away.
"You can't threaten me, I don't belong to your camp." Malcolm growled.
"I do not care if you belong to my camp or not, you are going to calm down or you will not like the consequences." I snarled.
He huffed and sat down on someone's bunk.
"I applaud whoever made that tree." Demeter and Ceres stuck their heads in the door and took a bite of the apple in each of their hands.
"Hello mum." Max grumbled, giving the goddess a little wave.
"Oh, Max, I should've known it was you. I love the apples, by the way." She held up the apple.
"Thanks." He nodded.
"Carrie, by the way, The Olympians are all choosing Demigods to bring to Olympus, you're needed." Ceres looked to me.
"Got it." I nodded and turned back to the boys. "Do not do anything stupid." I growled, walked past Ceres and Demeter, then walked to the temples.
Though it was hidden from view, if the gods wanted you to see their meeting room then you were allowed to see it. It was in between Zeus' and Jupiter's temples. A portal to an underground meeting room for the gods, designed by Minerva, though Athena helped a little bit.
"Lady Hera." I bowed to the goddess.
"Rise, Child." She nodded to me.
I nodded and stood up.
"My husband is currently very weak. He could not make it today due to his condition."
"That is most likely my fault." I nodded solemnly.
"Don't blame yourself child, sit, sit." She motioned toward a seat next to her with a warm smile; I was always her favorite demigod.
I sat down and turned toward the goddess.
"I am going to be sentenced to death, aren't I." I sighed.
"Probably not. You're powerful, we could use you for jobs that the gods can't do."
"Like a slave?"
"Pretty much." She shrugged.