10/31/17: Happy Halloween! I will keep it short up here, but at long last, the final chapter of Book 2. You may have seen my note on my profile last month, but if not a brief recap will be in the AN at the bottom. This chapter comes in at just under the same length as last chapter. So without further adieu, I hope you have been well and enjoy!

Chapter 15: What We Leave Behind

When my call with Lyn concluded I simply stood there watching the steam continue to drift up from the basin of the sink. Finally I shut the water off but did not move from my place. My good hand remained braced on the porcelain rim with my arm stiffly supporting me up as the condensation on the mirror slowly began to clear. Pax was still messing around with the bottom of the shower curtains behind me, and while I knew she was undoubtedly poking holes in the fabric. I honestly wasn't too concerned about that minor detail, and frankly, I highly doubted Chiron would care that much about a few holes in the material either.

I had chosen to make the I-M call to Lyn in the bathroom on the second floor of the Big House so it could give me a bit of extra privacy during our conversation. That, and so I wouldn't immediately be ambushed by those Annabeth was sure to have notified of my status the moment I stepped through the door. Already I was able to hear several pairs of footsteps and the distinct sound of Chiron's wheelchair entering the front door on the level below. Dinner at the pavilion must have finally concluded, and with the news that I was back in the land of the living there wasn't much doubt that my friends would be downstairs, potentially even with Thalia in tow.

Annabeth and the daughter of Zeus had been close before she was transformed into a tree, that was a well established fact. Heck, had it not been for Thalia and Luke finding Annabeth when she was little, who knows where she would be today? Now that she was back and newly resurrected, I knew Annabeth would want to stick close to her in the very least for a bit to make sure she was settling in okay, among other things.

While Thalia had a lot of mystery surrounding her, the one thing that I knew about her was that I definitely sympathized. I knew what it felt like to be out for a number of years and suddenly wake to something completely different from what you left behind. Despite that... connection, at this point I still did not entirely know what to think of her, nor if I wanted her to even know about the experience we shared. I have heard the stories about her, but that was different than actually knowing the girl on a personal level and having that trust. The main source of the stories had come from Annabeth who had been seven at the time of Thalia's 'death'. She would have seen the daughter of Zeus as more of a near-perfect older sister figure, and let's face it: most stories of the departed from the ones they loved are often idealized and painted the subject in the more favorable light. It was not that I did not trust Annabeth's judgment, it was just that I needed to get to know the daughter of Zeus for myself before making any decisions.

There was always a risk that she would not take too kindly to who my father was, and I couldn't bring myself to fully blame her for that. My dad had been the one to ultimately cause her to be transformed into a pine tree and lose years of her life. I had essentially sucker punched the girl too, and that was always a good way to say hello to people.

The condensation had just about cleared from the mirror so I gave my head a bit of a shake to help bring my thoughts back on track. I tidied up the bathroom from Pax's playtime and made the trek downstairs to meet everyone who had gathered in the living room.

Annabeth was passing through the hallway with a few bottles of water in her hands and appeared to be carrying them into where the quiet murmur of voices were coming from. When our eyes met she simply smiled reassuringly and nodded her head in the direction of the others. I worked a quick smile onto my face to send back before following her inside. A quick canvas of the room showed Percy and Grover already seated, even if they had sprung up again once catching sight of me. Chiron was also present, as the sound of his wheelchair earlier had indicated. Their faces brightened and Percy was the first to encompass me in a big but careful hug.

"Ally, you're awake! We thought- never mind. How do you feel?" After a few moments he carefully detached himself and held me at arm's length, carefully looking me over for any damage that may not have been taken care of already.

"Percy, I'm fine... just tired. Don't worry, calm down." I reassured him, even if it was technically lie. My shoulder still ached with that lingering acidic feeling, and my energy was quite low, but I refused to let them worry more than they already had been.

"Fine my butt! You've been unconscious for weeks!" He exclaimed as Grover came up to me and gave me a one-armed hug.

"Allison, good to see you! We weren't sure when you would be up and about." Grover had a smile on his face though and I realized that we really hadn't seen each other since last year when he left for his search.

"You did give us quite a scare there, Miss. Cooper." I heard Chiron say from his spot in the room. Choosing to ignore his comment and gaze for the moment I went over to the couch, gesturing for the others to follow. Pax, who had been trailing behind me ever since leaving the bathroom leapt up and settled against my leg the moment I sat. I caught Grover grin at Pax when she ran past and I could feel everyone's eyes watching me carefully. Chiron's especially I could feel following me, the legendary trainer of heroes had lived for thousands of years and knew how to read people. He had also seen my lost friend and I in the aftermath of what happened in '43 and knew how it impacted us.

Percy had claimed the seat closest to me and Annabeth handed out the water she brought from the kitchen before taking a seat herself. Overall the whole gathering was very reminiscent of the meeting that took place after the quest for the Master Bolt last year.

"Where's Tyson?" I asked while twisting the cap off the bottle, noting the lack of the kind Cyclops in the room. Knowing him, the big guy would be here if he could and the shortage of good hiding places for someone of his stature was telling. Tyson quite clearly wasn't here which led to the question of where exactly he was. Thalia didn't appear to be present either, a detail for which I was secretly relieved.

"Tyson was given an, er, internship underwater at the Cyclopes forges. Poseidon invited him and he left a few days after we got back to camp." Percy explained.

"Ah... well, good for him. 'Betcha he is loving it down there." I was disappointed I never had the opportunity to tell him goodbye but I knew working at a place like that should be a blast for him. An Iris-Message was always a possibility too.

After a moment of contemplation I turned my attention to Annabeth. "Will it just be the five of us, or is anybody else coming?"

"No, just us for now- figured you would want it that way." She replied and I resisted the urge to breathe a small sigh of relief. Given what I knew what we were about to discuss I was glad they understood why I wasn't keen on sharing in the first place, let alone anyone besides those I was closest to.

There was a semi-awkward silence that settled over the room for a few moments before I finally chose to break it.

"So... I guess now would be the time for the post-quest recap from my end then, huh?"

Chiron studied me for a moment longer before answering for the room. "I have already informed them of the general events I knew of that occurred during your journey, and they have already supplied their side of the adventure before we invaded the ship from their perspective. Alas, there are multiple blanks we have not been able to wholly fill in, I am afraid."

My hand absently stroked Pax's head as I thought on what exactly to share. It did not surprise me in the least that they already had their own post-quest discussion; given my condition the issue of what happened on my end has definitely been the burning question these past few weeks. I knew from experience too that I could always talk with Chiron privately if need be.

"Right," Taking a big breath in before speaking and stubbornly ignoring the twinge from my ribs at the action, I continued. "Well, Annabeth filled me in on some of the highlights when you were all at dinner. While I do want to hear more of it, I know you have all been waiting."

"Ally," Percy broke in. "We know that-"

"No," I cut him off as he was mid-reach to place his hand on the foot I had tucked up onto the couch. "It's fine, I would be dying to know if I were in your position too."

"You can omit anything too... harsh, if you want to right now, we understand. We have all just been very worried about you and haven't even been able to speak to you since we left camp. A lot can happen on a quest." Annabeth stated.

"Yeah, I understand. Alright, key points from my little adventure then." I tried for a smile to lighten the mood but I'm not entirely sure how it appeared to the others in the room."So, after the two of you-" -I gestured using two of the fingers that were atop Pax's ear. "Left camp with Tyson, Mr. D and Tantalus called me up to their table the next morning. They were definitely ticked off the three of you had vanished," I smirked a bit at the memory. "It did provide that extra opportunity to enjoy annoying Tantalus, and a few questions and grapevines later, I left with the joy of full time kitchen patrol and stable duty for the rest of the summer." There was a shared grimace from my friends.

Looking to Chiron I added, "By the way, if Mr. D expects me to do those jobs with this sling I doubt he will be too happy with the results- just saying." To my right I heard Percy cover a small snort of laughter.

Chiron waved his hand dismissively, but I caught a glint of mirth in his eyes. "Do not worry, you need not concern yourself with that any longer. Consider it forgotten."

"Right, well once I picked up my new sword from Beckendorf-"

"The sword you used on the ship, right?" Annabeth inquired.

Giving her a simple nod of confirmation I continued. "After picking up the sword, I packed a bag and hitched a ride on a bus from the city that was traveling down to Charleston. Unfortunately during the first stop in Baltimore I needed to shadow travel out quickly, which essentially put the money I spent for the full trip down the drain." The fond memory of causing that lycanthrope to slam into the mailbox came to mind, and it was surprisingly the one thing I didn't mind about that ruined pit stop. Of course, my escape had only left the mortals in the area behind to be targeted by the pack I had brought there in the first place. I didn't even know who the people I left to get killed were.

Chiron caught my eye and raised his eyebrow ever-so-slightly but I simply narrowed my eyes briefly in response. He clearly wanted me to elaborate further for the rest of the group but that was not going to be happening right now. As it was, Annabeth was eyeing me skeptically as well, but stayed quiet and let me continue.

"Right after that was when Chiron heard from me in Washington D.C. before I made the next jump that brought me to Roanoke Island. I camped out on the island over night and the next morning I met Lyn. She is a daughter of a Nereid- and yes Percy I will introduce you sometime -who helped me a bit before the jump to Charleston." Percy, as predicted, had seemed interested upon the mention of a daughter of a Nereid just as Lyn had been in the mention of a child of Poseidon.

"Charleston is where I found Pax, and as you can see she stuck with me for the rest of my trip, which I have already told Annabeth." Upon hearing her name Pax's tail began to happily beat against the couch. I covered the need to catch my breath again by focusing briefly on rubbing her head with both hands. Unfortunately, speaking this much so soon after waking up was getting irritatingly tiring.

"Well, she is definitely attached for you. I can't really understand her though." Grover commented. This caused me to pause for a moment, then the reason hit me.

"You might not be able to understand her completely because I am fairly certain she is part hellhound. But yes, I kind of figured the attachment thing after she jumped in to help me with a pair of dracaenae on the way to the bus station in Charleston. "

Grover did not seem too surprised by this, but he did eye Pax with a bit of an extra-cautious look before nodding. "We thought she might be- but you fought dracaenae with her?"

"Only for a couple minutes- they were no big trouble. We were still able to get the bus to Jacksonville easily enough with time to spare for a quick snack. By the time we arrived though it was pretty rainy. I had to waste some ambrosia after a car nicked me after it skidded out, but found us a place to camp for the night right after. There were a couple storm spirits I had to get rid of before I could finish picking the lock though." One would think they were with the police given how persistent they were about attempting to fry me before I could break in.

"What are storm spirits exactly?" Asked Percy while Chiron was sending me a rather accusatory look. And the penny drops- now he knows why I appeared to have been fighting with Nick during that I-M call.

"They are sort of like horses made from clouds and electricity." Annabeth could easily go into a more detailed explanation of the creatures given the chance, but they were not something I wanted to linger on right then. As it was, the memory of Chiron's words during that I-M were tugging at something in my mind that I couldn't identify yet.

"When they were gone we camped out in the bookstore until the next morning." I concluded before mentioning, "General notice too- I am never voluntarily going back to Jacksonville, or Orlando for that matter."

"Jacksonville I get, but why Orlando specifically?" Annabeth inquired once setting down her water bottle from taking a swig.

My eyebrow raised involuntarily, "Well, after ditching Jacksonville I jumped us to Orlando and ended up bumping into Persephone." Chiron appeared to be the most alarmed by this news compared the whole of the group. The old centaur probably had a bit more first hand experience with my siblings running into her in the past and knew more accurately the extent of what the results could be.

Everybody had winced at the mention of the goddess, even if Grover looked a bit awed as well.

"Seriously?" Percy this time.

I gave a noise of confirmation before deciding to elaborate. "My father had apparently sent her to give me something she claimed would help me on my journey. Catch was, if I actually wanted to receive it, I had to complete a task for her first. You can't really say no without repercussions, especially given who she is. The task amounted to me taking care of some skeletons that she had probably raised in the first place at one of the local cemeteries later that night. Another added fun factor was that she banned me from using any of my own weapons during the task. If failed, I wouldn't be given whatever she had been sent to deliver. Also, I am reasonably sure I would have been turned into a sunflower."

"At least it wasn't a guinea pig..." Percy muttered to my right and I heard a snicker come from Annabeth's direction.

"Guinea pig? Why would you-"

"Another time!" Percy broke in hastily before I could finish my question."So... uh, what happened with your task? You don't look like a sunflower to me, so I assume it worked out alright?"

He had a strange look on his face but I elected to not press the issue. Besides, Annabeth was bound to tell me about whatever that was about eventually, if the grin on her face was any indication. Well, that will be a good story for later.

"Right... well, basically yes. It did work out in its own way. Some teens I caught drinking will probably write it off as them getting too drunk and watching some zombie horror movie with the help of the Mist, but yeah. The skeletons rose all carrying some form of weaponry. Luckily I was able to steal one of their swords after... well I guess you could call it something like 'smiting' it. I have never done something like that before, but it worked all the same. Once I got my hands on a weapon it became a bit easier, but it still took a lot out of me to be honest. As I'm sure you've noticed, I never really use any powers that revolve more around the 'death' element of my father's realm. That is because they drain me much more than other stuff." I paused my storytelling for a moment to catch my breath. When this was all over I knew I would fall asleep quickly, much of the energy I had awoken with already very depleted.

"Some skeletons I directly fought were sent back without needing to use any powers, and I was able to cause a bunch of them to fall into a crevice I opened. That still left nearly twenty aboveground, but luckily sending the dead away seems to be less taxing than raising them. Not by much granted- once I finally managed to be rid of them all I would have been utterly useless in a fight." That thought made me grimace even further. I really had gotten lucky that there was only that one wave of skeletons and no more decided to pop up for a visit.

Chiron, I realized, had not yet heard this part of my story. Contacting him as I was planned once reaching Miami to arrange a meet up had never happened. The last he heard from me was before even reaching Orlando itself.

"Wow, that really does sound like some Night of the Living Dead stuff right there." Percy remarked and I noted that Grover had grown considerably paler through the tales of my graveyard misfortunes. Understandable, he really did dread even the idea of traveling into the Underworld last year.

"Right? That's what I was thinking. Anyway, I met back up with Persephone afterwards and it turned out what she was sent to give me was this small bag of pomegranate seeds. The only explanation she gave was that I would 'know what to do with them when the time came' and 'dire need', which was very comforting. They actually reminded me of those pearls you were given on last year's quest, Percy. Then she gave me some comment about the weapons my father gave me being mine, and how it didn't hurt to change their form on occasion."

"Do you know what she meant by that?" Grover asked.

"Wait a moment, you mentioned earlier to me that you found out your knife could turn into a bracelet, is she how you discovered that?" Annabeth suddenly remembered, which made sense given as she was the only one in the Big House when she gave me back my swords.

I gave her a short nod. "Apparently so. I have had these weapons for years but only now have figured out they were capable of that." I lifted the wrist carrying both bracelets and gave them a bit of a shake for emphasis. "The necklace becomes a bracelet, and the sword's bracelet changes design. As I said, kind of sad I only know about it now, and from who as well, if you think about it."

"Sort of makes me wonder if Riptide can change too..." Percy did have a good point actually, but that could be experimented with later if we wanted to.

"Who knows? Maybe." I would have shrugged had my shoulder not still felt appalling."Pax and I took a train down the Miami the next morning, so that sums up Orlando."

Internally I knew that did not simply sum up Orlando. My whole journey had been one trial after another, and not only had severely drained myself the night before in the graveyard, but I had woken to bring football tackled by a panther with wings straight into a wall. The pair of gryphons had truly attacked at one of the least opportune times. During my fight with them I was needlessly reckless and my slight breakdown afterwards only helped solidify how truly dreadful that whole day would be.

Recounting the journey I had taken alone now only reignited the thoughts I had running through my mind in that house.

The Fates have always been known to play with the lives of demigods since their conception, and yet recently my life has felt like one of their favorites to pull strings around and toy with to entertain themselves. I knew they have had some sort of heightened interest in my life ever since they appeared before us on that bus ride back from Yancy. Flickers of the dream I had before leaving Jacksonville prodded at the edges of my mind, still hidden from me but one that I knew held significance, even if it could not be fully recalled.

"What happened after that, child?" Chiron finally prompted and I was quickly dragged from my thoughts only to realize that I had been staring at him for an undetermined amount of time. His old eyes had been studying me just as I had him. Speaking to him privately, I decided, would have to be next on my task list. The information he has been skirting around, and what I have been dreading for over a year now had to be brought into the open.

Silently steeling myself for a moment before carrying on with my story I finally moved my gaze off of the centaur.

"I unboarded the train and immediately realized we were being followed. The plan had been to get in contact with you, Chiron, but that obviously did not pan out. Most of my energy had been used the night before, so I was unable to shadow travel out again. That resulted in becoming cornered in a park near the station. When that happened, I admit, I may have taunted Lycaon during that encounter and he didn't take it very well. I was able to send Pax away, but that's where I got these stupid claw marks on my shoulder from," I glared briefly down at the aforementioned shoulder, "and they brought me to the ship for the bounty after that."

"Allison, you know better than to rile up a monster like him even further, especially in such a situation." Chiron chided half-heartedly, although I could tell he was more displeased to hear what happened rather than my course of action.

"Wait a minute, back up. What is this about Lycaon and a bounty? Where did that come from?" Annabeth sounded audibly agitated and if the prior atmosphere in the room was tense, then it was doubly so now.

"Lycaon and his pack were the ones that caused me to have to ditch the bus back in Baltimore. Luke put a hit out on me, so yeah, a bounty. That attracted the dracaenae in Charleston too."

"And you didn't mention this earlier because?" Percy's sharp voice bit in, and while usually it wouldn't be that way, I knew it came more from worry than anger.

Across from me Chiron quirked an eyebrow, and the unspoken Yes, why didn't you? was not appreciated. My teeth ground together. "I omitted it earlier because there was no need to needlessly worry all of you even more than you already were. There is nothing that can be done about it now, and I killed a few of his pack at any rate. So, going back to the story." Obviously nobody appeared happy with this development, but it wasn't exactly thrilling for me either. It was what it was. "You remember the girl I slashed with my sword back on the ship? Her name is Fulvia, and she is pretty much Luke's right-hand person, so a player we have to watch out for. She is a daughter of Hecate- she undoubtedly has some tricks you have to be wary of in the future, and might have some sway over the other children of Hecate out there. Overall, we need to keep an eye on her- she's a formidable opponent." I was making a very conscious effort to stop myself from giving any visible indication anything more could have happened, yet the feeling that Chiron and at least Annabeth knew something more happened was there.

There was a few moments of silence as the room absorbed that information. Chiron then chose to raise another point of inquiry, proving once again that not much got past him. "Your shoulder wound, while the claw marks can be explained by Lycaon's presence, the poisoned stab wound cannot." My hand stilled on Pax's head.

"I had hoped you wouldn't bring that one up, so thanks for that." I glared briefly at Chiron, but my eyes drifted to steal a glance at Annabeth before moving to continue. Knowing her, she will most likely the most disturbed by the cause of that particular wound than the others. She had, after all, once upon a time been the closest with Luke out of the group. While she knew he had turned dark-side and made an attempt to kill Percy, it wouldn't be easy to hear. Swallowing heavily, I continued.

"That ties into why they put out the bounty on me. They wanted me there to question for information regarding the quest for the Fleece, and the camp." Involuntarily I paused. "Once, earlier in my visit, I almost escaped, but as you can tell, that didn't work. After that they smartened up, adding additional security measures. Fulvia and Luke came to question me a few times, and at one point I made Luke pretty pissed off. This," Nodding down at my shoulder. "Was from the knife I lodged in his shoulder last summer. Turned out the thing had some type of venom on it when he used it. Fulvia got mad and kicked him out after that for ruining their chances to get information. I was pretty much left alone after that. Pax showed up to bring me the pomegranate seeds sometime between then and when you all came along. Their purpose was likely to just help sustain me until help arrived. Pax stayed with me, then you got aboard, and you know the rest from there."

Silence permeated the room, the heavy load of information finally out in the open. Several minutes passed. During that time Chiron sent me a meaningful look that promised a conversation later. Good.

"I'm going to kill him." Percy finally growled, voice taking on a menacing pitch. "Both of them."

"I knew he had change, but..." Annabeth trailed off.

Annabeth's face had paled considerably, Grover's right there with her.

"What... what was that thing Fulvia did when she pressed her fingers to your head?" Annabeth whispered softly after a minute.

Instantly I felt the ambient shadows in the room jump from my sudden spark of emotion at her question. Up until this point I had managed to stay more or less composed, but that final subject got to me in a way the others had not quite reached. I took a steadying breath. When I spoke my voice sounded decidedly hollow even to my ears. "As I said, Fulvia is a child of Hecate, and a decidedly twisted one at that. The exact magic is unknown, but the result is essentially causing a person to feel as if every nerve in their body is on fire." I stood sharply from my seat and all eyes were on me. "Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to try at some sleep. Goodnight and I am glad all of you made it out of your quest alright. See you tomorrow."

The only sound that could be heard as I exited the living room and ascended to the second floor were my own footsteps accompanied by four paws jumping off the couch. Pax ran ahead and waited for me at the top of the stairs, my pace aggravatingly slow. Any other explaining there was to do could be done another day. That was enough for the night and I was still angry at myself for letting all of this happen in the first place. Not only that, I was mad at the Fates, and tomorrow I would finally put my foot down and stop allowing Chiron to avoid the subject of what happened to my old friend once and for all.

When I woke the next morning from my restless sleep I found myself covered in sweat and my heart was beating out a pace faster than it should for one who had just been asleep. The night had not been overly kind in way of getting a dreamless sleep. Hours had been spent thinking and dreaming and waking on various occasions from resurfaced memories that had not plagued me for years. Pax was still dozing next to me on the bed, having resolutely stayed by my side throughout all my hours of tossing and turning. It was nice knowing she kept herself glued right beside me in any case.

Several minutes passed by with me simply lying there before grudgingly tugging off the blanket and sitting up. This day would not be an easy one, and likely I would have to deal with a whole camp that had paid witness to that Iris-Message sent from the Princess Andromeda. Thalia was owed an apology for sucker punching her, but in all honesty, speaking with a child of Zeus after all this time and with what I might hear today from Chiron... it would be easier said than done. The girl was important to Annabeth, so it was inevitable that I would have to speak with her at some point, regardless of my current hesitation.

With only one hand to run through my hair and a few minutes wasted spent futilely attempting to tie it up I finally stood and searched the room. The camp shirt I found resting in one of the draws was slightly wrinkled and took longer to change into whilst working around the sling than the shorts, but eventually it worked out and I crept my way downstairs.

The Big House was void of any person when I came to the ground level so I simply found some cereal and sat myself down at the kitchen table. Sunlight shone in through the window, campers already visible going about their morning activities outside. From what I could see, everyone looked significantly cheerier now that the camp was no longer in danger and the Fleece had healed the valley. With the oppressive sense of ill ease and sickness that permeated the valley at the start of the summer when Thalia's tree was poisoned, one did not have to be more finely in tune with death like I was to feel its wide-reaching effects. It probably helped that Tantalus was no longer terrorizing the camp. A brief look at the clock to check the time revealed that, if I was recalling the schedule correctly, Chiron would be back soon. His archery lessons shouldn't be in this upcoming hour so he had a free period. Pax was still asleep upstairs as far as I knew so it would leave just the two of us to talk, hopefully uninterrupted.

When I determined my breakfast to be finished and dumped the uneaten half I went to Chiron's office to wait. Inside there he would be unable to avoid me, and as I knew he usually preferred to do some bookkeeping after teaching that archery level's lesson, that is where he will be headed.

I paused at the threshold to take in the sight of the room. Most of the items he had packed away when leaving had found their way back to their regular places and his radio was in its rightful place after the Stymphalian bird attack at chariot races. It was almost as if nothing had changed, and yet so much had, especially since I first laid eyes on this office years ago. I shook myself out of my revelry and drifted to his desk. Sliding open the draw I took my trip funds from I rummaged around for what I was looking for.

"Still here." I breathed, my Chimera tooth necklace now back in my possession. I had judged correctly when leaving it here that it would remain safe: nobody would jump to ransack Chiron's office while he was gone. They respected him too much, even in the face of his exile. Once slipping the necklace back on I dug the rolling chair he kept for potential meetings out of the closet and sat myself down to wait.

Hardly ten minutes had passed until I heard the front door open and the steady sound of the wheels from his chair approaching from down the hall.

"We need to talk." I declared from my corner once the door clicked shut behind him, and looking at the old centaur I think I may have actually startled him slightly. I was hard pressed to see it clearly though, he was good at keeping those things discrete.

"Ah, hello Allison. I see you have beaten me here, I don't suppose you have chipped away at this month's bookkeeping duties, have you?" He idly asked while wheeling himself over to his desk and put some items away from his saddlebags before turning to face me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right. Well, we are due for a talk, you are correct. Firstly though, how are you feeling this morning? We should see about changing those bandages soon, and a bit of ambrosia would not go unwelcomed, I suspect."

A sigh escaped me before I could restrain it. The obvious, if not expected delaying routines he had to get out of the way before we can get actually get to the conversation I wanted to have. There was a brief internal debate to say I was fine out of habit, but this was Chiron I was talking to. He could always see past my facade when I lied about things like this. "Shoulder still feels a bit acidic from Lycaon and overall I wouldn't be able to use this arm in a fight right now. Barring that, I really am just fairly sore and tired still."

A non-committal hum. "Yes, when I saw your shoulder I had feared it may have been one of his kind that caused such a wound, and given how long it has been taking to heal I felt it a safe assumption. The fatigue is to be expected though, I'm afraid."

"The venom-coated blade didn't help either."

There was a slight tensioning around his eyes at my remark. "No. No it did not."

We sat there for a few moments in silence before I spoke. "Do you ever get the feeling that the Fates just love messing with me especially?" There was a brief look of confusion on his face before I continued. "Bringing me here to this era. All the damn monsters on my trip. Apparently believing it to be funny for this type of thing to repeat itself again when I am thirteen. No concrete answers for anything that has happened to me since Chester drove that blade through my gut."

There was a visible flinch. "Allison, I know that things might be-"

"No! Don't try to defend them or offer an excuse, Chiron. You know as well as I do that everything about this is off- no, wrong. I shouldn't be here, not in this time, and certainly not in this way." My hand was clenched tightly around the end of the armrest, nails digging into the worn leather. Taking a deep breath I carefully released my grip on the chair. "Do you know what really got me thinking- even before getting trapped on that ship? The obscene amount of monsters, being incapable of even so much as getting a full night's rest without being sent through a window by a gryphon? That really brought home just how much I could have used even just one quest partner. One that I could trust- that I knew would have my back so I wouldn't have to be on heightened watch twenty-four-seven. And when I was on that ship being questioned about the Underworld until they could only keep me as some cheap bargaining chip, it struck me how stupidly similar it was to '43. That, and how I really could have used someone else to help me break out, like how Nick did back then, before it was too late. Before I was practically dying again."

I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to keep some semblance of calm. Stiffly, I shifted my seat so I was leaning forward, my elbow resting on my knee. "Aside from those atrocities, and from not knowing why I am here and what makes me so special, I realized that never got any clear answers from you about what happened to the person I gave my life for. All I received from you was dodging around the subject and I simply allowed it to happen for this long. Maybe it was because I was fearful of what you might tell me. Maybe it was because some part of me didn't want to know at all because then it would become real, and any shred of hope I had been clinging onto would be lost. Hell, I never even asked what happened to Ms. Evans, and only definitively discovered what happened to my mother after I was gone from my father during the quest last year." I affixed him with a hard stare. You will not avoid this.

"While I recognize it may be partly my fault, what I have concluded is that you will tell me what happened now. This has been delayed long enough, by both of us."

Chiron was silent at first, his old eyes meeting mine with a depth only known to him. Weighing what his next words will be, and probably, attempting to gauge their potential impact... or the damage they could bring. There was a minute tremor in my hands and the tension in the room was palpable.

Finally, with a resigned sigh he seemed to come to a decision. He broke his observation of me to look down at his hands. "You are right, of course. You do deserve the truth, I realize that I have tried to shield you for too long from this."

His eyes met mine again and I could feel my heart increasing its tempo, my whole body tense. "After your passing, Nicholas was understandably distraught. Losing a friend such as yourself in that manner, it is not something I would wish for anyone, and yet I have unfortunately seen it happen too many times in my long years. He grew more reckless and distanced. Quite a few campers who were heard speaking ill of you found themselves on the receiving end of his ire, in fact, often with quite a few electrical burns. The more time passed, the greater his focus with the efforts to put the war to an end became. The following year he stayed here at camp, intent on doing all he could to help finish it."

The sorrow in Chiron's voice was damning, and he seemed to be searching for the right words. "When it did finally come to an end he left camp, leaving behind only your weapons with me for safekeeping, and a note."

No words would have been able to come from me right then even if I tried.

"In this note he simply told me that he was going to set things right, thanking me for all I have done for you two during the past years, and that he was going home. A few weeks later I got word from his mother that he had left home as well. Monsters had been after him and he claimed the need to keep moving. She informed me that when he left, the only indication he gave her of where he was going was 'west'. From there, I fear I truly do not know his fate. His mother reached out to me a few times after that, yet there was no change and we drifted out of contact since then. I am truly sorry, Allison, but that is all I know. He vanished and never came back." Chiron finished, voice heavy.

Completely frozen I sat there in that chair, world seemingly at a standstill. Chiron was watching me with the same air as if in the presence of a grenade with its pin pulled, about to go off. Maybe he was right to think that, a small voice in me seemed to say, but mostly I just felt hollow. There was sadness and anger, but it was overwhelmingly just this cold hollow feeling I had not felt to this magnitude since I discovered the date on the newspaper in my first week living at my new home.

If Nick had left that little house he shared with his mom that lay only a few miles from where I used to call home, then dropped off the radar from even her after all these years... Oh gods, why did you ever leave camp? I knew the answer to that question though, as I would not have wanted to stay here any longer than necessary had our positions been switched. A place filled with all the memories and some of the worst of the painful reminders.

As I sat attempting to absorb the enormity of this new information, a distant and blurry memory started to finally surface, shaking itself free finally and clearing itself. It had started when Chiron explained the note, or it could have even been during my retelling of my journey last night. Regardless, the dream I had the night I spent in Jacksonville, the one that had escaped me was one I finally found myself able to recall. The haunting images of a shroud burning accompanied by flashes of a lightning storm. Chiron reading a piece of paper, and a terribly sad look growing on his face as he did so.

The worst image from that dream were now there for me to have permanently burned into my memory, what had set me so on edge the following morning. A cloudy picture of a boy laying on a street, sword discarded at his side. The growing patch of red staining his already battered shirt and spilling onto the pavement growing larger and larger, thrown into sharp clarity. The sword. The sword. I know that sword. I know that- I KNOW that sword! The sword that would always clash with mine in practices, the one I based my Cerberus one after. The one that unfailingly glinted with gold despite its nature. That would crackle with electricity during particularly interesting spars and in the most heated of battles. Its hilt became clearer in my mind as I recalled that terrible, devastating image, and the eagle that laid engraved on the cross guard became marred with the crimson surrounding it. That was the sword was never-failingly held in the hand of my oldest ally and friend.

Was that what became of him? Had he been left to die on some random street, bleeding out and alone? That was the fate left to one of the bravest and kindest people I knew?

When I spoke my voice was a steely calm, my knuckles were pure white on the arm of my chair, and my tone scared even me. "So, you just left him to go off on his own. Knowing the state he was in, knowing how it affected him, and now he is gone. He is dead, Chiron."

Chiron did not respond immediately.

"Allison... Ni-"

The force from my abrupt standing caused the chair I had been sitting on to fly backwards in my wake and the shadows around the room all leaped to converge behind me. "No- do not say it Chiron! Do not say how we don't know anything for let a woman lose her child, one who you once claimed you would do your best to help keep safe- did you even try to locate him? Did you try to go after him, or even attempt stop him from leaving? Open your eyes, it has been sixty years since someone last heard from him regardless of the dream I had during my quest! And do you want to know what that dream was? I saw him, Chiron. I saw him as he died, bleeding out on some street somewhere, utterly alone! And you let it happen."

The door was slamming shut after me before I even realized I had left the room. Looking at him right then, I just could not do it. While I had been expecting something like that perhaps- something that would not be very comforting, but to be told that? With what I can now remember from my dream...

Around me the hallway was unnaturally dark. The shadows following and darkening to what was approaching the point of all outside light that shone in negated. That was, until, I forced them away to their normal positions as I stalked out the porch door.

I did not know exactly where I intended to go when I exited the building, all I knew was that I had to distance myself from there for now. Campers I passed hardly registered to me, only enough to know that some were looking oddly at me, and that I was leeching an aura of anger and malcontent. Their looks only added to fuel the fire when I remembered the Iris-Message they saw from the ship. In that moment I truly couldn't care what they might be thinking.

Apparently, I wanted to go to the arena, as that is where my feet led me. Working my anger out before something happened did appear to be a good idea before I caused damage to the camp, and hacking apart hapless training dummies felt like a fair solution.

A cabin training session was already in progress when I arrived so I merely bypassed the group I could not be bothered to look at, and went straight to the other side. When the dummies were within my grasp I yanked off my ring and activated my sword, steadfastly avoiding the sight of its engravings. The weapon felt heavier than usual, but it was in all likelihood due to my many weeks of inactivity. Any thought to being mindful of my shoulder did not even occur to me.

Unfortunately it was not too long before I felt myself tiring. My shoulder was voicing its strong displeasure at my actions, but that was not relevant. A brief breather felt needed though- I was panting, covered in sweat, and a mixture of straw and shredded canvas was littered at my feet. I stabbed my sword into the ground and leaned some weight onto it as I caught my breath. All I could think of was the horrible scene from my dream and what Chiron told me, both circling around and around again in my head with no stop.

"Aw, is the weakling tired out already?" A voice suddenly said from somewhere behind me. Slowly I turned to face the approaching camper. He was one I did not recognize well, but one that had arrived at camp early this summer and was currently sporting a stupid smile on his face. Behind him a few other campers who had been practicing stopped their work to watch the upcoming event.

"Big bad sword too much for you? Or wait, you just have to be tapped and you crumble, right?" He tauntingly mimed a pair of fingers on his forehead, pretending to scream and writhe, then burst out laughing.

"Beat it, imbecile. " I growled. The last thing I needed was some dumb Ares kid who embodied too much of his father for his own good to be getting me even more ticked than I already was.

"What are you gonna do, cry?" He laughed.

In a surge of motion I ripped my sword free from the dirt, swiped the kid's own sword from his hand in one deft move, and held my sword to his neck, silently daring him to make a move.

"You want to know something?" I hissed, sending an all Hades-kid-death-glare up to him. "I really don't need this crap from some scemo like you. You're new around here and act way too much like your father, but I just found out someone I cared about died in one of the worst ways possible, and quite honestly? I have had a crappy week. No scratch that, a crappy number of weeks. I would like to see you handle Lycaon and his entire pack, dracaenae, gryphons, storm spirits, and a frankly certifiable magic-user with a vendetta aboard a ship of full monsters, all within the span of a few days. See how you fair with that and get back to me." Sensing the shadows starting to seriously pull toward me I forced them to stay back before anyone could notice.

"Now," I pulled my sword away. "I am going to go back to dismantling dummies, so kindly piss off." Faintly I recognized that for me to snap like that, I was truly beyond upset, yet I could not find it in myself to feel bad for my reaction to the kid.

Said kid was now looking at me fearfully, eyes cutting down to my sword, then to me, and back again. Before he could come up with some sort of reply another voice spoke- no, more like barked.

"David, don't speak, just go back to training." Clarisse was here now and almost glaring at her brother. He held out for a couple seconds before backing away and quickly walking to the other side of the arena. Clarisse watched him go before turning to face me.

"What?" I bit out more aggressively than strictly necessary.

She looked me up and down, taking in my appearance. "Cooper, take a knee. You've been out for weeks and are in no condition to be hacking things apart or making morons soil themselves."

That took me a moment to process what she was saying. Was Clarisse actually attempting to be kind, and had she just somewhat complimented me as well? Perhaps in her own unique way. If she wanted me to stop my venting on the dummies though she had more coming to her.

"Look, I don't need your-"

"Allison!" Annabeth called as she jogged up behind the girl. Her eyes were wide and she looked as though she had just run from one end of camp to the other. "What are you doing here? You can't be fighting yet." She eyed Clarisse in a way that made it clear she was ready to go on the defensive for me if needed.

Clarisse saw this and held up her hands in a sort of not me gesture. "I told her to take a knee." Then to me said, "Don't let me see you back here until that sling is at least gone, Cooper."

With that she turned and rejoined her cabin on the other side of the arena. Annabeth held her hand on her face for a long moment seemingly exasperated, then dropped it and closed the distance between us.

"Okay, what happened? You know better than to be doing this level of exercise so soon, especially if the remains of those training dummies are any indication. So, what made you this upset?"

The grip I had on my sword tightened even further and my hands trembled. Flashes of the dream and Chiron's words assaulted me with renewed vigor. Will I ever be able to think about him now without seeing him dying like that? Why did things end the way they did? A warm hand on my arm snapped me back to the present. Annabeth had stepped closer and I knew if I were to look up her grey eyes would be searching intently for any signs for the reason of my distress. Taking a deep breath in I sent a cursory glance around to be sure nobody was within hearing range of us.

Just tell her, she will understand. "I finally got Chiron to tell me what happened to Nick. Annabeth..." My fingertips drifted over the engraving on my sword, running over the pattern found there, yet remembering another. "He just let him go- just up and leave after the war ended without trying to do anything. Nick went back home but had to go again, and he never came back. His mom never even heard from him again after that." The memory of him dying blocked all other thoughts, not that I could focus on anything but that grisly sight. "My dream... he bled out on some street somewhere, alone."

Finally, I dragged my eyes up to meet her. "My best friend died alone on a street without anyone knowing, nobody helping. Alone. No one was there for him, after all he had been through and all he had done, that was the end he met. He could have done something to help, stop him from leaving, but he is gone and Chiron let it happen."

AN: It has been a long road to get to this point, but we are finally here. This chapter has been a killer for me to work on- major writer's block, primarily on the first half., along with several major 'Irl' things that have happened in the past, well, almost year. School has also started up again and let me just say- college level English papers are evil. I should in fact be working on my most recent one now, but I needed to get this finally published. I decided last month to just go for it and stop worrying so much about the first half of this chapter- it was really holding me back from getting the whole of it posted, and it was better to just have it out than to not and let the unfair wait progress any longer. So, since this is the end of Book 2, I will say that it has been an interesting time, and I could not have done it without the support I have received. Thank you to all who have stuck with me for this long, and have maybe even just started reading, but who have all helped and encouraged me to continue. Book 3 is still in the works, and just like last between-book period, I may post some shorts in the story collection I have in my 'My Stories' list. I will also not start posting Book 3 until I have reasonable enough finished, so as to avoid starting something I cannot conclude in a "reasonable" amount of time (Hopefully to avoid another major time gap like this one has experienced as well). My messages are still always open (try not to chew my head off with this chapter's revelations though) and I always do my best to get back to you asap if I see a message there. I do hope that you have had a good year and a good Halloween, for those who go out and celebrate it (And that you have been careful if you have gone out trick-or-treating to watch for cars). I will add that I never write something in this story without a reason. But, until next time, I hope you have a safe and happy time, and please remember to be kind to yourself and spread that kindness too -Tasha :)