HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWILA!! FELIX DIES NATALIS TIBI!

"HERO!" Percy exclaimed. He hit the porch unexpectedly. Luke felt like dead weight on top of him, "Gods! What have you been eating?!"

The son of Hermes didn't answer. Though everyone was looking at them even more weirdly than normal. Chiron seemed to have disappeared, offering no help whatsoever.

Thalia towered over them, "Uh, is he ok?"

"He's fine," Percy huffed, "Absolutely, positively fine."

Luke seemed to come out of his stupor. Though with his reaction to Thalia, you could have fooled Percy into thinking he was unconscious. Geez, Second in Command of a powerful intergalactic team who can lie straight to friends faces without even feeling guilty--still can't work up the courage to talk to the girl he likes.

What a dork.

"Weirdos." Thalia said offering a hand to Luke.

He stared at it like he'd never seen a hand before. Percy elbowed him in the side. Apparently he was unaware that Percy couldn't breathe when Luke was sitting on him.

Luke scrambled off of the son of Poseidon, away from Thalia. He had a pained expression on his face from what Percy could see, which wasn't much.

Thalia frowned probably feeling insulted. She crossed her arms, pursing her lips. Percy watched her shifted ever so slightly so her spear was better attainable. "What's your problem?"

"P-problem?" Luke stuttered, "Me? I don't have a problem. Nope no problem, whatsoever." He straightened up still backing away. All of his cool and relaxed confidence was shattered by one girl. The demigods counselors shared a look watching Luke with renewed interest.

Thalia offered her hand to Percy, who actually accepted it. Though he had a bad feeling she might've run him through with her spear and arrows if he had refused. She pulled him to his feet with unexpected strength.

"Now if you excuse me, I've got...something important...to do....over there." Luke tried to walk away but at that moment Ethan chose to reappear, grinning coyly.

"Hey," he said ignoring everyone, else other than Luke, "I heard the Hunters were here! Did you say Hi yet?"

Luke shoved him out of his way, "Get off my case, PurpleBoy."

Ethan laughed at Luke's retreating figure. If Percy didn't know Ethan was actually an ok person, he would've labeled him as a jerk already, "Man that never gets old."

"What's his problem?" Thalia grunted, miffed at Luke's reaction. Though Percy wasn't really sure if she meant the son of Hermes or Revenge and his evil laughter.

It took Percy a moment to realize she was looking for an actual reply from him. He swallowed uncomfortably.

"Something happened with the hunters before," He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Thalia frowned, "What do you mean?"

Percy shrugged, pretending he didn't know. Obviously it wasn't that Luke had the biggest crush on you, and then almost murdered your tree, and almost impaled you with his sword, and then committed suicide to save the world. No, why would you think that?

"You don't talk much do you?" Thalia noticed.

Ethan snorted, but looked away quickly when Thalia set her glare on him. Percy took a deep nervous breath. It was probably better if he stuck to not saying much. Who knows, maybe someone would recognize his voice and they would all be doomed. After all he'd only been dead two weeks or so.

"So, Do we have any leads?" Ethan asked, "Where can we find our powerful weapon?"

"What?" Thalia demanded. Despite her being immortal 16, her glare looked more like that of Annabeth's. The type where she was staring into your soul and commanding you to dispel your secrets.

"Nothing," Ethan waved her off, "it doesn't concern you girls."

Percy choked on his spit. He wasn't sure before but now he knew Ethan was looking to be brutally murdered. Being dead probably alerted his brain waves or something. Now the idiot with the attitude thought he was invincible, and was trying to prove it.

"You wanna go, Cape face?!" Thalia growled.

"Sure!" Ethan flung his arms out proudly, "Anytime, any place!"

Thalia gripped her spear. Lightning crackled between her choppy spikes of hair, and the wooden floorboards of the porch started to smolder.

"Arena!" She shouted loud enough for most of the camp to here, "Right now! I'll show you the power of this girl."

Percy jumped in between them, "Guys this is a terrible idea-"

Thalia rounded on him, "What? You think girls can't handle your stupid faces?"

"No!" Percy threw his hands hands up, "I'm not saying that at all!" The daughter of Zeus didn't look convinced. Percy felt sick to his stomach. The last thing he needed was a fight with an electrified immortal teenager.

Where did Chiron go again?

"HEY," Percy never thought he'd actually be glad to here Clarisse bellowing before. Except maybe when she saved their butts back in the Sea Of Monsters, showing up with a skeleton warship of coolness.

Clarisse pushed her way through the crowd that was forming, knocking over a son of Tyche. He face planned into the ground. "If there's a fight happening, I want in!"

Any and all of the tiny hope Percy had in his chest fluttered out into the air.

"You're all, idiots." He said.

Ethan twisted his sword in a circle, causing the campers near him to back up or be cut in half. "Bring it on! I can take both of you!"

"No way! I wanna fight your little leader boy! Where's he?" Clarisse demanded. Percy tried to protest again but she grabbed hood and threw him out of the way. Yet another reason Percy was hating that stupid uniform. Clarisse pounded her fist into her hand, smirking madly.

"Yeah!" Thalia agreed with the daughter of Ares, "Bring your freak friend along! It'll be more embarrassing when I kick both your as-"

"This is a terrible idea!" Percy yelled again.

Ethan sighed dramatically, "Don't be such a spoil sport, Savior!"

"I am not being a spoil sport!"

"So you're being a coward!" Thalia mocked, her eyes sparked with anger, a hunger of a fight. Ethan had pushed exactly the right buttons. If it wasn't just so he could get a fight out of her than Percy would've been mildly impressed.

The crowd of demigods around them, shifted with excitement. Percy watched Chris Rodriguez and Connor Stoll exchange darchamas, probably betting his girlfriend could take them all down.

"Oh she pegged you, Savior." Ethan snickered, "nothing but a coward."

Percy glared at him, setting his jaw, "like you have room to talk."

Revenge flashed a bright smile, letting the insult roll off his back. It irked Percy. He tugged his cloak, watching the faint swirls of purple mist dissipate into the air.

"That's not going to work!" Percy said confidently, "You can't hex me into doing anything, Revenge."

The undead demigod's shoulders slumped, leaving him deflated, "Oh,come on! It's just one lousy fight! It's not like you have something better to do! It can be just like old times!"

Percy scowled darker. He wasn't sure what old times Ethan was referring to considering when they were both alive, Ethan tried to backstab him...And got Annabeth instead.

But still, he had a point. What was Percy going to do while the demigods discussed whether or not to trust them? Sit on the Big House porch and drink lemonade? Maybe he could talk Mr. D into dealing him into a game of pinochle.

"Fine." Percy relented, "I'll fight."

Whispers shot through the crowd. More bets. Percy could feel everyone's eyes on him. A sickness solidified in his stomach, a cannonball of nostalgia. What he wouldn't give to be one of the campers right now.

Clarisse pounded her fists together, cracking her neck with a sound that silenced the crowd. Thalia spun her spear in a tight circle. They both shared a smirk, "You're going down."

Percy's hand went for his pocket, his fingers brushing the cool metal of Riptide. His trusty sword and part time pen that had been with him longer than Annabeth had.

Ethan stopped him just in time.

"Savior's going to need a sword, though." Revenge said. At first Percy could only blink at him. Was this another trick? A lie? What was he trying to do now?

"He was in the barracks during the attack." Ethan explained, "He didn't have time to grab his sword." Ethan gave Percy a subtle nod, and it clicked.

The demigods would recognise Riptidethe moment they saw it and they'd know exactly who's it was. It was a legend here. Percy would be gone and faded before they could even say his name. Not to mention Ethan's excuse lined right up with Luke's lovely white lies he'd just woven to the head counselors.

"You can barrow from the weapons shed." Katie Gardner offered from her porch on the Big House railing. Travis nodded encouragingly a dozen medical lollipops in his mouth that he'd most likely stolen from the infirmary.

Thalia shrugged, "Five minutes, Losers." She said, "It doesn't matter what weapon you have, I'm sending you to the infirmary before get a chance to use them!"

"Don't be late, punks." Clarisse warned them.

The girls parted the crowd crowds strutted away to prepare for the impending fight. The demigods cheered wildly for them. Percy swallowed hard. Ethan wasn't smile anymore. His lips pursed and he nudged him towards the weapons shed, which was roughly in the same direction.

"I am so not losing to Hero's girl." He growled. "Let's get you a good sword."

Percy didn't say anything but he already knew this was a bad idea. Every ion in his body was buzzing. Percy want sure if it was adrenaline or pure terror.

They left the circle of demigods both cheering and booing them, but Percy could still feel someone's eyes on the back of his neck.

He didn't have to glance back to know the son of Hades was twisting his skull ring, a deep scowl on his pale features and his glare targeted on Percy's retreating figure.

***

"Do you wanna take off your tiara first, Princess?" Ethan grinned maliciously.

Across the arena Thalia scowled, the sky churning darkly. "You wanna take off your cape, boy." She spit in a way that fondly reminded Percy of Zoë Nightshade. The silver clad hunters grinned smugly in the stands, the afternoon sun catching their uniforms in a blinding reflection.

"I still think this is a terrible idea." Percy said. He looked at his borrowed sword. It was celestial bronze, but it had too much weight on the tip. Percy could already feel it messing up his swing, putting him off balance. Percy had been trying for the past five minutes to derail the fight, or even just delay it until Chiron came around and stopped them himself. Ethan wouldn't hear it.

Their entire hunt for a good sword was useless. Percy had been through the weapons shed dozens of times; helping young campers pick a weapon, delivering freshly forged axes from the Hepheastus cabin, even organizing it just to get out of Stables duty. There wasn't a sword in that old shack that could even begin to match Riptide.

So Percy spent three of their precious five minutes both trying to talk Ethan out of the battle (failed), and trying to figure out why he was instigating one.

"I just have to ok?" He had snapped finally, "Get a load of my back. Fighting helps me focus."

Percy understood almost immediately, and he quieted down. Fighting kept Ethan from thinking about other things-- their treading on thin ice, their close encounter with Omega and Chaos, the rest of their team, and especially, specifically, the olive skinned girl laying unconscious in the infirmary.

"Don't be a Pussy!" Clarisse bellowed at Percy. The Ares cabin cheered in the stands like a pack of wild animals. Word traveled fast and most of the camp had abandoned it's activities to watch this. Percy kept an eye out for blonde curly hair, or his brother's intense blue eyes.

"Yeah, Savior," Ethan swung his sword experimentally, "this can be fun if you let it be!"

"Rules!" Thalia yelled, "Camp Rules are as follows: no killing, no maiming, not even a little bit. Any weapons allowed, All powers allowed. Once both persons of once side are down, the other team wins." Thalia looked to the crowd, "did I forget anything?"

"Bets!" Cecil from the Hermes cabin called, "Place your bets here!" Demigods exchanged money wickedly fast, yelling and talking over one another. It didn't seem like she forgot anything. The rules were pretty open to just about anything.

"Care to make it interesting?" Clarisse asked Percy, who just stared at her. "If we win, you morons take off the capes. We lose, and we'll do anything and everything we can to help you find your top secret weapon."

Percy opened his mouth to deny it but Ethan was quicker, "Deal."

"What! Dude!" Percy smacked his arm, "You know we can't take off these hoods!"

He shrugged like he'd just casually forgotten, "Then we better not lose."

"Alright!" Acting judge, Lou Ellen yelled, "I want a nice, clean fight, from all 'ya!" She grinned mischievously, "On Three! ONE..."

Percy shook his head not believing he was actually doing this. The hunters shouted encouragement to Thalia, who would no doubt fight desperately for her bruised honor.

"TWO!"

Clarisse readied herself, Ethan set his feet.

"THRE-

"What the Hades do you think any of you are doing?!"

Everyone froze at the sound of the voice.It rang with conviction, a demanding tone. It made Percy want to expelled all his secrets, and dip his head in shame. But he couldn't.

His eyes latched onto the person speaking.

"Well?" She asked expectantly. No one offered an answer.

Percy almost pulled a Luke and toppled into Revenge, but he held his ground. But that didn't stop the choking stutter that escaped his lips, "A-Annabeth?"