Just so you guys know, I used google translator in this next chapter. So, if something sounds wrong (to the people who speak French) I am so sorry! Pwease don’t hate me!

Clover POV

"Clover..." Someone whispered. "Clover..." I slowly opened my eyes, with difficulty, and tried to focus. Someone’s blurry face was staring down at me. I was unsure who it was, but they spoke in a calm voice.

“You’re going to be fine… Just hang in there…” I nodded and groaned a reply. I couldn’t exactly talk, so I sounded like a zombie who had just woken up from a nap.

My body was freezing cold. I couldn’t feel my toes or even my legs for that matter. It reminded me of the times when I would sit in my room downstairs and freeze during the winter. I would wrap myself in blankets and huddle in a ball. Usually I would have some chocolate to snack on and a really good book to read. I was surprised I hadn’t frozen myself to death.

The only warm part of my body was one of my hands. It felt like it was in a pot of boiling water. My skin seemed to steam and it reminded me of a warm meal. Steak maybe.

I tried to tuck my legs closer to my chest, but someone was carrying me. I hadn’t noticed before, but warm hands were wrapped under me. I raised my cold fingers and slowly placed it on the hand. The person carrying me flinched and looked down at me. Then, they called to some other people.

“Guys, I think she is awake.” I heard a few responses, and they sounded happy enough. I was lowered to the floor, which felt like dirt and rocks. I slowly pulled my legs to my chest and exhaled. My breath was steamy, as if we were in a cold place. But, the others didn’t seem uncomfortable. Someone knelt next to me and put a hand on my forehead.

“She’s cold. Colder than she was before.” I recognized the voice. It was Rachel. Another person knelt and touched my forehead.

“She feels like ice,” the person said, and I thought it sounded like Will’s voice. “We need to get her warm.” I also recognized the hands that were carrying me, and they were also Will’s.

“But how?” one voice asked, and I knew it was Grover’s. “We’re in a mountain. Plus, if we try to warm her up by the fires, they could go out, and we would be left with no light.”

“You’ve got a point,” Rachel said. “But we need to get her warm some way.” I raised my warm hand and saw through my blurred vision a bright circle around my middle finger (not my ring finger mind you. That would be weird).

It was the ring.

I slowly tried to touch my hand with my cold fingers, but Will stopped my hand.

“Don’t Clover,” he warned. “You could seriously hurt yourself.” I pulled my cold hand away and put my hot hand on my pant leg. The warm sensation started to spread and it felt so good, it reminded me of a hot tub. When I removed my hand, the cold returned. I had no idea what was going on. What was my body doing?

“W-what’s going o-on?” I croaked.

Rachel sighed with grief. “You passed out as we left to see the Romans. When we came back, you were shivering and huddled in the Apollo cabin. While we were talking..." She trailed off sadly.

"W-what?" I enquired. "What happened...?"

Rachel sighed and sadly stated, "the Romans attacked camp..." My blood chilled. Sure I was already cold, but this was different.

"W-why didn't you g-guys wake me? I-I could have h-helped!" I demanded. Will shook his head.

"Clover, you wouldn't wake up. Plus, you wouldn't have been able to fight anyway."

"B-but," I protested. "Without m-me, c-camp was going to f-fall." Rachel put her head in her hands as Will looked me straight in the eyes, and I knew it was over.

“Clover…there is nothing left. The cabins were destroyed and the Big House was burnt to the ground with Greek fire… It’s all gone…”

My eyes began to fill with tears. “E-everything…?” Will nodded sadly. Rachel wept and I could see a tear trailing Grover’s dirty cheek. I looked down at the floor, the Aftershock slowly fading away.

Camp was gone? Forever?

I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe it was still standing tall, a beacon of hope for so many demigods. I wanted to believe that the Romans had just accepted that we were not threats to them. I wanted... I didn't know anymore.

I looked up and stared at the ceiling. Rage flowed through my veins. The world was still turning. People still were living their lives. Demigods were still out there.

But camp was destroyed. The world would soon be burning.

One positive thing about this, well, if there is one, was that we could relocate to a better location… No. Nevermind. That was not an option. Camp had been here since the Gods had come to America.

Then, I had an idea.

“Guys… what if this isn’t the end…” Rachel looked up and stared at me.

“What do you mean?” She asked, wiping tears from her cheeks. An idea surfaced in my head like someone being saved from drowning. The others looked at me hopefully, as I had thrown them a rope in a troubled sea. A smile slowly crept across my face.

“What if there were other camps? Not Roman, but old Greek camps? Demigods have had troubles ever since they existed, what if there is a camp in England or something?”

Will tilted his head, debating the idea. “It would make sense… but I doubt we would be able to get there… We’ll have to stay here at least until the Argo II comes back.” Although the idea had been put down, Rachel’s eyes lit up.

“You’ve got a point! Maybe there are demigods all over the world that we don’t know about! This could change everything! If they are out there, then maybe we could get some help!”

Will raised a finger, “but the Romans have been around for a long time. Some of them may still be around.”

I shook my head, a smile clearly dominant on my face. “No, no they aren’t! After the fall of Rome, Jupiter, AKA Zeus, told the Romans to move on to a different land. Sure they may have stopped in France or England or something, but they never settled.” I quickly began rifling through my pockets.

“What are you doing?” Grover asked.

“Looking for a dracma. Anyone have one?” Rachel’s eyes lit up even more. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a dracma. She handed it to me and I looked at Grover. “Do you have any water on you?” Grover nodded excitedly and pulled out a water bottle.

I set the drachma on the floor and lifted the water bottle over my hand. I knew it would sting before it even touched my hand. I took a deep breath and poured the water over my hot hand. I screamed as it boiled on my skin. My hand felt like it was in a bath of acid. Steam floated above it. The little light that we had created a rainbow. I bit my lip, holding back the tears, as I picked up the drachma. Grover held the water bottle as I threw the drachma into the rainbow.

“Greek Half Blood Camp, France.” I cried, trying my hardest not to break down. The rainbow shimmered and in front of Rachel, Will, Grover and I was a girl, around our age, hacking at a dummy. The Iris Message was in black and white, but it would flicker color occasionally.

“Hello?” Rachel called. The girl turned quickly, cutting the dummy’s head off.

“Qu’est-ce que I’?!” she exclaimed in French.

Rachel raised a hand, “Uh, hi.” The girl screamed something to someone out of the range of the Iris Message.

“Sir! Quelque chose s'est passé!” Someone walked over. He had grey, clean cut hair and a scraggly beard. He was wearing a shirt that was written in French. Mon père est un centaure! (if you put the italicized words into google translator, it will reveal an important spoiler!)

“Qu'est-ce que le Hadès est-ce ...?” he asked, stroking his beard.

Rachel glanced at me, “how am I supposed to understand him?” I shrugged.

In the Iris Message, the girl mumbled to the older man, “comment sommes-nous censés les comprendre?” He shrugged in return.

Rachel took to a deep breath and faced the Iris Message. “He-llo!” she said, sounding out the word and waving. “I am Ra-chel.” She pointed to herself. The girl in the rainbow stepped forward and waved.

“Je Al-ice,” she said, pointing to herself. “H-omment il lp-vous?” Rachel gave me a nervous look. I tried to give her a hopeful smile, but it probably looked more like a sneer. My hand still burned and I wanted to scream so loud that my voice would break glass, but I held it together.

Rachel turned back to the girl. “Your na-me is Al-ice?” The girl, Alice, looked back at the other dude in desperation.

This wasn’t working.

Grover snapped his fingers. He held out his arms and began to chant. The Iris Message flickered and threatened to cut off, but when Grover finished, it returned to normal.

“What did you do?” Rachel asked. The girl in the Iris Message gasped.

“You spoke French!” she exclaimed, her accent heavy, but it was definitely english.

“No, you spoke English.” Rachel corrected.

Grover shook his head. “We aren’t speaking either language. We’re speaking Greek so we can understand each other.”

I couldn’t hold my pain any longer. I screamed so loud, it probably sounded like I was having a baby. My hand was stinging so bad, I couldn’t even put it into a scream, yelp, or even a sentence. Will gripped my shoulders as I began to bawl. Not cry, bawl. It hurt that bad.

“Come on Clover…Just a little longer…”

I shook my head. “No! Make it stop!” I cried. Tears ran down my cheeks like gigantic waterfalls. Alice and the older man leaned close to the Iris message.

“What’s wrong with her?” Alice asked.

“Her hand is boiling while the rest of her is freezing,” Will answered. I screamed once more and yanked my hand away from the water, which was drizzling from the bottle. The steam stopped and the Iris message started to fade. Grover yelped and quickly put the water back on my hand. I screamed and tried to pull away, but Will gripped my arm and held it still.

I whimpered and pleaded, “please Will… It hurt so bad…” I continued to bawl harder, but the others tried to continue the conversation as fast as they could.

“We need your help Alice. Romans have attacked our camp in Long Island, which is on the East coast of the United States. The camp has been completely destroyed and we need help desperately. Seven of our demigods, and some of the Romans, went on a quest to stop Gaea, the evil earth mother-”

“That is trying to take over the world,” Alice finished. “We know about her. Her earthborn have been attacking every week for the past eight months. We’re having problems…”

Grover leaned into view of the French people. “Don’t you have protective borders?” Alice and the old dude shook their heads.

“We have no shield of any kind. All we can do is hold them back. Our Ares kids have been taking the brunt of the impact. They’re always hungry for a fight…” Alice answered.

Rachel laughed, “same with ours! Man, thinking about this and multiple camps around the world, makes me think ‘Wow, the Gods have been busy!’” Alice and Rachel laughed together. I groaned, snapping them back to the situation at hand.

“Anyway,” Rachel continued seriously, “we need help. The Roman’s burnt down all of our cabins and we don’t know if anyone else survived.” Alice nodded and turned to the old dude.

“Jerome, do you think we could help someway?” The man, Jerome, shook his head.

“If we’re going to hold back the earthborn, we need everyone.”

“But couldn’t we send at least three campers?” Alice pleaded. Jerome considered for a second. Then, he shrugged.

“Alright. We can spare three campers.” Alice jumped with joy and turned back to Rachel.

“We’ll be there soon!” she exclaimed joyfully. Alice slashed her hand through the message and disappeared.

Will loosened his grip on my arm and I pulled my hand away. I rocked back and forth holding my hand close. It was shaking and twitching. The ring on my finger was glowing red hot. I breathed rapidly, crying and trembling.

Will put a hand on my shoulder, “you were amazing Clover. Thanks to you, we were able to get reinforcements.” I sobbed and nodded. My forehead was ice cold from the sweat and I shivered. I curled up in the blankets that were wrapped around me and tried to relax.

Grover stood up and looked down the hallway. He put his fingers to his lips, telling us to be quiet. I winced straining to hear what he heard. Thumping noises, like stomping feet, vibrated the floor.

“The Romans!” Grover exclaimed. Will scooped his arms under me and picked me up. I cried out in pain, but he knew we needed to get away. Rachel stood quickly and followed Grover, who was already trotting down the tunnel. Will quickly followed.

The tunnel was lit by an occasional slit of light from outside, which looked like an orange sunset, and torches that floated a few inches away from the wall. The flames were a green color, like the oracle Dephi. The hallways smelled musty and of old dirt, like it hadn’t been used in a while. A few rats squeaked as we ran by.

The Roman’s stomping got faster and I could hear the clanking of their armor. Will ran faster. The floor sloped downward, and a few times Will would trip on a rock. Rachel and Grover tripped a few times too, and Grover even slammed into the dirt wall when the tunnel turned sharply.

“Charge!” Someone called from behind us. I knew that voice all too well.

“Run!” Will called to the others, urging them to go faster. We were running at full speed, but somehow, the Roman’s were gaining.

We turned a corner and Will slammed into Grover, who had immediately stopped. Grover bumped into Rachel and she fell off the ledge. With his quick reflexes, Grover grabbed Rachel’s hand, but sadly, she slammed into the cliff’s wall.

She was now dangling fifty feet off the ground with nothing to stop her fall, except for Grover’s hand.

“Hold on Rachel!” Grover called. Instead of yelling for help, Rachel looked more shocked than anything. She stared at the ground, then looked up at Grover, who was straining to keep her from falling.

Will put me down and helped me get my balance. I leaned against the wall, clawing at it so I could stand. Will bent down and gripped Rachel’s arm, helping Grover support her weight.

I looked behind us and saw the glint of golden armor. The sounds of the clattering armor got closer and louder. I faced them and held out my burning hand. “Stop!” The Roman’s slowed, but didn’t stop. “Please,” I cried. “Stop!” Still, the Romans kept coming. I dug deep into my soul, gripping the words and putting as much passion into them.

“I said, Stop!” I screamed. From the ring, heat flowed through my fingertips and they burst to flame. I inhaled sharply and stared in fear at my fingers. The Romans stopped right in front of my flaming hand. The first Roman stepped out of the tunnel, the flames casting an eerie light across his face.

“Ah,” Octavian gloated. “Exactly who I was looking for.” I sobbed with fear, but held out my hand.

“Get. Away. From. Me.” I demanded, but my voice cracked. Octavian laughed and put his golden dagger to my throat.

“I’m not afraid of your birthday candle hand,” he said. “Come with me, now. Or my army will kill your family.” My throat clenched, and not just because of the dagger. Warmth began to spread to the rest of my body.  I didn’t know if it was from anger, or just from my hand, but I was done with this guy. He was making so many threats, I was just disgusted.

“Hey Octavian,” I mocked. “Where’s Reyna?” Octavian sneered at me so deeply, I thought his face was going to crack in half. He didn’t say anything, which gave me a little bit of self confidence.

Octavian smirked and looked behind him at one of his soldiers. “Get the others,” he ordered. The soldier straightened and pushed past me. Will and Grover had just barely pulled Rachel up, but now they had swords pointed at their necks. I desperately sent them a message.

Let me handle this.

They nodded, but I wasn’t sure how well I could handle any situation in my condition. I needed to try anyway.

“Octavian,” I demanded, moving my flaming hand in front of my face. “I don’t think you understand who you’re dealing with.” I thrust my hand toward his face, but Octavian slashed with his dagger. I felt blood ooze down my neck, but that didn’t stop me. I forced my hand over his face, causing the fire to eat at his skin.

Octavian didn’t even scream.

He pushed me away and I fell right in front of my friends. When I looked up at the damage I had done, I wanted to give myself a mental high five.

Octavian had a hand shape mark burned into his features. The first finger of the burn was across his nose and the thumb was under it, right above his lip. The other fingers had burned his eyebrow and part of his forehead. It looked like a mud print, except it was red and with blisters.

“You’re going to pay for that you-” Octavian spat out not the best language. That made me get even more upset and angry. I kicked Octavian’s legs, making him crash to the rocks. I stood up and punched him.

“I Am Not Those Things! You Are!” I screamed, kicking him one more time for good measure. I touched my throat, and was immediately worried. The old scar I had from my suicide attempt had been reopened. I stumbled backward and coughed up blood. The other Roman soldiers nor my friends could do anything. Soon, I had no more ledge. My foot slipped and I fell.

“CLOVER!!!!” My friends cried desperately.

But I was already gone.