-Archery Range, Camp Half-Blood; Not long before Will announced Percy was awake-

~Hesper's Point of View~

Training the demigod campers of Camp Half-Blood was not my idea, and for good reason. While I am thrilled to see the Hunters of Artemis, seeing Apollo's sons act as if there is nothing else for them to learn. Arrogant-

"Do you want any assistance, Unit Leader?" I turned to see Alala.

I smiled slightly. "I do not mind the company."

She nodded once, surveying the range. "I see the children of Apollo are competing against the Hunters of Artemis."

"Yes, a few of Apollo's sons were arrogant enough to challenge the Huntresses." Flashes of scenes from the past come to mind. "However, Lady Artemis' Lieutenant turned it into a friendly contest." I smiled, something like pride blossoming in my chest. "The children of Apollo and a few other campers," I eyed the few non-Apollo cabin campers. "Have learned more from the Huntresses than from me."

Alala hummed. "Of course. Head Commander Nyke does say that you can learn more from a peer than a teacher."

"But you can learn even more from an enemy." I finish, frowning at the ominous feeling I get every time I hear that saying.

I felt Alala's piercing gaze. "Is everything alright here, Unit Leader Hesper?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Something seems...off between the unit leaders and head commander. Why is that?" Before I could think of a response to that (how could I even respond to that?) Annabeth Chase came running into the range.

"Thalia!" She called out, gray eyes wide.

"Annabeth?" Thalia turned away from the targets.

No one was prepared for her next words. "Percy's awake!"

My eyes widened. Could we finally have some good news? If the son of Poseidon is awake perhaps he can tell us who the enemy truly is. Then we can start preparing more thoroughly for the battle that is to come. With no signs of an enemy attack (aside from the incident in Demeter's cabin), the tension of anticipation will only get worse.

Not everyone at Camp Half-Blood can feel the tension or understand the stifling weight of the incoming fight. The seasoned fighters hold that weight in different ways. For the Hunters of Artemis, they hold themselves at the ready and are constantly scanning their surroundings. They haven't changed...even though there are new hunters. And, as I look closely, some older members are missing. My Lady, you have suffered a great loss...

Thalia immediately raced towards the Big House, not waiting for the Daughter of Athena.

I watched as they got further away. 'Maybe I should go with them?' I thought about it for a moment. 'No, I will meet up with Nyke later to go over our options.'

"What should we do now, Unit Leader?" Alala asked me.

Not looking away from the direction of the Big House, I answered. "Let's take a 15 minute break."

-The Big House, Camp Half-Blood; After The Seven, Nico, and Thalia were gathered at the news of Percy-

~Jason's Point of View~

"What happened?"

"Is he okay?"

"Can we see him now?"

"Has he said anything?"

"When will he be fully healed?"

"He isn't going to die, is he?"

The questions just kept coming, our voices overlapping. Will looked overwhelmed by eight demigods demanding answers to questions he doesn't have time to comprehend.

"Quiet!" He raised his voice over ours. "This is an infirmary. Please quiet down and ask your questions one at a time." Will continued once we stopped talking. "Actually, I'm going to present the facts, then you can ask questions. One. At. A. Time." He glared.

"Okay." Will said when he realized we were going to keep quiet. "My dad is currently inside with Percy. I was with him when he woke up. He seems to be healing fine, however, he shows signs of confusion. I wasn't able to talk to him before my dad took over."

"That's it?" Thalia spoke up when Will didn't add anything else.

Will looked tired. "Percy didn't know where he was when he woke up. His screams-" He stopped, taking a deep breath. "I don't know what he went through, but it seemed bad. I was hoping bringing you here would help." He looked over at the door to the infirmary. "When I was going to open the door, my dad spoke to me and told me not to come in. Percy isn't ready for any visits except for Poseidon."

"Is he in there now?" Annabeth asked.

Will nodded. "I believe so."

"So all we can do is wait?" Leo was the next one to ask.

"Yes." Silence fell after that one word answer. Slowly, we all began to move to sit or pace to wait until we heard more news about Percy.

All we could do was wait to hear what happened to the demigod who always seemed to find trouble. I smiled slightly at the thought, squeezing Piper's hand with my own.

-Front Steps of the Big House, Camp Half-Blood; Not long before lunch would start-

~Milo's Point of View~

Standing at the railing of the Big House, watching the campers clean up after training and get ready for lunch, I waited for Hesper and Nyke to stop whispering with each other so this meeting could get started already.

I'm starting to think that Charis is right, there is something going on between the head commander and unit 1's leader. She is always seeing love around.

"Can we get started? I have to go check on some things in the forge before lunch." Vernandos cleared his throat, looking a bit awkward at the supposed soon-to-be couple. Charis must have told him her theory. Makes me wonder what their relationship is. Great, now I'm starting to see couples as well.

"Right, sorry." Nyke rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I gathered all of you here because I thought that we would be able to talk with Percy Jackson."

"But?" Charis prompted.

"But, because of the nature of his disappearance, Percy hasn't been able to answer any questions." Nyke continued.

"What does that mean exactly?" Malantha asked, looking nervous.

It was Hesper whoo answered. "Percy Jackson was tortured."

-Infirmary, Camp Half-Blood; Hours later-

~3rd Person's Point of View~

The day had continued on. Lunch came and went. More training with the unit leaders happened. Nothing seemed out of place. Although there was more tension when the rumors spread talking of the son of Poseidon waking up. Unease spread like a wild fire when it became obvious that something bad happened to Percy Jackson, one of the camp's leaders.

Torture was the most common story.

That wasn't far from the truth. "Percy, please." Poseidon begged his son from a bedside chair. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened."

Percy Jackson, still healing from his wounds, sat up in one of the infirmary's beds. "I-" He swallowed. "I don't know what happened. It was like..." He paused, looking lost. "It was like when I was kidnapped by Hera."

Apollo walked closer, frowning. "So you don't remember what happened."

Percy shook his head slowly. "No," He spoke slowly. "It's just fuzzy. I do remember darkness."

"Darkness?" Poseidon repeated, eager for the details.

"Yes, I was surrounded by darkness. There was nothing but darkness. The attacks came from the darkness." The demigod paused again, swallowing. "There was laughter."

Apollo and Poseidon shared a look. "Was there a voice?"

"No, only laughter." Percy looked them in the eye for the first time since he woke up. "He didn't speak a word to me."

While the two gods thought over what they were told, they weren't aware that within that last sentence there was a lie. A lie that later on almost ruined everything. 

This story has changed course so much as the story goes on. This is different than what it was going to be in the beginning. Speaking of, I published the first chapter in August of 2018. I plan to finish this before this August, I promise. 

Also, shoutout to @Delta_Nitro for all of the comments on this story. Thank you for pointing out the mistakes in the early chapters. I was planning on editing this once I finish the entire story, so that helps me!

Anyway, I don't know when I will be finishing The Unknown Assassin of Chaos as this story has mind of its own. I've been trying to stick to my outline for each chapter and the story is going off the rails. Next chapter is full of reveals that will make you question quite a bit. 

Don't worry, things will make sense. At some point. 

I was planning for 17 chapters with an epilogue, but I might be doing 18 chapters with an epilogue. I don't know yet as there is still so much that I want to do and I don't want to make the chapters longer as it ruins the flow to the chapters to me. 

I won't know until I write the next few chapters. 

So, I will be back next week with a chapter filled with surprises. 

Thank you for reading. 

~MsPenguingirl1234.

Published: April 29, 2023.