-Big House, Camp Half-Blood; Later that night-

~Frank's Point of View~

Percy woke up. While Apollo and Poseidon were able to talk to him, the rest of us weren't able to. After their questions got answered, they told us Percy was resting. That he wasn't ready for visitors. Annabeth was upset by that, Thalia was angry, and the rest...I felt helpless. So did everyone else.

Looking around the ping pong that Camp Half-Blood uses for their counselor meetings, it was easy to see that the leaders of the camp were uneasy. After dinner, a meeting was called by Apollo to discuss the situation with Percy. Some of the gods were in attendance too.

Hazel squeezed my hand that was in hers. I looked over at her. She sent me a small smile. I tried smiling back. She frowned and squeezed my hand again. The entrance of some of the unit leaders distracted both of us.

Hazel smiled and waved to the second unit leader, I think, who quickly waved and smiled back.

I noticed it earlier today. Something had changed between Hazel and the unit 2 leader. They started to act more familiar with each other. When I asked her about it she only smiled and said, "I have never met her before. We talked and we have some things in common."

That wasn't the whole truth, but I trust Hazel.

"All right." Chiron started, looking around the room. "Settle down." The gathered leaders quickly did so, moving to find seats or finding places to stand.

"Chiron, can we see him now?" Annabeth asked before he could say anything else.

He softened a little, smiling some. "Lord Apollo is looking him over before he can be cleared to leave the infirmary."

Jason leaned forward in his seat. "Does that mean Percy talked about what happened to him?"

"He didn't say much to Lord Poseidon or Lord Apollo." Chiron sighed.

"How much did the punk say?" Clarisse spoke up next, scowling.

"Is he okay?" Hazel frowned in worry.

"As much as he can be. He was covered in blood when he came back, but his wounds weren't life threatening. Percy was exhausted."

"It wasn't just exhaustion, Chiron." Apollo said as he walked into the room. "The head wound was a bit of a concern too."

"My head's fine." Percy commented, standing next to the sun god with a bandage wrapped around his head.

"Percy!" Annabeth quickly stood up, running to her boyfriend's side. She stopped in front of him for a moment, reaching out a hand to his cheek.

"Hey, Wise Girl..." Percy smiled.

"Seaweed Brain." She hugged him, sobbing. He hugged her back.

I looked away, wanting to give them some privacy. I heard someone tearing up. Looking over at the small group of leaders from Chaos' Army, it seemed to be coming from the forth unit leader. She was smiling a little while there were some tears coming down her face. What...?

Chiron cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention. "Sorry to interrupt." He apologized to the reunited couple. They stepped away from each other. "We do need to discuss what Percy knows."

Annabeth frowned, grabbing Percy's hand. "Fine." She looked to her boyfriend. "You aren't leaving my sight."

He smiled. "Yes, Wise Girl."

She nodded, and brought him to her seat. Jason moved out of his seat that was placed next to Annabeth's. Jason nodded to Percy, and he nodded back.

"Percy." Chiron started once they were seated. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Percy winced. "I can't say much." Annabeth squeezed his hand that was still in hers.

"Why not?" Leo shrieked at the sudden voice that came from behind him. Many jumped. "You escaped, did you not?"

"Kosmos?" Malantha asked, sounding surprised. The assassin was standing by the wall behind Leo's chair, staring at the son of Poseidon.

Thalia stood up, knocking her chair over by the force. She brought her hand to her bracelet, looking ready for a fight. "You have a lot of nerve being here. Didn't you say Percy was dead when you first got here."

"What?" Percy looked confused.

"I did not say Percy Jackson was dead." He answered Thalia, then turned to Percy. "I find it strange that you aren't asking who we are. Did he tell you?"

"My dad must have-"

"No, I didn't." Apollo told Will. "Now that I think about it, neither did Uncle Poseidon."

"What are you saying, Kosmos?" Nyke asked, looking between the assassin and the son of Poseidon.

"Nothing. I was just curious as to why the demigod wasn't thrown off by our presence. I did not mean anything by it. The only way he would know is if the one who took him said something." Kosmos explained.

"I guess that's possible." Percy said, frowning at the assassin. "I wasn't really paying attention to who was here."

"Yet Lord Apollo looks confused." He was right, Apollo did look confused. "Why is that?"

Before Percy could answer, Apollo spoke up. "Because you said he didn't say anything to you, just that there was laughter." For some reason both Percy and Kosmos flinched at that.

"Kosmos." Hesper stepped forward, reaching for something on her waist. A knife, maybe? "What are you implying?"

For a long moment, the tension in the room grew. "Nothing." He spoke, at last. "I was seeing if the son of Poseidon knew anything about the enemy, is all." He bowed, turned towards the door, and left.

"What was that?" Someone asked.

Thalia cursed under her breath, looking angry. "Why do you let him do that?" She asked the Chaos' Army.

The three unit leaders present shared a look. It was the head commander who answered. "Look," He sighed. "I know Kosmos can be a bit much. I've been dealing with him for a thousand years." There were a few gasps. How old was the army? "Yeah, we've been alive for a while. I know that he isn't much of a team player, but I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. Kosmos has saved my life more times than I can count."

"What do you mean?" Hesper asked.

"After the investigation into what happened with the ship, I was able to talk with Chaos." Nyke explained. "It wasn't much of a conversation. He did give me some files. Kosmos isn't just Chaos' Assassin, he's the army's protector. Has been for the past three thousand years."

"I would have noticed." Hesper frowned.

"How long have you been in the Army, Hesper?" Charis asked suddenly.

"Three thousand years." She answered, surprising everyone in the room.

"You were the first one, weren't you?" Malantha asked. "The first one that joined."

"No, Kosmos was around before Hesper." Nyke spoke first.

Hesper crossed her arms. "Yes. Chaos thought I would be able to keep Kosmos company. He was wrong. Kosmos hardly ever even looked at me. I do know that he has been with Chaos for eleven thousand years now."

"Wait-"

"What-"

"Eleven thousand-"

"How old is he?!"

"Malantha?" Nico spoke up, scaring those around him. "How long have you been in Chaos' Army?"

She smiled. "Two thousand years."

Hazel choked. "What?"

Nico nodded thoughtfully. "I thought so."

"Nico?" Will asked him, looking lost. I felt the same way. Hazel and Nico knew something that no one else did.

"Nothing." The son of Hades shook his head. "We should get back to why we're here."

"Nico is right." Chiron agreed. "Percy, what can you tell us about what happened to you?"

"Nothing much. I was asleep when I was taken. I was surrounded by darkness while I was there. I heard laughter. That's all I remember." He answered, looking down.

"How did you escape?" Nyke asked.

"I don't know. I saw light and I went towards it. I ended up here." Percy grimaced.

"Perhaps Percy should get more rest." Chiron suggested.

He nodded, smiling at Annabeth and squeezed her hand before letting go and going with Apollo.

"You're all dismissed."

"But who's the enemy? Who took Percy?" Piper asked.

"We don't know." Nyke answered, staring at the door that led outside. "But we will find out."

-The Woods, Camp Half-Blood; After the Meeting-

~Charis' Point of View~

Once the meeting was over, Nyke called his own. He didn't say why. Maybe it wasn't just me that felt something was off during the meeting. There was something with Percy's story. Yes, it was short, but there was something off with it.

Plus, I have seen Percabeth. That didn't feel like a Percabeth reunion. Especially not after their last reunion during the war with Gaea. I smiled at the thought.

"What are you smiling about?" Vernandos asked me.

I smiled more. "Just thinking about a couple of friends."

He tilted his head. "Friends? Which ones? Are they in your unit?" This was why I loved the other unit leader so much. He was genuinely asking about my life. Wanting to know more about me. Even though he doesn't know who I am or what I look like, Vernandos makes an effort to know everything else.

And he doesn't mind when I need to vent about my Hesper/Nyke frustrations. They would be so good together if only one of them would make a move.

"What are we talking about?" Malantha asked as she walked to the spot Nyke wanted us to meet at.

Milos was leaning against a tree some distance away looking like he was sleeping. Vernandos was standing next to me as I sat on a fallen tree. Nyke and Hesper were off somewhere else.

"Why are we here?" Annabeth asked, eyeing us unit leaders. She was followed by Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico, and Thalia.

"Good. You're all here." Nyke commented, coming out of the trees opposite from where the main camp was.

"Where's Hesper?" Milos asked, not moving from his position.

"Right here." She appeared next to him. He didn't move. Hesper frowned. "I couldn't find him."

Nyke sighed, rubbing his face. "Of course not." He muttered. "Right. Sorry for calling you all here so late." He spoke to everyone. "I wanted everyone's opinion on the meeting."

"The meeting that didn't accomplish anything?" Thalia frowned at the head commander.

"Exactly." He agreed. "And I wanted to know your thoughts on..." Nyke cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Percy Jackson and his story."

"What do you mean by that?" Jason stepped forward, looking ready for a fight.

"There's something off about it." Nico spoke. "With how Apollo acted and Kosmos. You said Kosmos was the protector for the army, right? If he's suspicious of Percy then that means he's looking out for you all."

"Wait," Leo frowned. "Are we suspecting Percy of something?"

"I don't think that was Percy." We were all startled by Annabeth's admission.

"You think so too? Then that proves something is off with him." Malantha sighed.

"Question is what?" Nico nodded in agreement.

"Wait," Milos spoke up, standing up. "How would you know something's wrong, Malantha?"

"Because I know Percy Jackson and that wasn't him." She answered.

"What?" Everyone looked confused, even Nyke.

Malantha sighed. She reached up to her hood. "Malantha-" Several of us said. She quickly pushed her hood off her head.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this anymore." Olive skin, brown hair, black eyes. I know her. She's- "My name is Bianca di Angelo, daughter of Hades." 

I ended up finishing chapter 17 on Thursday before I went to sleep. Chapter 17 is something. It got away from me and its a bit of a filler/sets up for chapter 18. This will be more than 18 chapters. I'm thinking 25? 

Although because I will be super busy on May 20th, it might be a late update for that week. I have started on chapter 18. I am hoping to finish it before next Saturday that way I will have more time to write chapter 19 to publish chapter 18 on the 20th. 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I did mention more reveals happening, right? There will be more to come in the next chapters. 

Thank you for reading! Until next week!

~MsPenguingirl1234. 

Published: May 6th, 2023.