▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER ELEVEN ▬▬▬▬▬

"DID YOU HEAR?" ALABASTER MUTTERED to Esmerelda as they prepped for their archery class.

"Hear what?" She replied, not looking at his as she focused on notching her arrow correctly. She started aiming at the bright red bulls-eye on the target.

"Lord Zeus' lightning bolt was stolen."

Esmerelda had released her arrow, but his words shocked her so much that she completely missed the target, and the arrow soared over to the trees instead.

She looked up at her half-brother with wide, disbelieving eyes. "What?"

He nodded, looking absolutely serious. "People have been talking about it. Haven't you noticed how tense camp's been lately? Lord Zeus is putting the blame on his brother Poseidon."

"Wait a second," she breathed out, her mind working a mile a minute as she pieced everything together. "The quest Percy went on—the stolen object—it was the bolt?"

"Yeah. No surprises, Lord Zeus isn't happy with him right now either. I heard that if Percy doesn't find the bolt by the summer solstice, the gods'll wage World War III. They're already picking sides. And so have the other campers." He explained, his expression grim as he looked around the other campers, as if not sure on who to trust anymore.

"The summer solstice is on June twenty-first. That's only three days away." She bit her lip, her stomach churning with worry. If the gods were to break out into another war... Well, it'd be catastrophic. Demigods would die, mortals would die... Everything would die.

"It's like the Trojan War all over again," Alabaster fretted. "Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo siding with Poseidon, while Athena's with Zeus. I don't know where mother stands on this, but I'm pretty sure she's not fond of Zeus at the moment."

"You know, this kind of explains why everyone's treating the Athena kids so poorly. I thought people were still mad about our win in capture the flag, but then I noticed our own teammates being harsh on them..." She trailed off. "I just hope Percy finds that bolt soon. I feel bad that the safety of the world is resting on his shoulders."

"Same here, but I wouldn't want to be him." Alabaster said, then finally prepared his arrow. He shot, but was a few inches away from the center. "Ugh. Missed."

Mind buzzing with thoughts, Esmerelda tried her best to shove all her worries away as she readied another arrow. Just when she was about to release it, she heard a loud yelp.

"ETHAN!" A familiar voice growled.

Esmerelda's arms lowered and she groaned. Not again, she thought. It was Caleb Warring, from the Ares cabin. She had the displeasure of meeting him during her first game of capture the flag, where he had cruelly taunted her and Ethan about their lack of godly parents. Needless to say, he and Ethan made a rivalry that day.

Caleb Warring was storming towards an arrow clenched in his hand. He was gripping it so hard that it didn't take much longer for it to snap in half. "What the HADES was that for, Ethan?! I know you shot that arrow on purpose!"

"We're in an archery class," her friend answered dryly. "I'm supposed to shoot arrows."

"Yeah, but not at ME!" Caleb roared.

Ethan simply shrugged. "I have bad aim."

Snarling like a rabid dog, Caleb pulled his fist back and punched Ethan square in the eye. Esmerelda stiffened and reacted instantly, she darted away from the scene and went to go find Luke. As much as she wanted to help Ethan herself, she knew it wasn't a good idea to get in the way of a brawl between him and Caleb. The last time it happened, she ended up with a busted lip and was seeing stars for a whole hour.

"Luke!" She called out, finding him practicing his sword-fighting skills. She caught sight of his sword and was momentarily fixed with it. Half of the blade was made of celestial bronze and the other half was made out of... regular metal. The kind of metal you'd expect from common swords. Metal that could hurt mortals. Why did he have that?

"What is it, Essie?" He asked, wiping the sweat off his face.

"It's Ethan and Caleb again."

He sighed. "Take me to them."

By the time they made it back to the archery range, a whole crowd was already surrounding them. Esmerelda could hear several people calling out bets and not a lot were picking Ethan. Frowning to herself, she and Luke shoved through the horde of campers and finally made it to the center. Ethan's face was full of blood and Caleb's shoulder was set at an odd angle (most likely dislocated). Both of them had abandoned their weapons and were fighting hand-to-hand.

"Alright, that's enough, you two!" Luke barked, coming between them. He had his hands out at his sides, trying to push them apart. It was easier for him to do so to Ethan, but Caleb was a lot bigger.

Luke shoved him back. "Stand down!" He snapped. The temper in his voice made even Esmerelda flinch. He and Chiron had been busy breaking up fights due to the whole solstice issue and Esmerelda could clearly see that Luke was almost at his wit's end.

Caleb's half-siblings hauled him away, grinning smugly and each slapping his shoulder as a way of congratulating him for 'teaching that little runt a lesson'.

Luke looked back at Ethan, concern on his face. "You okay, dude?"

Ethan spat blood on the ground. "Just dandy."

Esmerelda stepped forward and held his shoulder to keep his steady. "Let's take you to the infirmary."

"Actually," Luke suddenly spoke up. "I'll do it."

Esmerelda blinked up at him. "Oh, Luke, you don't have to..."

He shook his head, insistent for some reason. "You still have an archery class to get back to. I'll walk him to the infirmary."

She frowned. "But—"

"—Essie." He said harshly. Ethan and Esmerelda stared up at him in surprise. He must have realized how mean he sounded and softened his expression. "Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you. Just let me take him to infirmary. There's a chance we might be going into war so... you need to sharpen up your skills as much as you can."

"Right," she mumbled, feeling sick all over again at the mention of a possible World War III. "Okay. I guess I'll see you later, Ethan."

"Yeah..." Ethan muttered, staring at Luke almost suspiciously.

After archery lesson, she walked around camp for her break when she had a sudden urge to visit her two owls, Ethan Jr and Stylianos. She had never had a pet before, and she really enjoyed her owls' company. Even if Ethan Jr was a little mean and Stylianos barely did anything interesting.

She found her owls over at the Athena cabin, which is where they liked to hang out the most. It was no surprise since owls were Athena's sacred symbols. As she walked towards the grey cabin, she noticed a group of kids outside expertly weaving a silky grey shroud.

"Can we help you, Esmerelda?" Malcolm Pace, the second-in-command, asked her curtly, eyes glued onto his work.

"Sorry, I, um, was just looking for my owls..." She said awkwardly. She always felt a little nervous with the Athena kids, mainly because their eyes reminded her so much of their mother who was one of the gods that wanted to kill her. It didn't help that they were one of the few people who were pretty displeased when she came back to camp alive. They were extremely faithful towards their mother and always followed her lead, so naturally, they were against Esmerelda's existence.

Annabeth was a little different though. While she was still a bit aloof towards her, she at least had the decency to greet her and exchange a few words. Plus, she saw how she treated Percy after he was claimed by Poseidon, and knowing about the two gods' eternal rivalry, she knew Annabeth treated her way better than she treated Percy.

Maybe when they come back from their quest, they'll be friends! She thought optimistically. That would be funny to see. A daughter of Athena being friends with the son of Poseidon. Their parents would have heart attacks.

"We let them fly around." He replied.

"Oh," she said. "Um, why are you making shrouds?"

He sighed heavily and finally looked up at her. The rest of his siblings resumed their work but she could see them shaking their heads at her stupidity. "Haven't you noticed the date? It's almost the twenty-first. We haven't heard a word from our sister or those other two guys with her. They're most likely dead at this point."

Can't they show a little more faith for them? She wondered. "I see... and who's making Percy's shroud?"

"The Ares cabin offered." He answered.

She winced. "Poor guy... Anyways, thanks for watching over my owls. I'll take my leave now..."

Talking with the Athena kids always left her tense, so it took her a few minutes to calm down before she resumed the search for her owls. She managed to find them west from the cabins. She was just walking around when she heard a loud commotion from the arena. Someone was screaming something about an evil owl and she knew right away that they were talking about Ethan Jr. She didn't waste a second to run there.

"Uh oh," she grimaced at the scene. Stylianos was simply watching from the stands, looking bored out of his mind whereas Ethan Jr was screeching and pecking at camper's eyes. One camper swung blindly with his sword but missed and Ethan Jr swooped down to attack his face.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

Esmerelda let out a high whistle. "Get over here, you two!" Ethan Jr complied right away, ditching his victim with only a haughty hoot while Stylianos continued to stare at her.

"Don't give me attitude, come here," she pleaded.

The tawny owl hooted, though it sounded more like an annoyed sigh, before flying over.

"That owl is evil!" An Ares camper pointed at Ethan Jr. "I was this close to getting my eyes pecked out! This close!"

She just shrugged. "Sorry."

"Why the Hades did you have to pick such a mean owl?" A Demeter kid whined, rubbing his arms where tiny little scratched laid scattered over tanned skin.

"He was nice when I found him..." She trailed off. "Plus, the people working at the store didn't seem to be treating him nicely. How can I not pick him?"

Ethan Jr hooted softly as if to say 'thanks for getting me outta there, dude'.

"Come on you troublesome duo, let's head back to the Hermes cabin. Ethan's probably waiting for us there already." She said to her two owls. She had an inkling that they were smart and could understand her. Well, sort of.

They walked back to the Hermes cabin where she saw Ethan approaching the door. He had yet to see her, but Ethan Jr flew over to his side and affectionately(?) nipped at his face. Wordlessly, the boy reached out to pet his head.

Esmerelda frowned when she saw his face. It was blank, like he was deep in thought about something. She couldn't help but think that was something was off with him.

"Hey," she greeted him, trying to be chipper for his sake. "You look better now."

"Yeah." He said, sounding distant.

She regarded him warily. "...Are you okay, Ethan? Are you mad about what happened with Caleb?"

He shook his head. "No, I just..." He shot a quick glance at the sky, as if afraid that the gods were listening in. "Don't worry about it."

"But—"

"—Forget it, Essie." He shot her a hardened glare and she shut her mouth immediately, looking down. She heard him sigh and mumble: "I'm gonna go grab something to eat. Don't bother me... I wanna be alone."

She watched him walk away, feeling deeply hurt by his words. It was one thing for Luke to speak a little harshly towards her, but Ethan? Her own best friend? His only friend? What made him so cross?

Did Luke say something to him when they were at the infirmary?

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When Percy, Annabeth, and Grover came back from the quest alive, the whole camp threw a huge party. Even better: they managed to retrieve the bolt and return it to Zeus which meant the chances of World War III were dashed down.

A big feast had been prepared in their honor and all three of them were gifted with laurel wreaths (since it was camp tradition). The shrouds the Athena and Ares campers made for them were happily burned down. The Ares cabin ended up making an ugly shroud for Percy (no surprise there), it was just a simple bedsheet spray-painted with smiley faces that had X's for eyes and the word LOSER painted really big in the middle.

The Apollo cabin led the sing-along and passed out s'mores as Percy returned to his old cabin mates from the Hermes cabin.

"Glad you're not dead!" Esmerelda cheered, handing him a bag of marshmallows before feeding her two owls some.

"I'm glad too," he shouted back so his voice could be heard over all the loud singing. "By the way, what's with the owls?" Just as he asked that, Ethan Jr flew and tried to steal his s'mores.

"Bought them the day after you guys left for your quest! The mean one's Ethan Jr and the chubby one staring into the fire's Stylianos." She explained. "How'd the quest go, anyways? No complications?"

He barked a laugh. "I wish. Got chased by the Furies, got stuck in a time-altering casino in Vegas, fought Ares, went to the Underworld—I'd go on, but the list is long. Anyways, I managed to get my mom back."

"Your mom? But I thought she—"

"—The Minotaur never killed her. Lord Hades took her as hostage. After I returned his Helm, he brought her back."

"Hold on," she almost dropped her s'mores. "Helm? His Helm of Darkness was stolen too?"

"By Ares." He confirmed.

"And you fought him?"

He nodded.

"Styx," she cursed. "I'm never fighting you. Ever. Don't even ask for a sparring match."

"It was just luck. We were near water at the time." He dismissed.

Esmerelda was about to say something until Grover leaped into the air with an ecstatic cry: "I GOT MY SEARCHER'S LICENSE!"

Everyone applauded while Percy stood up and screamed back, "YOU GO, G-MAN!"

Ethan managed to find her through all the excitement. The owl that was named after him saw him first and tried to peck his eyes out.

"Ethan Jr, down." Esmerelda said, feeling as if she was talking to an uncontrollable dog.

The human Ethan eyed the owl warily before plopping down beside her. "Hey," he muttered.

She hummed, turning away from him. It had been a while since they talked.

"Sorry for ignoring you and everything," he said apologetic and nervous at the same time. "I was just thinking about things."

"Right." She said, angrily biting into her s'mores.

"I was thinking about my mom. Well, who she could be."

She froze. "O-oh..." Now she felt like an asshole.

"Luke was talking to me about it and I guess it just opened old wounds for me." He frowned. "I shouldn't have pushed you away though. Sorry."

"It's okay," she accepted his apology rather quickly. "I understand now. Are you feeling better though?"

He swallowed thickly. "Yeah."

She had a feeling that he was lying, but said nothing. She just smiled and hugged him, glad to have her back while she ignored the churning of her stomach. Something was wrong, but she'd deal with it later.

A month passed and in a few more weeks, she would be attending Hogwarts.

The campers had one last meal together on the last night of the summer session. Afterwards, they had a bonfire where the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer-beads for everyone's leather necklaces. Esmerelda already had two so far. The designs varied because the counselors voted on the biggest event of the summer and paint it on the bead. In her first summer, she was given a bead that had the Chimera's severed snake tail painted on it to celebrate the first time a camper had ever been targeted by the Chimera. Her second bead had a marijuana joint on it to represent the time a son of Demeter grew weed at the field and got half of the camp high.

"We had some trouble deciding since we had two major events happen to us," Luke began. "Our very first witch and son of Poseidon, both who managed to escape the wrath of the gods. We decided to put them both on the bead!"

The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares's cabin felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause. Percy was blushing in the darkness and Esmerelda was excitedly shaking Ethan around.

The bead was pure black, with a purple witch's hat painted on it, and a small trident painted over it.

The next day, Esmerelda was delivered her progress report for the summer and was relieved to see no failing grades.

Dear Esmerelda, below is your progress report for the summer. We are happy to report that your marks are passable, so you will not be fed to the harpies at the present time. If you have a guardian, please have them review and sign for our records.

Sincerely,

Chiron, activities director and Dionysus, camp director

Monster maiming | A | Esmerelda is very good at killing monsters, but she has the tendency to hesitate. Thankfully, their hunger for her flesh is a good motivator for her.

Defense | B+ | Esmerelda has only been in six near-death situations! Good job!

Sword Fighting | C+ | Esmerelda's skills are adequate, but she has some trouble holding on to the sword.

Team Spirit | A+ | Esmerelda is very eager to work with others and is very encouraging!

Ancient Greek | A+ | Esmerelda makes little to no mistakes in Ancient Greek! Good work!

Latin | A- | Esmerelda is making fast progress in her Latin class.

Foot Racing | A | Esmerelda is a fast runner with good endurance! She is almost as fast as the wood nymphs!

Archery | B+ | Esmerelda can at least shoot an arrow, and she sometimes hits the bulls-eye.

Javelin Throwing | A+ | Esmerelda has excellent aim! She almost never misses the bulls-eye!

Rock Climbing | C+ | Esmerelda needs some improvement here. She is a good climber, but she sometimes falls off the wall because the lava makes her palms sweaty.

She also found a crumpled up letter she had received months ago and completely forgotten about.

Dear Emmanuella,

If you intend to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, you must inform the Big House by noon today. If you do not announce your intentions, we will assume you have vacated your cabin or died a horrible death. Cleaning harpies will begin work at sundown. They will be authorized to eat any unregistered campers. All personal articles left behind will be incinerated in the lava pit.

Have a nice day!

Mr. D (Dionysus)

Camp Director, Olympian Council #12

Hastily, she sent her reply over saying that no, she would not be staying at camp for the rest of the year since for the first time in years, she had a school to go to.

Once that was done, she headed out for the pavilion to grab a snack before the final cabin inspections began. She didn't feel like cleaning, so she decided to leave that job for someone else to do (besides, cleaning the Hermes cabin was almost impossible because of how crowded it was).

Suddenly, a bunch of dryads shot out from the forest, hauling a body.

Esmerelda froze. It was Percy. She whipped her head over to the nearest camper who was also frozen with shock. "Get Chiron!" She ordered him. He ran away and she bolted for Percy and dryads to help him out.

"What happened to him?!" She asked fretfully.

"We found him like this!" One cried out.

"I think he's been poisoned! Look at his hand!" Another shouted.

Esmerelda looked down and paled. There was a huge red welt on his palm, and it was oozing and smoking with pus. He was stung by a Pit Scorpion.

"Luke..." She heard him say groggily.

"What?" She asked.

"Luke," he repeated, sounding more and more drowsy. "The prophecy... Left... Betrayed..."

"Stay awake! You need to stay awake!" The dryads pleaded with him.

Luke? He left? And what did he mean by 'betrayed'? She thought wildly.

Percy became heavier, and that was when she realized he had finally blacked out.

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"He was saying something about Luke." She told Chiron as she, Chiron, and Annabeth gathered around Percy's infirmary bed. "He said the words 'Luke', 'the prophecy', 'left', and 'betrayed'."

Chiron frowned deeply. "Esmerelda, have you seen Luke at all today?"

Esmerelda gulped. "No... I haven't actually. He wasn't in the cabin when I woke up. Or at breakfast..."

Chiron turned to the blonde. "And you Annabeth? Have you seen him?"

"No..." She trailed off, looking disturbed. "Chiron, are you saying he left?"

"I—" He turned his gaze to Percy, who was beginning to stir. "Annabeth, the nectar please."

She nodded dutifully and picked up the glass of nectar. She placed the straw in his mouth and waited for him to begin drinking it. His eyes finally opened.

He looked at Annabeth and cracked a very weak grin. "Here we are again."

"You idiot," she said, but everyone knew she was relieved to see him awake. Esmerelda was glad that the quest managed to make the two supposed-to-be rivals closer. "You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing..."

"Now, now," Chiron interrupted. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit."

Esmerelda decided to speak up. "How are you feeling, Percy?"

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved."

Chiron nodded in understanding. "Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."

He hesitated, before finally spilling everything. "The second-to-last last line of the prophecy, You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, it was about Luke the entire time. He summoned the hellhound that attacked me on the night of capture of the flag. The flying shoes he gave me were meant to send me to Tarturus, but I gave them to Grover and Annabeth and I saved him before he could be dragged in. He was also the one who stole the bolt, Hades' Helm of Darkness, and tricked Ares... This morning he led me to the forest and told me all of this... and that he was working with Kronos. Then he summoned the Pit Scorpion. He left right after that."

There was a tense silence.

"Oh my gods," Esmerelda uttered out. "This entire time he was acting off... and I thought he was stressed about the tensions at camp."

"I can't believe that Luke ..." Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him.... He was never the same after his quest."

"This must be reported to Olympus," Chiron murmured. "I will go at once."

"Luke is out there right now," Percy said. "I have to go after him."

Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy. The gods—"

"—Won't even talk about Kronos," he snapped. "Zeus declared the matter closed!"

"Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready."

Percy stayed silent. And then: "Chiron... your prophecy from the Oracle ... it was about Kronos, wasn't it? Was I in it? And Annabeth?" He glanced at Esmerelda. "Who else is in it?"

Esmerelda tensed up at the idea of her being mentioned in a prophecy. She hoped she wasn't.

Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Percy, it isn't my place—"

"You've been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven't you?"

His eyes were sympathetic, but sad. "You will be a great hero, child. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I'm right about the path ahead of you ..."

Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.

"All right!" Chiron shouted. "Fine!" He sighed in frustration. "The gods have their reasons, Percy. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing."

"We can't just sit back and do nothing!" Percy protested.

"We will not sit back," Chiron promised. "But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come."

"Assuming I live that long." He muttered bitterly.

"You'll have to trust me, Percy. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice... But you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision."

He started out for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Argus will watch over you. And Esmerelda?"

"Yes?" She said nervously.

Chiron's eyes turned sad. "Whenever you have time, please tell Travis Stoll that he will be appointed as Cabin eleven's new counselor. I'm afraid you'll have to tell them of Luke's... parting."

She sucked in a breath, and nodded. She rose to her feet. "I'll do it right now."

She left the Big House and went straight to her cabin. When she opened the door, she saw that everybody else was already inside.

"Essie, how's Percy?" Travis asked her when he noticed her standing at the doorway.

She didn't say anything and stepped inside, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Essie?"

Everyone was looking at her in concern now.

"Oh gods," Lyra croaked. "He's—he's not dead is he?"

"He's alive. He woke up just now." She said hollowly. "But there's something you all need to know."

"Essie, what's wrong?" Ethan asked. "And... where's Luke?"

She locked eyes with him and a dreadful feeling overcame her. A part of her that she wanted to ignore kept telling her that Ethan knew something like this would happen.

But how could he know? She internally battled with herself.

"Essie, what's going on?" Connor asked.

"Travis," she began, looking at aforementioned boy. "You're cabin eleven's counselor now. Luke... Luke has betrayed camp. He was plotting with Kronos this entire time and was the one who released the Pit Scorpion on Percy. He's long gone now. Left right after attacking him."

Travis was white in the face. "E-Essie..." He stammered weakly. "This isn't funny—"

"—Chiron has also left to alert the gods of his betrayal." She cut in softly. "Luke has tried to cause a Civil War amongst them... I don't know what's going to happen in the future."

"What are you saying?" Alabaster asked, his face sweating.

"Luke's working with Kronos now. Whatever he's planning, it's serious. So I suggest you all get ready. I think we might be facing another war."