Alice didn't tell anyone what had happened, not even Rose or Lizzy. That was between her and Percy, and she knew it.  She wasn't going to betray his trust, not now, not ever, and that was a fact.

But after that night, she never saw Percy the same. Even though he covered it up well, Alice could always see that look in his eyes. The old, sad, haunted look. Sometimes it would seem to mostly disappear momentarily, but it was always back a second later. It was like a shadow; hardly noticed, always there.

~°~

Lizzy was worried about Percy and Alice. Alice acted different around Percy. Only slightly, and if she hadn't known Alice so well herself, she probably wouldn't have noticed. But Alice seemed to act. . . gentler. Like Percy was a fragile piece of glass. But Percy was the strongest person Lizzy knew. Wasn't he?

Lizzy dismissed her doubts, but she sill watched. She wanted to help with whatever was going on, but she felt helpless to do so. It obviously wasn't any of her business, so why should she intrude?

Lizzy may be technically a few thousand years old, but she has the heart and mind of a child. She does only what is needed and right. When someone asks how she can be brave enough to do something, she just replies, "It was the right thing to do."

She just doesn't understand why people think the way they do. If something is wrong, why do they do it? Couldn't they just do the right thing? She doesn't understand why anyone would do what is wrong, so she stands up for what is right.

Lizzy had a strong sense of right and wrong. In fact, it was her fatal flaw. She couldn't stand it when things were unfair, and always did the right thing. But even if it is good to have the right kind of sense of right and wrong, she had it to such an extent that that's all she saw. Everything was white and black. Right and wrong. Left and right. Up and down. Inside and outside. Beginning and end. It stops her from seeing the whole big picture.

While there may be a left and right path to choose from, there is usually a middle one that Lizzy doesn't seem to see. It was right to stay out of other people's business. It was wrong to intrude on it. But maybe, just maybe, the right thing to do wasn't either of those choices. Maybe it was somewhere. . . in between.

~°~

Rose quickly brushed her dark red hair.

She, like Lizzy, was worried about her brother and sister.

But she, unlike Lizzy, wanted to help. And she was going to.

Rose's fatal flaw is different than Lizzy's. When Rose sets her mind to something, she won't give up. She will fight for what she believes in until the moment of her death. Her fatal flaw is her strong will.

She wanted to help her brother and sister. She was going to help them. She was willing to pay any cost to make sure that everything was okay.

~°~

Percy sighed and mentally cursed himself for letting Alice see him like that. To him, the change in how she was treating him was obvious. He muttered some Greek curses as he went to go train the campers for the next battle.

Percy knew that Lizzy and Rose had noticed the change between them. He wasn't concerned about Lizzy finding out anything, because he knew her well enough that she wouldn't go into other people's business. It was Rose he worried about.

"Oh, hi, Percy," said a voice next to him. He glanced next o him and saw Rose.

"Oh, hi," he replied. "I was just thinking about you actually."

"You were, were you?" She said, smirking slightly.

"Yeah," Percy said, ignoring her teasing manner. "I know what you're going to try and do."

"What?" She asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb," Percy said. "I know that you've noticed."

"Noticed what?" Rose asked. "You mean how different you and Alice have been acting?"

"Yes," Percy replied. "That is exactly what I mean. You're trying to get information."

Rose put her hands up and smiled in mock surrender. "You caught me. Now what is it? Please. I want to help."

"Please don't," Percy said. He felt close to breaking down, so he took the rebelliousness and promised himself that he wouldn't. "Just don't," he said.

"You and I both know that I can't do that," she said, looking down. "My fatal flaw. . ."

Percy sighed as he saw the determined glint in her eyes that matched his own.

"Let's comprise," Percy proposed reasonably. He felt a slight déjà vu as he said this. "I tell you what you want to know, and you don't talk about it ever again. But if it gets too personal, I need to be able to say no. I will tell you all that happened between Alice and I, along with everything I told her. Deal?" He held out his hand.

"Deal," Rose said. She shook his hand, sealing the deal.

"We should go to one of or cabins or something," Percy said. "I don't really want to go into the Artemis cabin, so we can just go to the Thanatos cabin."

"Okay," she agreed.

"I'll meet you there," Percy said. He ran off, and Rose walked the rest of the way to the Thanatos cabin.

~°~

Percy got there a little while after Rose did, and Alice walked in behind him.

"I told Alice everything about the deal," he said. "You can ask a question now."

"Okay," Rose said. She looked between the two of them. "I'll ask the obvious one first. Why have you two been acting different lately?"

"Well," Percy started, "I kind of lost control and broke down last night."

Rose looked confused.

"He was all miserable and when I tried to ask him what is wrong, he started crying," Alice explained.

"I was a rocking, sobbing mess," Percy corrected. He sat on the bed and leaned against the wall. He leaned his head back, which banged against the wall, but Percy barely noticed.

Rose's eye were wide, shocked.

"B-but you—" Rose started.

"You thought that I was the fearless hero that everyone says I am." Both girls were surprised by the slight bitterness in Percy's voice. "But did I get a say in how people will think of me? No. That title, 'Fearless One', is a burden. It was placed on my shoulders, and the weight of it is heavier than the sky. Believe me. I have to spend every minute of every day keeping my cool, but sooner or later, the weight of everything that happened forces me to drop it. It falls. The dam bursts. I'm not fearless—if anything, I'm the exact opposite. I spend ever moment of every minute of every hour of every day of ever month of every year of ever decade of every century and so on, worrying about the people that I love. My sisters. Thanatos. Some of the gods. I worried about people. Some of them died. Beckendrf, Zoë, Bianca, my mom, Silena,     A—" he stopped talking suddenly.

"Who?" Rose asked.

"Not telling," Percy said. "Never again."

"Never say never," Alice said gently.

"Never!" Percy yelled, opening his eyes. The two girls stared at him, shocked. "Never, never, never! Never.

"Never again. Never. Never. Never. . ." Percy trailed off. "AUTHOR WHY?!"

"Why what?" I asked innocently.

"Who are you talking to?" The two girls asked.

"The author of this story," Percy said as I ran back through the 4th wall that had been completely shattered.

"Of course." Alice said. "I forgot about her."

"What exactly just happened?" Rose asked.

(A/N END OF CHAPTER!!!!! Haha. Anyway, RebuildingThe4thWall has a job to do and none of them will remember me in the next chapter.

I UPDATED BEFORE MIDNIGHT!!!!!

Two Christmas updates!! Hope thou enjoyed them!!)