~ ☼ ~

We didn't tell the girls. I didn't really want any embarrassment of them squealing or teasing us to ruin the good mood I was in, and I think Lucas felt the same way. So we just stole glances at each other, secretly giddy, as we headed towards Chicago.

"So," said Aria, as we reached the city limits. "We're going to the Cloud Gate, right?"

"The Bean," corrected Kiera.

"The proper name is Cloud Gate."

"AJ's proper name is Artemis... um, Artemis John, or something, but we don't call her that."

I laughed out loud. "Artemis John?"

Kiera shrugged. "I don't know! I don't know any J girl names."

"Jamie," suggested Aria, genuinely incredulous.

"Jackie?" added Lucas.

"Those are literally boy names with -ie added," grumbled Kiera.

"It's Julia," I said with an eye roll. "Can somebody tell me where to go?"

Aria had the map, which she'd taken from the real glove box. She looked up out the window, then back down at the map. Then she said, "Um, turn left up here."

So that's what I did. Through a few twists and turns, we made it into downtown Chicago. It was cool being in yet another city besides New York. Chicago did not look like New York, not really - it had a river snaking through it, for one, and some of the architecture was different. That just made it even more of an adventure.

Plus, like I'd pointed out - Fall Out Boy was from here. I'd tried to restrain my excitement for most of the quest so I didn't get my hopes up, in case we died along the way, but now that we were here, I was super excited. I was driving on the same streets they'd driven on to get to their first gigs!! I was walking on the same litter and gum-strewn sidewalks they had gotten drunk on!! Ahhh!

"Okay," said Aria. "Up here is parking."

As I pulled into the parking lot - thankful it wasn't a garage where I'd have to show my face to a booth to get in - it dawned on me that with this, the quest really was ending. Unless the sword wasn't there - and if the sword wasn't there, we really were screwed.

There was some part of me, anyway, that wanted it to not be there. If only just to get another day.

I shoved that part of me away the same way I told the little voice in my head to shut up no matter what it said. This was for Camp, at the end of the day, and besides... after Lucas and I's kiss, I wanted to believe we wouldn't be the Breakfast Club, after all.

I pulled into a parking space. "Here we are."

For a second, I just let myself enjoy the moment. My friends and I in a new city, cool weapons and, hopefully, a won war ahead. Then I said, "Let's go get the sword."

We all got out of the car, each of us peppy in our own way. Well, once again, except for Lucas. I didn't know what exactly to say to him (do I just make a joke? Do I give him therapy? Do I wrap him in a hug and scare him off forever?). So I just said, "You okay?"

He lifted his eyes to me. "I'm okay."

Then I realized he'd taken the knife.

"Ah," I said. "The knife."

He sucked in a breath; he looked even more nervous. "Yes. The knife."

He showed it to me, and I inspected it again. The late afternoon light glinted off of it, like Apollo was trying to illuminate it. But that message still freaked me out. Lucas kept glancing at it too.

He looked up, and I realized we'd reached the edge of Millennium Park. There, in the distance, I could just barely see the silvery edge of the Bean. As we approached it, though, I realized it wasn't as big as I thought it'd be, which was a little disappointing.

For those who don't know (and if this is the case, you are an uneducated swine and obviously need to quickly educate yourself on pointless American tourist attractions), the Bean is literally that. 

A giant. Bean. 

Completely reflective like a mirror, you can just barely fit walking underneath it. It's 33 feet high. Which means nothing to me, of course. You could've told me that was as tall as skyscraper, and if I was distracted enough, I would've believed you.

But I wasn't distracted now; I saw just how small it was. A crowd was gathered around and under it, making me worry doubly. I can't explain it, but the fact that it was so small scared me because it implied that there was less room for our sword to be hidden in. But, also, the fact that it was crowded scared me because it implied we might not be able to find the sword if it is there.

Contradictory, I know. We love anxiety!

"Wait," said Lucas. "Maybe we should... maybe we should come up with a plan."

He stopped, and we all stopped with him.

"I think we'll be fine," said Aria.

"Actually," said Kiera. "I agree with Lucas."

Aria and I gave her equally confused looks, and she quickly added, "Marginally!"

"There's a lot of people up there," said Lucas. "You know, if we just rush in... we might not be able to find it."

"It's a magical object," I said dryly. "I think we'll be able to find it easily."

(Yeah. Contradictory. My point exactly.)

"I think you're just nervous," said Aria, poking Kiera jokingly, "That you won't find it, and then your little fox will have been wrong."

"No!" Said Kiera. "I'm not nervous at all."

"Then I'm heading right in and finding it."

With that, Aria turned and strode over to the Bean. Kiera quickly followed, and I went to do the same, until Lucas grabbed my hand.

"Wa- wait."

I stopped, my anxiety suddenly pooling around something else.

"What is it?" I asked him, searching his gray eyes for an answer.

"I just want you to know, AJ," he said. "If... if we don't find it... I meant what I said, okay? None of it was a lie. You're freaking cool and should keep doing crazy things. Like you did with... well, with everyone."

I was still.

"Lucas," I said slowly. "What's wrong? Is there a monster nearby, or what?"

He stared at me. Then he shook his head.

"No," he said. "Sorry. Just... late quest jitters. Let's go."

I was stuck, not knowing whether to push him or to go find Aria. But I didn't want to miss the big moment, or potentially strand them should they need defending, so I chose the second. I gave him a hopefully reassuring smile and let go of his hand, running up to the Bean.

The thing was huge once you got up to it, but still easy to cover. I came around a rounded corner as Aria did, Kiera behind her and Lucas behind me. We waved, then I noticed a guy sitting under a silvery overhang. He was homeless, with a box beside him and his legs in a sleeping bag. This was surprising to me, that Chicago wouldn't move a homeless person from underneath the bean.

Which meant, to me... that he wasn't a homeless person at all.

I ran up to him quickly. "Hi."

He looked up from what he was doing. I didn't see it from afar, but...

He was polishing a sword.

My breath caught in my throat.

There it was - the sword of Peleus. I assumed that meant this was Peleus. While he looked like any ragged, bearded homeless white guy in his mid 30s, the sword shone with all its millennia of glory. I had no idea who Peleus was, or what exactly the deal was with his sword, but it was definitely a great one - with a jewel encrusted pommel and a long, broad blade.

"Hi." He replied. He looked me up and down, then said, "Can I help you?"

Now I was nervous, but I didn't have any other choice. Everyone was watching me.

"Are you Peleus?"

Peleus lifted his sword, polishing the very tip. "I am. What's it to you?"

I glanced at Kiera, since this was technically her quest. She stared back at me; then she stepped forward and said, "Um... I'm Kiera Bane. I'm an unclaimed demigod. These are my friends - Aria Nalau'i, unclaimed; AJ Hood, daughter of Apollo; and Lucas Burgess, son of Athena."

"I see," said Peleus, even though he didn't look at her.

"We've heard of you," she continued. "We've heard... that you are the father of Achilles, and therefore your sword is mighty."

I gasped. I didn't realize that.

"We've been prophecized," Kiera added. "To... um, to ask if we can have it. There's going to be a war between the Gods and their children and the Titans. And we really need it if our side is going to win."

Peleus stared at her for a long, cool moment. I hated it, feeling more anxious then ever. Then he set down his sword, and said, "Is that so."

Kiera nodded eagerly, and Lucas added, "It's a very great sword."

"That is is," said Peleus. "I never did reach the stature of my son, but- I fought with Heracles, and I fought with Jason. This sword has won many battles."

"It has," agreed Lucas.

"But," finished the old hero, "It is only for the worthy."

I scowled.

I threw up my hands. "We've traveled all the way here from New York, by foot, hitchhiking, and hippalectryon. What else do we have to do to prove we're worthy?"

"It's not you," said Peleus to me. He slid his eyes to Lucas and Kiera. "It's them."

I looked at Lucas and Kiera, confused. And to my surprise, they didn't equal that confusion. They both looked crestfallen, like they'd seen that coming.

"What?" I asked. "I don't .... understand."

I watched, my heart frozen in my chest, as Peleus set down his sword.

His eyes slid slowly to Kiera.

"What side is it, exactly, child, that you want to win?"

And then I realized.

Suddenly everything.

Everything.

Everything clicked into place.

With a single held breath, I turned slowly to face my friends. Aria looked as shocked as I did. But Lucas and Kiera... that was why they'd been nervous. They were part of the Titan Army.

This was never for Camp Half-Blood at all.

A pang of deep, deep betrayal hit deep in my heart. What Lucas had told me, about how Luke manipulated kids to join him, rang in my head like a bell. He could've told me then; I felt bad for him, but I felt worse for myself, now. I would've helped him out. But pride is a tricky thing, isn't it?

"Kiera..." said Aria, slowly, with creeping horror. "What is he saying."

Lucas looked at me. And what he'd said - about none of it being a lie - rang in my head, too.

"I never meant to hurt you," he said to me, quietly.

Then Kiera exploded.

"I have never, ever," she shouted at Aria, "Had anybody but you. And you know that. And you have always, always been there for me. And yet, when you think I'm asleep, when you think I'm not looking, I know what you're doing. You're planning to leave me."

There were tears in Aria's eyes. She was so angry she yelled back, "I don't have an obligation to you, Kiera. You're my friend, not my sister."

"You know damn well I never saw you as a sister!"

Before they could begin to fight, suddenly, there was a great eruption from the nearby tree line. I don't know what the mortals had seen, police telling them to disperse or what, but they were already gone. And an army was coming towards us.

I felt my heart drop to my throat.

I didn't know what they were. They looked like women, in a variety of fashionable styles, but on each one, one leg was metal and one leg was horse-like.

"Empousae," Lucas whispered.

I whipped on him, and he said, quickly, "I didn't know- AJ, I-"

"Lucas Burgess," said one, in the middle, as she approached us. "And Kiera Bane. We told you, if you failed to retrieve the blade, we'd have to come in ourselves."

"You did not," yelled Lucas.

"Luke gave you a chance to prove yourself, but-" the empousa shrugged. "Here we are."

She reached for something, some weapon or a martial art move or something dangerous, but then, suddenly, we were interrupted once again. And this time, it was enough to make my heart come up just enough.

Running from the opposite direction, wielding a knife and a bow, were my siblings.

Alec and Riley.

In their Camp Half-Blood shirts, they looked like they represented all that was holy. At the sight of me, their fierceness dropped, and Alec nearly fell to his knees.

"AJ!" He exclaimed. "Oh my gods."

Despite it all, I ran to him. Because it took away from everything what was going on; for one sunlit second, I was home again, as he hugged me back and Riley joined in. Then we all turned, the betrayal of Lucas and Kiera still stinging.

"Well," said the main empousa. "Looks like we'll have a true fight, after all."

Then all Hades broke loose.

It was a blur. I barely had a chance to catch my breath as the fighting began. Immediately, I had an empousa at my side; I had to dodge her clawed hands and hair, which promptly caught on fire - at this point, whatever - in order to slash my way through her. Alec was doing his best to jab with the dagger, but since he didn't have a lot of fighting experience he had to do a lot of running, too. I also saw Riley shooting her bow, the one Cassie had given her, with the infinite arrows she'd gotten from Demeter, and it shot another empousa in the heart.

It made me remember.

"Riley!" I exclaimed. "Do you have another weapon?"

"I have a knife!"

"Give me the bow!"

She didn't ask questions - instead, she immediately gave me the bow. I ran through the throng, past even Peleus wielding his sword, to find Aria. But when I found her, to my surprise, I found Kiera, too - fighting off, with those double knives, an empousa.

"Aria!" I shouted. I threw her the bow and the arrow; she caught them and immediately got into beast mode. She was obviously meant to be a hunter. It broke my heart.

Kiera noticed it too. She was distracted for a moment, and so was I, and in the process-

A empousa stabbed her, with one long claw, right through the chest.

The world seemed to freeze. I heard Aria scream at the top of her lungs. I think I felt myself swinging; I saw the empousa's body turn to dust. But I also saw Kiera's poor, horribly human body, crumple to the ground.

I hardly had the chance to look at her when I saw Aria, still screaming, running straight up to her best friend. She took her in her arms. She didn't realize, in her grief, that she was leaving herself open, too. I didn't, either. I just took a step back, then another. Then I bumped into someone.

It was Lucas.

I turned to see him in as much shock as me. There were tears streaming down his face.

Then he caught my eyes, and for a brief, blissful, horrible moment, it was just sunshine and wisdom again.

"Don't ever stop being you, AJ," He said. "Don't stop making music. Don't stop being awesome."

I didn't get the chance to say anything in response, because then he was gone.

He ran past me, jumping in front of Aria with Tityos' dagger swinging. It was just enough to protect her from the empousa that had snuck up on her.

It was not enough to save him.

I didn't see the rest of the battle.

If I fought more, or if it was all Peleus and his magical sword, I can't tell you. All I remember was falling to my knees, right beside Aria. Beside Kiera, who'd never been claimed. Beside Lucas, who'd chosen us in the end.

Not Camp Half-Blood, but us.

~ ☼ ~

A/N: idk what to say here but T_T