"Now, just throw in the drachma and say, "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." Then give your mother's name. The Iris message will find her." Chiron explained as he sat in his wheelchair by the small pool in his room. A fountain within the pool kept a constant mist, and the sun outside reflected light at the perfect angle to allow for a small rainbow to waver in the air.

I flicked the drachma into the pool. "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." I stated, before taking a deep breath. "Michelle Darwin, daughter of Demeter."

The rainbow flickered momentarily in the mist, before my mother's face appeared. There was a warm smile on her face, the corners of her eyes wrinkling with glee.

"Affinity, it's so good to hear from you. I'm sorry I didn't let you know what was going on before leaving- you were sleeping when I came in and I didn't want to wake you." She explained.

"Is that Affinity on the message?" I heard my dad say in the background.

"Yes, dear!" My mom called, before turning back to me.

I couldn't help but smile. It was so relieving to hear their voices and see my mom's face. "It's no big deal, mom. But I think I'm ready to come home, too. I can't wait to see the new house."

"Oh, Affinity, it's beautiful. Just wait 'til you see the garden! It's even bigger than the one back in Marquette!" She gushed, practically bouncing in the mist. "Should dad and I come and get you, or is Chiron taking care of the transport?"

"We'll have Argus take care of getting Affinity home," Chiron stated next me, "as a precaution."

"Oh, mom! Do we have any space for a gryphon at the new house?" I asked, clasping my hands together.

"Did she just say a gryphon?" I heard my dad demand.

"She did." My mom's words were hesitant now. "Onyx can't stay at camp?"

"Eh- he's really a one-person kind of gryphon. I don't think he'd really let anyone else take care of him like he lets me." I explained.

"Well... Chiron?" My mother's eyes flinted to Chiron sitting beside me. The respect he carried must be emorous for older demigods to still defer to him years after leaving camp.

"The Mist will hide him. It should be fine as long as you have a place for him." Chiron stated.

"Michelle." My dad did not sound happy in the back.

"Relax, Drake. We'll figure something out. Affinity has had a long few weeks. We can let her keep Onyx." My mom replied in a calm voice.

I couldn't help but smile from ear-to-ear. "Thank you, mama."

"You're welcome, baby." She smiled. "I can't wait to squeeze you. Don't take too long."

"I'll leave straight away." I promised. With that, the image of my mom dissipated.

I turned to Chiron, who clasped his hands together as he smiled. "I'm so glad we can finally get you home, Affinity."

I let out a sigh of contentment. "You and me both."

With that, Chiron did his part by flagging down Argus as soon as he returned from taking Quinn's crew to the city limit and preparing the van for my travels, complete with hooking up a horse trailer. I put my stuff in the van, got Onyx out of the stables, and lured him into the trailer. There were no goodbyes to be had; Nico was off doing who knows what, Sol and I weren't speaking, and my only other friend tried to kill me back in California.

"Well, Affinity, I hope we'll be seeing you again once camp officially opens in the summer." Chiron stated as I climbed up into the van.

"Well, I wouldn't miss getting the first bead on my necklace." I smiled. "Bye, Chiron. Thanks for everything."

"It was a pleasure." He grinned and nodded his head.

I closed the door and sat down in the van, buckling my seat belt and squirming excitedly in my seat. I glanced up at the driver's seat, catching a glimpse of Argus's face in the rear view mirror as he started the van. I watched in silent fascination as his many eyes shifted all around as he began to the entrance of Camp Half-Blood. I imagined that the sheer amount of eyes he had to take in his surroundings eliminated the need to turn and check his blind spot.

I sat back, a wave of fatigue overcoming me as I watched the forest pass by from the comfort of my seat. Argus would need the address eventually, but a small nap as they made their way through the city traffic wouldn't hurt a soul.

~~~~

"Affinity."

My eyes snapped open and instantly, my heart dropped. I was laying with my back down, facing was seemed to be the sky, though I was viewing it through warm, salty water. I panicked, accidentally sucking in as I scrambled, pushing myself to swim to the surface. But no water entered my lungs, and though I gasped for air once I broke the surface, my lungs weren't screaming for oxygen.

"Affinity."

I turned, eyes wide, to the figure next to me. Despite floating in the water beside me, this woman was completely dry. I recognized her as the woman from my nightmare. She stared at me with silver-yellow eyes, which looked striking against her olive toned, tanned skin.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice shaking.

She didn't answer, only lifting her arm, completely dry, out of the water and pointing towards something in the distance. I followed the direction of her finger to where a long pier stood above the sea, jutting out what seemed like at least a mile from the sandy shore in the distance. Tied to one of the metal posts of the pier, gravity attempting to pull her down, was a tall teenage girl with shoulder length, spiky black hair topped with a silver circlet on her head. She glared into the sea with stormy blue eyes that seemed to swirl like the dark clouds above her. Her clothing from the waist down was soaked and dripping, as wave after wave rose up and slapped against her lower body.

Walking down the pier was a lone figure, and once they came closer, my jaw clenched as I recognized those messy pigtail braids. Mico had no visible weapons as they approached, only holding a cup of water in their hands as they reached the end of the dock.

"What do you want?" The girl tied onto the dock growled.

"It's more like what do you want." Mico stated, before bending down and bringing the cup of water to the prisoner's lips. When the girl turned her head, Mico scoffed. "Stop acting so noble, Thalia. Unless you want to die while you wait to be rescued, I suggest you drink."

"So the goal isn't killing me?" Thalia asked in a gruff voice.

"If it were, you wouldn't be here." Mico muttered.

"No offense, but you don't look like someone who could kill me, even if Zeus is your dad." Thalia stated. "And you want to know how I know that? That you're my half sibling? It's not some type of demigod clairvoyance. It's because you're reckless and impulsive, like I used to be. Anybody with half a brain wouldn't be stupid enough to target me. I promise you I have an armada of allies tracking you down as we speak."

"Wasn't my decision." Mico stated, and with a sharp smack, another large wave hit Thalia full force. The wave seemed to suck Thalia's strength from her body. "The nereides in these waves are taking your very soul and using that energy to reconstruct Ouranos as we speak."

It took Thalia a moment to catch her breath. "Why... would the Protogenos of the sky... have any dictation over the sea?"

"Like you, Ouranos has powerful allies. He's counting on your Hunters and demigod friends to come and rescue you. Keeping Percy Jackson missing is essential to keeping the Seven from interfering with Gaea's wishes. And even if he does emerge eventually, thinning out Camp Half-Blood and the Hunters is bound to prove useful in the future."

Thalia glared. "Is Ouranos behind Percy's disappearance?"

"No." Mico stated simply. "We have no idea who took him. But we certainly don't want him found."

As this exchange occurred, a cold hand clasped on my shoulder. I looked over to the woman next to me, who had now come much closer.

"Cancún." She stated, before grabbing my head and pushing me under the water.

The whiplash of going from one scene from another left me in a state of shock for far too long. One moment, I'm floating in the pier, watching Thalia Grace and Mico Becerra have a conversation, when this random water lady says Cancún and then shoves my head under. My eyes snap open to the loud sound of glass shattering in my ear. I lurched to the side, screaming, as the van began to swerve on the road.

I tried to get some sort of bearings, but before I could even think, I was hit hard in my side. The force of the hit jerked my body so hard that it snapped the seat belt buckle out of the seat itself and then sent me flying into the opposite door. I gasped, feeling my lungs collapse on themselves as the air rushed out. I was so stunned, my body couldn't even coordinate the chest movements needed to breath. My mind and body felt numb as I watched a creature- a sopping wet goat-man, let out a gargling bleet as it clawed its way towards me.

A roar ripped through the air outside, and suddenly the goat creature was yanked out of the car through the shattered window. I could see the creature burst into golden dust as Onyx ripped into it, teeth bared and fur and feathers raised.

I was so dizzy. It felt like the world was spinning, my ear was ringing, and I couldn't breath. Onyx turned his attention instantly to another assailant; there must be multiple goat creatures. I tried to get up and help. I could see my bow and arrows strewn across the trunk. My body was protesting. Each breath required maximum effort as I fought for each movement; first propping myself up, then lowering the seat so I could shakily crawl into the back of the van. My hands were uncoordinated as I gathered the arrows. Then, suddenly the trunk swung open, I turned to see Argus standing there. He had some tears in his clothes and dirt on his skin. Some of his eyes were bruised and bloodshot. He was actually speaking. At least, I thought he was talking. I could see his mouth moving, the eyeball on his tongue peering out periodically when his lips and teeth allowed, but I heard nothing but ringing.

I shook my head. "I can't hear you." I stated. I could hear my own voice, however muffled it was. That was good. Without another word, Argus reached in and scooped me out of the trunk. I clutched my bow and arrow sheath to my chest as he ran to the side of the road and set me in the snow. His mouth moved again and I could hear sound, but I couldn't make out any words.

I watched as he and Onyx fought the goat creatures. There were several of them, and I could now see that they had the head of a goat, a human chest, arms, and hands, and the lower half of a fish.

We were on a road that was on a cliff sitting above the ocean. I watched as goat after goat pulled themselves up from the cliffside and over the railing, bleets violently ripping out of their throats as they bared their teeth. They would flop onto the pavement and immediately slink across the road towards me. Onyx and Argus were doing well in fighting them off, but each one was easily replaced with another one straight from the water.

I could hear the faint sound of honking. Only then did I take in the fact that this battle was taking place in the middle of a highway. On both sides of the road, cars and trucks of all sizes were beginning to pile up and people were getting out and trying to help with whatever scene the Mist was creating in their heads. That wasn't good.

"AFFINITY!" My head slowly turned to see Argus looking at me. The shouting was muffled, but I was grateful my hearing was starting to come back. He was waving frantically. Waving me away. He was telling me to go.

My mind was so frazzled and my body felt so broken, I'm ashamed to say I didn't argue. I got up and turned, climbing clumsily over the railing that kept the highway separated from the forest and stumbled into the trees, letting my legs carry me as far as they could until they collapsed.