Chapter Thirteen - Our Plan Goes Off With A Boom
Posted: Wednesday 7th February  2024

The plan had been in motion for weeks. The demigods of Camp Halfblood had to destroy the Princess Andromeda before it made it to New York otherwise they would stand no chance in the battle that was just days away from taking place.

In the months that I had spent with Kronos' forces I had been feeding information back to camp as much as possible. The information I had provided had allowed Camp Halfblood to remain on a level playing field with the Titans, but I had not been able to identify the spy within the camp.

I had learnt from Kronos of another demigod camp in San Francisco named Camp Jupiter which was home to the children of the Roman iterations of the gods. I had known of the Roman versions of the gods for as long as I could remember, but I had been surprised to learn that there were more demigods out there, who without realising it were working together with the Greeks to help bring down the Titans.

I hoped that the Greeks and Romans didn't end up clashing during the war as it would only complicate matters as it would be inevitable that the two camps wouldn't get on easily.

The plan was simple. Percy Jackson and a son of Hephestus named Charles Beckendorf would sneak aboard the ship, set explosives and then sneak off again before blowing the ship into oblivion. My role in the plan was to do my best to shroud them from detection.

I would be able to shroud them in darkness to an extent which would obscure their progress unless the monsters and demigods on board cottoned on to the fact that they were there.

I greeted the two Halfblood when they landed and took my position on the roof of the boat when they made their way inside to head down to the engine room. I cleared my mind and summoned the night, I sought them out and shrouded them amidst the darkness.

I was so focused that the only thing that could possibly have ripped me out of my focus was the plan going completely wrong and the ship blowing up underneath me.

As I was flung through the air and hit by flying shrapnel from the torn apart boat I reminisced on my sad life and how I hadn't achieved anything other than helping bring back Kronos from Tartarus, which wasn't really a gold star achievement.

I wondered what the judges of the underworld would think of my life. Had I done enough bad to warrant the field of punishment? I wasn't sure.

The world seemed to go in slow motion around me and I hung suspended in the air, twisting and being struck by bits of the boat as I made an arch towards the cold sea below.

Before I could hit the water and die I remembered that I had one power that I used as little as possible. I hadn't used it since the first time I escaped from the ship, and I almost hit myself as I twisted myself in mid air and absorbed myself into the shadows cast by some of the shrapnel of the boat.

I landed on white sand and fell to my knees then face planted in the sand. I felt as though my entire body was on fire with pain, I could feel wounds all over my body bleeding, and shadow travelling had sapped me of all of my strength.

Whilst I had escaped death from drowning, now I was going to bleed out on the sand, all alone. Some mortals would come across my body in a few days and wonder how a teenager had ended up in such a state on a random beach. Maybe I'd make it on the news or even one of those unsolved mystery podcasts that the Aphrodite campers always chatted about.

I was lamenting my own death when I felt hands on me and I was rolled over onto my back. Upon seeing the face of the person who had found me I would have cried if I had the energy to do so. Apollo's face was a welcome sight for my eyes, which were heavy with water as the pain of my wounds was all consuming.

It had been almost a year since he had pushed me out of the chariot a I hadn't heard anything from him since the dream I had during my first night at camp. What he was doing on the beach was a mystery to me.

"Ri!" Apollo's voice was laced with concern as he stared at me and assessed my injuries. He cursed under his breath and spread his hands out over me.

My body felt warm and then suddenly I felt completely fine, if a little tired. Somewhat confused, I pushed myself up on my elbows.

Apollo took my chin in his hand and turned my face from side to side as if he were inspecting me.

"Are you okay?" He demanded.

"Uh," I said smartly, "yeah I think so- where did you come from?"

I took in his appearance. He was in full battle armour, and had some traces of injuries as some golden ichor was visible on his face. I knew that Typhon had escaped his prison and I knew that the gods had been fighting him in an attempt to stop his progress towards Olympus, and I knew that the gods were loosing, but seeing Apollo with injuries and dirty from a battle bought all of those facts home to me in a way that hearing about it hadn't.

"Fighting Typhon," Apollo said, "It's all; hands on deck."

"You're losing," I said. "But I meant why- how are you here?"

Apollo's eyes glistened slightly, "I may or may not have been keeping tabs on you, making sure you're safe."

My face felt warm and I felt my heart quicken. I reached out for him and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. Apollo stiffened in surprise and blinked at me when I pulled away.

"Thank you for not letting me bleed out on the beach," I said, my voice coming off a lot calmer than I felt. Inside my heart was doing backflips.

He grinned at me and winked, "anytime. You're not far from camp, do you think you can make it back?"

"I'm fine," I promised.

"I need to get back. I'll see you soon, if we're not all dead in a few days." Apollo said.

"Don't die please," I said.

"I'll do my best," Apollo promised. He flashed me a dazzling grin, "Look away."

I averted my eyes as he began to glow. When the glow subsided I looked up to see that he was gone.

It was then, standing alone on a random beach, surrounded by sand stained with my blood that I realised something. Like so many mortals before me, I was in love with the stupid sun god.