Sorry I haven't updated in a while- university is making sure my time is well-occupied by them.  Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive."
~Sissela Bok
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Chapter 15: We Have a Traitor

Luke 

The rest of his first year at college went without any problems, making Luke believe something horrible or just plain big was about to happen because that's how life worked.  He, Silena, and Derek were currently walking up Half-Blood Hill in order to start their summer and help train before the big war, whenever that would be.  They were first greeted by Thera who seemed to be enjoying camp a lot more now since she'd made friends with other campers which made Luke happy to see.  She was young, enthusiastic, and caring.  She didn't deserve to be unhappy due to the fact people were scared of her and her parentage.  She walked with them to their cabins and waited for them to unpack their stuff, passing time by asking how their school year went.  Luke told her everything with the exception of finding out that Bryn was Penn.  If Bryn was dead, then it made no difference now because Penn was dead too.

"Any news on Peleus?" Luke queried.

"None that I know of.  I mean, how do you lose a dragon?  Peleus was massive."

He laughed. "That's what I said when I found out.  Come on, it's almost time for dinner." The two demigods met up with Silena and Derek at the dining pavilion.  Chiron came over and greeted them, asked if they'd gotten into any more trouble, and proceeded to tell them there was a meeting after dinner for cabin leaders.  Thera was joining in since she was the only child for Eris, therefore she was automatically cabin leader.

Luke chowed down on his meal which was barbecue tonight.  It was absolutely delicious.  Afterwards, some satyrs led the campers to the campfire while Chiron, Dionysus, and the cabin leaders headed to the Big House.  Everyone took a seat and the centaur began the talk.

"I've called all of you here to discuss the threat of Hannah and her followers.  We've sent in Kira Wallace as a spy to gather information.  So far they've been unsuccessful in finding out what exactly her plans are.  She keeps those under lock and key with only her top advisors.  By the looks of it, she only has two.  One is-"

"Ryan London.  We've had the pleasure of meeting him a few times," Silena grumbled.

"Yes.  Ambitious, strong, and cocky.  It's no wonder why Hannah made him a general.  The second one is more of a mystery.  Only Hannah ever sees this person.  We do not even know if it's a boy or a girl.  Maybe she is a strategist.  Whoever it is, they are under strict security.  Kira has been unable to get close enough to them to find out who it is."

"I say we bring the fight to Hannah.  She's already attacked our borders more than once.  She's taken our dragon.  We need to show her we're a formidable power," Nicole Rodriguez argued.  She was the daughter of Clarisse La Rue and Chris Rodriguez, named after Silena Nicole Beauregard.  She'd taken on most of her mother's traits although she looked more like her father.

"What do you suggest we do?  It's not like we can just waltz up onto whatever cruise ship she's on or blow it up like when Percy and Beckendorf did when they were fighting Kronos," Beau pointed out.  He was the leader of the Aphrodite cabin and turned out to be more involved in the workings of camp and the training than his predecessors.

"We'd have to sneak on.  I'll volunteer to do it," Luke offered.

"I'll join.  The sea is our territory, Hannah or no Hannah," Silena joined in.

"Well I'm certainly not letting my friends have all the fun.  Count me in," Derek said.  Chiron hesitated before allowing the three demigods to do so.  He was about to continue the conversation when an Iris message appeared in the center of the table, hovering so the person could see all around.  It was Cora, and she looked disturbed.

"Luke, Silena, Derek, who are all these people with you?" Cora asked immediately, staring suspiciously at Nicole and Thera who flanked the outsides of the three demigods.

"We're at a cabin leaders' meeting.  Anything you need to say, you can say in front of them," Luke assured.

"Very well.  For those of you who do not know me, I am Cora Valdez, daughter of Leo and Calypso Valdez.  I'm afraid I come bearing bad news and, well, I'm not sure what to call the second part.  Let's start with the bad news.  We've lost three demigods to Hannah's army.  Silena, Derek, Luke, do you remember Vanessa, Prerana, and Ana?"

"Yes, why?  You're not telling me they left..."

"I am.  And then two mystery girls paid us a visit.  They wore hoods and would look up to allow us to see their faces but both had brown hair.  One had light brown hair, the other dark brown.  It was the latter who did most of the talking.  She spoke very peculiar.  I can't place my finger on what it was though."

"Did they just walk into camp?" Silena asked.

"No, they flew in on pegasi.  And this is the news where I'm not sure if it's good or bad because I don't trust their motives considering I don't know if they work for Hannah or if they really do want us to have the best chance at winning.  They warned us that our best chance to beat Hannah was to join forces with the Greeks.  That's what I've been saying this entire time to the rest of the campers, but now that two strangers are condoning we do just that, it makes the whole thing look suspicious.  Antony is going to use that to his advantage.  He doesn't want to fight.  He wants us to prepare to go into hiding until everything passes over and I can't get it through his thick head that there won't be anything we can do if Hannah comes after us and that it's better to fight with the Greeks and put up one hell of a fight if it's going to be our last."

"What reasoning did they give you about why they were telling you that?" Derek queried.

"They said that if we wanted to have even a slight chance of winning, then we should join the Greeks.  Antony is going to propose we shouldn't work with you for the sheer fact that the two strangers wants us to.  I'm good at telling when people are lying, and it seemed like the girls were being honest, but I don't know what to do.  I decided to seek council from you."

Chiron rubbed his chin. "It certainly is suspicious that they've come to you about this.  It makes you question their motives, if they really want you to have a good chance at winning or if there's an ulterior motive behind the whole thing.  Your mother was always good at detecting lies, so I'm going to assume you've inherited that from her.  If you believe they were telling the truth, I would go with your gut instinct.  I'm not just saying this because I think it's a good idea for the Greeks to fight with the Romans either.  As the battle comes closer, we will coordinate our forces and our attacks to get the best results possible.  I'm very-"

Chiron was interrupted my another Iris message coming into view.  Everyone stared at the girl with light brown hair and startled brown eyes; Luke recognized her as Hallie Argent.  Next to him, Thera shifted in her seat.

"That's her.  That's one of the girls that came to Camp Jupiter!" Cora declared, standing up.

"Cora Valdez.  Praetor of New Rome.  Pleasure.  I do hope you have considered what I and my comrade said," Hallie said.

"Who are you?" Chiron demanded.

"Never mind who I am.  I reached the wrong person.  Good night." Hallie slashed her hand through the message and disappeared.  Everyone remained silent for a good minute before Derek said, "That was no mistake she called here.  She was calling someone in this room.  Question is: who?"

"You seemed to recognize her Luke.  Who was she?" Nicole questioned.

"Her name is Hallie Argent.  She's a daughter of Hades.  I don't know much else.  I thought she was working for Hannah but she's saved my life and Derek's and Silena's on multiple occasions.  I don't know what side she's on to be honest," he confessed.

"I'm prone to fighting alongside you but if a girl whose loyalties are unknown, I'm not sure if she's trustworthy.  I'll think about this some more and let you know of my decision.  Good night." Cora ended the message.

"Do you think one of us is a spy in here?" The Nike cabin leader, Juliet, asked.

"That's the only thing that makes sense.  But how are we going to find out?" Beau remarked.

"We need a Charmspeaker.  Too bad Bryn isn't here to do that," Nicole mumbled. "Wait!  What about Piper Grace?  Chiron, surely you have a way to contact her?  She is probably the best Charmspeaker around."

"That's a brilliant idea Miss Rodriguez.  Considering we have no rainbow to do an Iris-message, I'll use the landline and put her on speaker phone.  Hang on," Chiron said.  The demigods waited impatiently while the phone rang.  Quietly, Thera asked, "I know I'm supposed to stay, but I really, really need the bathroom.  May I please be excused for a moment?"

"Go ahead Thera.  But come right back," Chiron ordered.  The little girl nodded and left the room.

Piper came on a few seconds later, greeting the centaur cheerfully.  He replied but said, "I'm afraid the reason I'm calling you is anything but happy."

"Oh dear.  I figured there was something wrong.  How may I help?"

"The cabin leaders, Dionysus, and I are all in the Big House in a meeting.  We received a strange call from a girl named Hallie Argent which has led us to believe that there is a spy amongst us.  We need your Charmspeak to figure out who it is."

"I've never done this over the phone but I'll try.  Can you give me a list of names of everyone in there?  I think it'll be more effective if I ask each individual rather than as a group," Piper said.  Chiron said a name, and she asked, "Are you the spy Hallie was trying to contact?"

One by one, she went around the room.  When it was Luke's turn, he shivered at the power of the Charmspeak but his answer was no.  It was the truth.  When everyone had given the same answer of 'no', Piper remarked, "Maybe there isn't a spy in the group."

"Wait, where's Thera?  She should've been back by now," Derek said suddenly.  Luke swore colorfully as he got up.  She was the spy.  It explained why she had shifted in her seat when Hallie called.  It explained why she left right before Piper came onto the phone.  She was trying to escape, and she knew she'd be able to because who would think a nine year old girl was a spy?  Silena and Derek were hot on Luke's heels with the rest of the cabin leaders following them.  The first place Luke checked was Thera's cabin but she wasn't there.  She could've gone anywhere.  She could've gone in the woods, she could've gone to the beach, she could've gone to Half-Blood Hill... but Luke's gut told him she'd gone to the sea.  If Thera knew she'd been found out, then she'd contact Hallie to tell her the mission had been compromised.

His intuition paid off.  Thera was trying to send an Iris-message, violently throwing a drachma into the sea.  Nothing was happening though.  When she saw the cabin leaders coming onto the beach, she bolted.  Evan, the head of the Apollo cabin, was the one who caught her.  She screamed and fought against him but he didn't let go.

"Thera, easy, easy.  Stop screaming," Luke said gently, placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Let me go!  Just let me go!" she cried.

"We're not going to hurt you for being a spy.  We just want to know who you're spying for and all that you've told them," Derek added kindly.

"I'm not going to say a word.  Nothing.  My leader's been good to me.  I'm not going to betray her," Thera declared firmly.

Chiron sighed. "Bring her back to the Big House.  We'll put her in the cell with twenty-four-seven protection.  I hate treating a nine-year-old as a prisoner of war but she's still a spy.  Come along."

Luke held out his hand for Thera to take, promising her she'd be well taken care of if she cooperated with them and didn't try to run away.  Hesitantly, the girl agreed, allowing him to lead her to the Big House where she officially became a prisoner of war.
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Did any of y'all see that coming?  I hope not.  Please review :)