{ LANDON }

Selfish beings. That's what the gods were.

That's all he had to say about them. The gods only reached out to demigods and heroes when there was something that they needed from them. Some place to go for them, to do their dirty work you could say.

They only cared about themselves and that was clear, unless you were a special demigod, you were nothing to them. Absolutely nothing. You don't matter unless you could be of use. So if you weren't of use, you weren't acknowledged, you remained unclaimed and forgotten in the crowded and cold space of Cabin Eleven at Camp Half-Blood.

But he wasn't at Camp Half-Blood anymore, he was back in his hell, also known as Camp Jupiter.

Countless nights he had prayed, begged, that he should never have to return, never once have to show his face here again. He prayed that they all would forget about him and never come look for him. But like he said, the gods only cared about themselves.

He'd been dragged back here like a damned soul being taken to a place of eternal torture and despair. He was forever bound to suffer at the hands of the gods and he hated it.

But he was just another boy of the masses. Stuck in the same cycle as the others were.

Reyna's cold, piercing black eyes watched him as he stopped in front of her. "You're late."

"I know."

"You missed training," She told him. "And you were supposed to go with Frank and Hazel to border patrol."

"Was I? Must've slipped my mind." He shrugged a shoulder, not even bothering to hide the lack of interest in his voice.

The son of Hermes found his lips forming into a smile at the annoyed glare the daughter of Bellona was shooting at him. He found it oddly entertaining to annoy Reyna and the others.

She was the only one who wanted him to try and fit in, to quietly pass the time at camp. To not cause any problems or things which would attract attention from unwanted guests. But following the rules had never been his strong suit.

A group of legionnaires ran past, weapons strapped to their backs, their movements synchronized and precise. No one was goofing off, no one was out picking strawberries under the bright sun. Just order and discipline.

He had never been able to keep up with them or their ways. Landon had never done well in his classes, he wasn't good at keeping discipline, as far as the Romans were concerned, Landon Martin was just another hopeless case.

"You can't keep doing this," She spoke up, crossing her arms. "You're giving them more reasons to hate you."

"It's not like it matters," Landon said. "I'll be out of here soon."

"Right," she didn't seem unfazed. "Just like the last five times?"

He shot her a look. The memory stung—he remembered making it to the edge of the borders, only for him to black out. Or worse, slamming face first into an invisible barrier.

"Yeah, well," He snapped his fingers, "sixth time's the charm."

He had no clue as to why the goddess was so bent on keeping him there. He wasn't even important to them. He didn't have any special powers that would be of use, he didn't have the wits nor the skills of some crafts.

All he could ever do was lie and steal, and that wasn't something one should be proud of. He hadn't gotten the choice to choose who his father would be, but if he had, he definitely wouldn't have picked Hermes.

Maybe Juno was just as petty as her Greek counterpart. He wouldn't put it past her—especially since he'd pelted an empty milk carton at her back in December. In his defence, she had shown up at his house at four in the morning.

"I want you to stay," Reyna said. "It's better than dealing with Octavian alone."

"Jason will come back," Landon told her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his blue jeans. "He's a bit stupid but he'll find his way back."

The daughter of Bellona raised a brow, unamused by his attempt to make a joke. "Speaking of coming back," she said. "You do remember that Xander's coming back tonight, yes?"

He had not, but he wasn't going to admit to that.

His older brother would come by from time to time to see how he was doing. But the son of Hermes knew it was just to make sure he didn't do anything stupid and mess up their family reputation.

"Yeah, of course, I remembered." He shrugged her off.

By the look on her face, he could tell that she wasn't buying it. "I swear, I did."

"Right."

One of the campers bumped past Landon, looking like he was in a rush. The Martin boy suddenly noticed that a lot of them were in more of a hurry than usual. They were all making their way toward the river bank like something big was there.

"What's going on?" He asked to particularly no one, his brows furrowing.

"I think Hazel and Frank have returned, and with a guest from the looks of it," Reyna said, her eyes staring ahead. The water from the river was acting strange like it wasn't moving of its own volition. Almost like someone was controlling it.

Then the strangest thing happened. Out of nowhere the river erupted.

The two made their way past the crowd of campers and toward the River bank. Landon could make out two people who stood near it: Frank and Hazel.

But he noticed that they were starting at something, he couldn't exactly see what since a group of campers were blocking his view.

Everyone around them was staring at something with complete awe as if they'd just stumbled upon a pot of gold. When the son of Hermes made his way around the group, he glanced over at what everyone was staring at, and froze.

Standing on the river bank, with his clothes and skin smoking like he'd just been given an acid bath, stood the son of Poseidon, Percy Jackson. He looked exactly like the last time Landon had seen him.

Only this time, Percy had an old lady with him, who looked like she wasn't even remotely as fazed as everyone else was.

"Well, that was a lovely trip." the old woman said. "Thank you, Percy Jackson, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."

Next to him, Reyna made a choking sound. "Percy...Jackson?" Her eyes were wide like she recognized him.

The old lady glanced over at Landon and then at Reyna before she broke into laughter. "Oh, yes! You'll have so much fun together!"

Then the old lady grew until she was a shining seven-foot-tall goddess in a blue dress, with a cloak that was goat's skin over her shoulders. Her face was stern and stately. In her hand was a staff with a lotus flower on top.

Reyna knelt as soon as Juno finished transforming back into her goddess form. Everyone followed her lead, including Landon.

Hazel was the first to speak. "Juno."

She and Frank also fell to their knees, leaving Percy the only one standing. "Juno, huh?" he said. "If I passed your test, can I have my memory and my life back?"

Landon glanced up, what did he mean by that?

The goddess smiled. "In time, Percy Jackson, if you succeed here at camp. You've done well today, which is a good start. Perhaps there's hope for you yet. You will earn it back, but it must be on your own merit, no matter what." She looked at Landon with a warning look.

He clenched his jaw, his knee scraping against the ground as he shifted uncomfortably. He met the goddess' gaze and nodded subtly. 

She turned toward the others. "Romans, I present to you the son of Neptune. For months he has been slumbering, but now he is awake. His fate is in your hands. The Feast of Fortune comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if you are to stand any hope in battle. Do not fail me!"

Juno shimmered and disappeared. Landon nervously got to his feet, his eyes trained on Percy who was looking at Hazel and Frank for some kind of explanation.

Then Reyna stepped forward. She examined Percy warily. "So," she said, her tone cold once again. "a son of Neptune, who comes to us with the blessing of Juno."

"Look," Percy said. "My memory's a little fuzzy. Um, it's gone, actually. Do I know you?"

The daughter of Bellona hesitated.

"I am Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion. And...no, I don't know you."

Percy nodded, then his sea-green eyes made their way onto Landon. He squinted almost as if he was trying to remember. "Do I know you?"

Landon sighed, "I've been everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if you would've seen me somewhere before,"

"Oh, okay," the raven-haired boy murmured, his scowl disappearing. He held out his hand and Landon caught sight of Evangeline's old snake ring, the one she'd lost in the labyrinth years ago around Percy's index finger.

Landon glanced up at the Jackson boy. He hesitantly shook hands with Percy. "Landon Martin,"

"Leslie?"

The son of Hermes had to manage to keep his anger in check. "It's Landon, not Leslie."

"Right, um, sorry," Percy apologized.

"Hazel," said Reyna, "bring him inside. I want to question him at the Principia. Then we'll send him to Octavian. We must consult the auguries before we decide what to do with him."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "'decide what to do with me?'"

Reyna's hand tightened on her dagger. Landon stepped forward. "It's sort of a thing before we accept people into camp, we have to interrogate them and read the auguries. Hera—Juno, said your fate is in our hands. We have to know whether she brought us a new recruit or—"

"Or," Reyna said more hopefully. "if she's brought us an enemy to kill."

Landon hadn't been allowed to go into the Principia along with them, so he spent his time waiting outside, pacing back and forth in front of the building, playing with the bandages which were wrapped around his wrist; covering his tattoos.

The letter SPQR was written on his skin. The first tattoo was of a caduceus to represent his father and the other was a cornucopia to represent his grandmother, Fortuna.

He'd originally wrapped them to hide his Roman heritage from the people at Camp Half-Blood, but whenever the bandages were covering the ink etched across his skin, he didn't feel bound toward the Romans. Landon had spent hours crying after they'd given him the tattoos, mostly because they stung and because he'd never wanted them.

But it was mandatory, he'd always thought it was a way of proving a point that no matter where you go, you would always have a mark on you to remind you of where you actually belong. Whether you like it or not.

He knew he was too harsh when hating the Roman camp, but all they'd ever done was treat him like an outsider because he was different from the rest, because he wasn't as smart as they were, or as skilled in fighting as they were.

But it got much worse after the incident near the lakes eight years ago. That was also the reason he'd left camp. He wanted a fresh start, somewhere people wouldn't torment him or blame him.

His focus snapped back once he heard the doors to the Principia open. Hazel walked out of the building alongside Percy who looked completely confused.

"What happened?" Landon asked, looking at the daughter of Pluto.

"He passed the test," she explained. "Reyna wants me to take him to Temple Hill. Find Octavian."

Landon grimaced at the words. He didn't like the augur, mostly because Octavian had a way of making sure Landon stayed as miserable as possible.

When he was a kid, Landon didn't have as much self-control as he does now. He would steal whatever came in sight, so Octavian would corner the boy and place a candle underneath the palm of his hands, burning the skin, and making Landon unable to touch anything for three weeks.

"You want me to come with you?" The son of Hermes asked. He knew Hazel was having problems with the augur too. He knew about the fact that Hazel had been brought back from the dead by Evangeline's little brother, Nico di Angelo.

He'd found that out when Nico had arrived at Camp Jupiter, they both were stuck in a problem. Nico found out about Landon's actual heritage and Landon found out about the son of Hades' resurrection stunt.

They both promised to keep the other's secret and make sure Evangeline never found out. But apparently, Nico hadn't heard from her since January.

"Yes, please," Hazel said.

Percy's tour of Camp Jupiter was going okay, almost. It was hard to keep Percy from pissing people off but Landon managed to make sure he didn't.

Hazel wanted to show Percy her favorite spot, so they'd made their way over to the highest point of the valley, outside the gates. You could see the camp from there, the city of New Rome, and the suburbs.

"You have families here?" Percy asked.

"In the city, absolutely," Hazel said. "When you're accepted into the legion, you do ten years of service. After that, you can muster out whenever you want. Most demigods go into the mortal world. But for some—well, it's pretty dangerous out there. The valley is a sanctuary. You can go to college in the city, get married, have kids, and retire when you get old. It's the only safe place on earth for people like us. So yeah, a lot of veterans make their homes there, under the protection of the legion. Like Landon's mom."

Percy looked over at the Martin boy, Landon knew Percy was surprised by the fact that demigods got to live their lives without fear and settle down. Mostly because at Camp Half-Blood you didn't get that option.

"My mom moved there after she finished her degree."

"So what does she do?" The son of Poseidon asked.

"She owns a hotel,"

"Oh," Percy blinked. "But what if this valley is attacked?"

Hazel pursed her lips. "We have defenses. The borders are magical. But our strength isn't what it used to be. Lately, the monster attacks have been increasing. What you said about the gorgons not dying...we've noticed that too, with other monsters."

"Do you know what's causing it?"

"Not a clue," Landon said.

"It's—it's complicated," Hazel said. "My brother says Death isn't—"

She was interrupted by an elephant.

"Make way!"

Hazel dragged Percy out of the way and Landon stepped back as a demigod rode past on a full-grown pachyderm covered in black Kevlar armor. The word ELEPHANT was printed on the side of his armor.

The elephant thundered down the road and turned north, heading toward a big open field where some fortifications were under construction for the war games.

Percy spit dust out of his mouth. "What the—?"

"Elephant," Hazel explained.

"Yeah, I read the sign. Why do you have an elephant in a bulletproof vest?"

"Why, you don't think Elephants need protection too?" Landon asked.

"I'm not saying that I'm just—"

"I'm kidding," Landon said.

"War games tonight," Hazel said. "That's Hannibal. If we don't include him, he'd get upset."

"We can't have that," The son of Poseidon said.

"No, we cannot."

Hazel pointed south across the river. Dark clouds were gathering over Temple Hill. Red flashes of lightning washed the monuments in blood-colored light.

"Octavian is busy," Hazel said. "We'd better get over there."

The marble floor of the temple was etched with fancy mosaics and Latin inscriptions. Sixty feet above, the domed ceiling sparkled gold. The whole temple was open to the wind.

In the center stood a marble altar, where Octavian was in a toga and doing some sort of ritual in front of a massive golden statue of Jason's dad: Jupiter the sky god, dressed in a silk XXXL purple toga, holding a lightning bolt.

"It doesn't look like that," Percy muttered.

"What?" Hazel asked.

"I think he meant to say that Jupiter's beard isn't that, uh, small?"

"No, I meant the master bolt," Percy said.

"Dude,"

"I—" Percy frowned. "Nothing I guess."

Octavian raised his hands. More red lightning flashed in the sky, shaking the temple. Then he put his hands down, and the rumbling stopped. The clouds turned from gray to white and broke apart.

Octavian was tall and skinny, with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy T-shirt, and a drooping toga.

"What's he doing?" The son of Poseidon murmured to the boy.

"Sacrificing children," Landon mumbled back.

"Huh,"

Octavian turned and the son of Hermes almost yelped in shock. He had a crooked smile and a slightly crazy look in his eyes, but then again Octavian was crazy.

In the other hand was something that looked like a dead animal.

"Percy, this is a rat—I mean, Octavian," Landon said.

"The graecus!" The augur announced. "How interesting."

"Uh, hi," the raven-haired boy said. "Are you killing small animals?"

Octavian looked at the fuzzy thing in his hand and laughed. "No, no. Once upon a time, yes. We used to read the will of the gods by examining animal guts—chickens, goats, that sort of thing. Nowadays, we use these."

"I'm surprised you haven't gone to sacrifice children yet," Landon said.

He tossed the fuzzy thing to Percy. It was a disemboweled teddy bear. There was a pile of mutilated teddy bears at the foot of Jupiter's statue. Landon saw one of the stuffed animals of a grey wise owl which had stuffing coming out of its ear.

Octavian narrowed his eyes. "You seem nervous."

"You remind me of someone," Percy said. "I can't remember who."

Then the Jackson boy's eyes trailed over to Landon. The son of Hermes knew the striking resemblance between Octavian and Luke was a bit weird. He'd felt like he was going crazy when he'd met Luke because of how similar he looked to the legacy of Apollo.

"Possibly my namesake, Octavian—Augustus Caesar. Everyone says I bear a remarkable resemblance."

"More like the dead rat near the sewer," Landon spoke up, earning a distasteful look from the blond.

"Why did you call me 'the Greek'?" Percy frowned.

"I saw it in the auguries." Octavian waved his knife at the pile of stuffing on the altar. "The message said: The Greek has arrived. Or possibly: The goose has cried. I'm thinking the first interpretation is correct. You seek to join the legion?"

Hazel and Landon spoke for the son of Poseidon. They told Octavian everything that had happened since they met at the tunnel—the gorgons, the fight at the river, the appearance of Juno, and their conversation with Reyna.

When Hazel mentioned Juno, Octavian looked surprised.

"Juno," he mused. "We call her Juno Moneta. Juno the Warner. She appears in times of crisis, to counsel Rome about great threats."

He glanced at Landon, Octavian knew about Landon being Greek, he was the only one besides Xander and Nico to know.

"I hear the Feast of Fortuna is this week," Percy said. "The gorgons warned there'd be an invasion on that day. Did you see that in your stuffing?"

"Sadly, no." Octavian sighed. "The will of the gods is hard to discern. And these days, my vision is even darker."

"Don't you have...I don't know," Percy said, "an oracle or something?"

"An oracle!" Octavian smiled. "What a cute idea. No, I'm afraid we're fresh out of oracles. Now, if we'd gone questing for the Sibylline books as I recommended—"

"The Siba-what?" Percy asked.

"Books of prophecy," Landon said.

"Romans used to consult them when disasters happened. Most people believe they burned up when Rome fell." Hazel explained.

"Some people believe that," Octavian corrected. "Unfortunately, our present leadership won't authorize a quest to look for them—"

"Yeah, because Reyna has a brain unlike you," Landon said.

"—so we have only a few remaining scraps from the books," the blond continued. "A few mysterious predictions, like these."

He nodded to the inscriptions on the marble floor.

"That one." Percy pointed, translating as he read aloud: "Ten half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"

"Yes, yes." Octavian finished it without looking: "An oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"I—I know that one." Percy spoke up, "That's important,"

Landon winced as Octavian arched an eyebrow. "Of course it's important. We call it the Prophecy of Ten, but it's several thousand years old. We don't know what it means. Every time someone tries to interpret it...Well, Hazel can tell you. Bad things happen."

Hazel glared at him. "Just read the augury for Percy. Can he join the legion or not?"

Landon could see Octavian's mind working. He held out his hand for Percy's backpack, which had a stuffed snake on it. "That's a beautiful specimen. May I?"

Octavian snatched the snake pillow that was sticking out of the top of his pack. The legacy of Apollo turned toward the altar and raised his knife.

"Hey!" Percy protested.

Octavian slashed open the snake's body and poured its stuffing over the altar. He tossed the snake carcass aside, muttered a few words over the fluff, and turned with a big smile on his face.

"Good news!" He said. "Percy may join the legion. We'll assign him a cohort at evening muster. Tell Reyna that I approve."

Landon sighed in relief as Hazel's shoulders relaxed. "Uh...great. Come on, guys."

"Oh, Hazel and Landon," Octavian said. "I'm happy to welcome Percy into the legion. But when the election for praetor comes up, I hope you'll both remember—"

"Jason isn't dead," Hazel snapped. "You're the augur. You're supposed to be looking for him!"

"Oh, I am!" Octavian pointed at the pile of gutted stuffed animals. "I consult the gods every day! Alas, after eight months, I've found nothing. Of course, I'm still looking. But if Jason doesn't return by the Feast of Fortuna, we must act. We can't have a power vacuum any longer. You'll both support me for praetor. It would mean so much to me."

"Slow your roll," Landon told him. "When Jason's body shows up then we'll see. But even then, I'd never vote for you."

Octavian took off his toga, setting it and his knife on the altar.

"After all," Octavian told them. "I might be able to help you both. It would be a shame if those awful rumors about you kept circulating...or, gods forbid, if they turned out to be true."

Landon glared at the blond, he knew Octavian was going to use the information about him being Greek against him but he wasn't going to slip up and let Octavian blackmail him or Hazel. "We'll think about it, right Hazel?"

"Right," Hazel said, as she took a deep breath.

"Excellent," Octavian said. "By the way, your brother is here."

The daughter of Pluto stiffened. "My brother? Why?"

Octavian shrugged. "Why does your brother do anything? He's waiting for you at your father's shrine. Just...ah, don't invite him to stay too long. He has a disturbing effect on the others. Now, if you; 'll excuse me, I have to keep searching for our poor lost friend, Jason. Nice to meet you, Percy. Goodbye, Landon."

"Rat," Landon grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just complimenting your handsome looks."

After they'd left the temple, the trio had made their way toward the shrine for Pluto who stood, in front of the building; Nico di Angelo.

Nico had a similar reaction to seeing Percy at the Roman Camp. For a while, it felt like Hazel had introduced two nuclear bombs together.

"This is Percy Jackson," Hazel said. "He's a good guy. Percy, this is my brother, the son of Pluto."

Nico held out his hand. "Pleased to meet you," he said. "I'm Nico di Angelo."

Percy scowled. "I—I know you."

The son of Hades raised his eyebrows. "Do you?"

Hazel spoke up. "Um...Percy's lost his memory. So, Nico..." she continued carefully. "I thought you know, you travel all over. Maybe you've met demigods like Percy before, or..."

Nico's expression darkened. Landon didn't understand why Hazel was so nervous around Nico, he'd seen Nico since the kid was ten years old.

He'd even played mythomagic with him for seven hours while Bianca and the others went to save Artemis and Annabeth.

"This story about Gaea's army," Landon said. "You warned Reyna about it?"

The raven-haired boy nodded. "Who is Gaea, anyway?"

"She's the earth goddess." Nico glanced at the ground. "The oldest goddess of all. She's in deep sleep most of the time, but she hates the gods and their children."

"Mother Earth...is evil?" Percy asked.

"Big time," Landon scowled.

"She convinced her son the Titan Kronos—um, I mean, Saturn—to kill his dad, Uranus, and take over the world. The Titans ruled for a long time. Then the Titans' children, the Olympian gods, overthrew them."

"That story seems familiar," Percy said. "But I don't think I ever heard the part about Gaea before."

"She practically got mad and threw a fit when the gods took over," Landon said. "She married Tartraus, the spirit of the abyss—and gave birth to a race of giants."

"They tried to destroy Mount Olympus," Nico said. "But the gods finally beat them. At least...the first time."

"The first time?" Percy repeated.

Nico shared a look with the son of Hermes. Landon knew they couldn't tell Percy until Hera said so, he wanted to tell the son of Poseidon he did, but if the gods wanted Percy to find his memories on his own then he'd have no choice but to play his part.

"Last summer," Nico continued, Saturn tried to make a comeback. There was a second Titan war. The Romans at Camp Jupiter stormed his headquarters on Mount Othrys, across the bay, and destroyed his throne. Saturn disappeared—" He hesitated, watching Percy's face.

The son of Hermes cleared his throat.

"Um, anyway," The son of Hades continued, "Saturn probably faded back to the abyss. We all thought the war was over. Now it looks like the Titans' defeat stirred Gaea. She's starting to wake. I've heard reports of giants being reborn. If they mean to challenge the gods again, they'll probably start by destroying the demigods..."

"You've told Reyna this?" Percy asked.

"Yeah," Landon spoke up, "But the Romans don't exactly trust the children of Pluto. They're bad luck."

"They let Hazel stay here," The son of Poseidon noted.

"That's different," Nico said.

"Why?"

"Percy," Hazel cut in, "look, the giants aren't the worst problem. Even...even Gaea isn't the worst problem. The thing you noticed about the gorgons, how they wouldn't die, that's our biggest worry."

"Nico and I," the daughter of Pluto said, "we think what's happening is...Death isn't—"

Before she could finish, they all heard a shout from down the hill.

Frank jogged toward them, wearing his means, purple camp shirt, and denim jacket. His hands were covered with grease from cleaning weapons. He reached the shrine. "Hey, Nico...Landon,"

"Frank," Nico smiled.

"Hey," Landon greeted back.

"Reyna sent me to get Percy and you," Frank said. "Did Octavian accept you?"

"Yeah," Percy said, frowning as he spun Evangeline's ring around his finger over and over again. "He slaughtered my stuffed snake,"

"He...Oh. The augury? Yeah, teddy bears must have nightmares about that guy. But you're in! We need to get you cleaned up before evening muster."

"You're right," Hazel said. "We'd better—"

"Frank," Nico interrupted. "Why don't you take Percy down? Hazel and I will be along soon."

"That's a great idea," Landon said. "I have to go, take a walk or something."

Percy looked at the sons of Hermes and Hades as if trying to place a memory. "I'd like to talk with you guys some more. I can't shake the feeling—"

"Sure," Nico agreed. "Later. I'll be staying overnight."

"You will?" Hazel blurted.

"Go on, Percy," Nico said. "Settle in. My sister and I need to talk."

As Percy left with Frank, Hazel climbed to the roof of the shrine. Nico turned toward Landon. "Evangeline's going to kill us both," The boy murmured.

"She might."

"She will."

"Well, she'll kill you first," The son of Hermes shrugged. "You're her brother,"

"You're her best friend,"

"Yeah, but she'll bury me alive," Landon said. "You will get your head ripped off, demon spawn."

"Did he recognize you?" Nico asked.

"He called me Leslie but I don't think so."

"Okay," Nico said, he watched Landon closely. "Did your little ghost problem get solved?"

The son of Hermes pursed his lips. He would see a sixteen-year-old girl, in a white dress that was all old and dusty, stained with dark red blood.

The girl's neck would be bent at an awkward angle to the left and her hair wet. Her mouth and skin would be all blue and dark from the cold and her eyes pure white.

She would stare right at him, right into his eyes, but she would never say anything to him. She couldn't speak, whenever she tried to speak water mixed with blood would come out of her mouth instead of words.

He knew who she was, he knew exactly why she looked the way she did. And he knew why she would follow after him.

She may have looked like a ghost but she wasn't, she was just a memory from his life. A life he chose to erase from his mind completely or at least tried to. He'd taken all kinds of pills to make his mind go numb and forget her but it didn't work.

Everything else would change around him but she never would, no matter how hard they told him it wasn't his fault.

She would always remain sixteen, always would remain the girl with the broken hopes and dreams, always would be the girl with the bent neck and bloodied dress.

She was never going to leave him, just like she'd promised. He couldn't see her eyes but he knew what she was feeling, pain and loneliness.

He wanted to take it away but he couldn't, there was no way to. There was no way to apologize to her for what had happened.

There was no way to tell her that her unfortunate fate was his fault.

"Yeah," Landon told the younger boy. "It got solved."

------✧------

A/N: This chapter was more filler than I'd expected but it's necessary. I can never remember the spelling of necessary for some reason like I spelled it wrong five times.

Also, did y'all catch what I did with the stuffed animals? If you did catch it, just know that I love you.

So I rewrote this chp, and I acc like this version a lot better than the original one I published.