Percy had a bad feeling.

It seemed pretty normal nowadays, considering he was, well, a demigod and all, but this feeling was really bad—like disaster kind of bad.

He had gone to the ranch and cleaned up the shit of fire-breathing horses (literally) and met one of the most unpleasant people (Or some of the most? Did Geryon count as three people or one?) ever and had only slimly survived the encounter because of Apollo's slight not-hatred towards him and maybe Artemis' also. He had found Nico as well, and Percy found out he had been summoning King Minos' ghost to help him raise Bianca.

Then Percy met Bianca. She forgave Percy—thanked him, even. Percy kind of wished that Kia had gotten to see her.

After all that, laying on his back on the couch in Eurytion's barn, there was a calm. That was almost never a good thing, because his idle body almost never followed his brain. His thoughts were plagued by something else entirely—Kia and Annabeth.

It had really hurt Percy that Annabeth didn't think he knew how fucking awesome she was, but his mind was also stuck on where they might be right now. Their last conversation didn't end the best, per se, and he wasn't sure if that ten second hug (he hoped no one noticed that it was actually ten seconds) removed most of the tension as he had hoped for it to. Because of this, they didn't end up deciding on any kind of relief or rendezvous point—and Percy was really starting to regret being so difficult now.

Don't even get him started on how rude he'd been. Ever since they split up, he had felt terrible for the things he'd said to Kia and how he acted, and especially about how he made Annabeth feel like he didn't trust her—let's get one thing straight here; if Percy were falling off the edge of the world to be swallowed by the pit of Chaos, there was no one—not a single person—he would trust more to pull him back up than Annabeth. They had been best friends for the past three years and he already knew that there was not a single person in any world or universe or reality that he would put faith in the powers of more than in Annabeth—and to think, that she had felt at all like Percy didn't believe in her skills was heartbreaking.

He hated himself for making such a big deal now, late at night, curled up on the couch in Eurytion's barn. Percy couldn't sleep, so he stayed up, staring at the boarded ceiling just thinking. He didn't like when his thoughts got to him.

Still, he was worried. These were the two girls who he cared about most in the entire world, and they were in gods-know-where, with gods-know-who, doing gods-know-what. Percy had faith in them—of course he did—but it didn't stop him from worrying about when he'd see them again.

Percy closed his eyes, and he prayed to every god he knew, even the ones he didn't like. He just hoped they were safe.

Kia tensed, trying not to look away as the deformed baby floated up from Eris' arms and off along with the miscellaneous objects in the air. Eris had this demented grin on her face as she looked at her and Annabeth, gauging their reactions from the baby.

She spread her hands. "Welcome! Tea?"

Kia has a feeling the tea here wouldn't actually be tea. Annabeth said tightly, "No, thank you."

"What are we doing here?" Kia said, getting straight to the point. She didn't want to be here longer than she had to.

A rubber duck floated in between her and Annabeth as the latter shot her a glare for being so cutthroat. Eris only laughed crookedly, as if finding merit in her disorderliness—which Kia supposed was very on brand for her.

"What's the rush?" Her bat wings extended fully, and Kia and Annabeth took a step back at how large they actually were. It felt like a threat, like they were closing in on them to keep them here.

Kia felt her throat constrict. She forced her breathing to slow. "We're actually in a bit of a time crunch because of our—"

"Quest!" Eris interrupted. She clapped her hands as if she was happy Kia had brought it up. "Lovely, exactly what I was going to say!" She pointed a crooked finger at Annabeth. "You're the leader, aren't you, missy?"

"Um... yes?"

Eris got up quicker than either of them would be able to react to. Suddenly, she was behind the two of them, her wings wrapped around the two of them like they were cages. Kia's breath hitched. "You don't seem too sure, darling."

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Yes. I am the leader of the quest into the Labyrinth."

"Why, of course you are." Eris' eyes glittered. "Eager to prove yourself, eh?"

"Why are we here?" Annabeth avoided the rhetorical question.

"Why, the two of your brought yourselves here!"

Kia opened her mouth to protest, but two things happened: one, she realised Eris was right, and, two, a thought struck her: wasn't Eris the one that tossed the Golden Apple of Discord into some wedding so it led to the catastrophic argument between three goddesses of the Olympian Council?

Annabeth seemed to have a similar thought to Kia's latter. "Why did you? If I can ask, that is."

"Why did I what?" Eris asked innocently, sounding like she knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Throw the Apple of Discord into Thetis and Peleus' wedding."

"Well, I wasn't invited! That was quite rude, was it not? I hadn't ever even done anything to either of them, and yet, they saw my title and immediately cast me out. Why, Kia, you understand, don't you? Always being left out of your group, just because they knew each other before they knew you."

Honestly, Kia hadn't thought about it before, but Eris slowly seemed to have a point. They always seemed to walk slightly ahead of her, as if they wanted her to disappear, and they always bragged about their inside jokes in front of her, purposely leaving her out. Why did they do that? So what if they were friends before she came along? She had helped save Annabeth. What was their problem?

"Oh, yes, Kia, dear, they are just so rude, aren't they? Not feeling included is a horrible feeling, isn't it? Do you see how I felt?"

Kia shook her head, trying to rid herself of sympathy for Eris. Annabeth pinched Kia's arm, but looked taken aback by the harsh glare she received.

"Annabeth," Eris swiftly turned her attention to the blonde, who tensed up, "how is your quest going?"

"Um—"

"Clearly not your way," Eris tutted. "Your quest, but it seems you keep getting overshadowed. That sea-spawn ended up going to the ranch—the only part of the quest Hera explicitly mentioned, taking your spotlight again. Doesn't that make you angry? Your friend here was what brought you here—strayed you off your path. It seems to me, that she doesn't want you to go your way on this quest."

Kia saw Annabeth's expression change, not that she cared. She found herself agreeing with Eris. Maybe she did want Annabeth's quest to fail. Why would she care, since she had been so eager to leave her out through the entire thing?

Annabeth and Kia turned to each other, suddenly feeling very angry with each other. Resentment started swirling in Kia's gut; Annabeth was so rude to her after Kia literally partook in a quest to save her goddamn life and always left her out of those little conversations between her, Percy, Grover and Tyson. Just what the hell was her problem? Well, whatever it was, Kia was gonna make sure Annabeth would spit it out now.

Pooling and churning on the tip of Annabeth's tongue were curses for how stupid she had been to not realise the backstabbing friend in front of her. Kia had always had it out for her, and she should've trusted that feeling she got when they first met. At the time, it seemed it was only because of Percy and her childish jealousy, but now, Annabeth realised it was her instincts telling her that Kia was not on her side. Why did Kia keep so many secrets anyway? All Annabeth had done was be a good friend, so what reason was there for Kia to be hiding anything? Her father was Morpheus, after all, a god on the side of the Titans. That could only mean...

Before either of them could realise, they had pulled their weapons out. Kia's dagger, the one she had received from Ethan and ended up never parting with, gleamed brightly in the odd purple light, its healthy bronze glow unsheathed after the several weeks Kia had spent buffing and sharpening and cleaning it. It uncovered the intricate inscriptions on the bottom flat of the blade on each side—carvings of a man holding up the world, and the hilt was still worn and old, roughened with the rigorous use Kia had put it through.

Annabeth's bronze knife, about the same length as Kia's was even older, but it still contained the lustre of the heroes who had used it before her. It was quite plain, but Kia knew that there was much more to the knife than what met the eye; the blade was cursed, in a way, because it was melded with history, history woven by Luke Castellan, the boy who had started the Second Titan War. Kia knew that Annabeth's knife was a weapon to be wary of.

They circled each other, vicious sneers on their faces. Kia had sparred with Annabeth before, with gave her a set of advantages as well as disadvantages, the main ones being: she knew Annabeth's weak spots, and Annabeth knew hers, respectively. Kia thought herself half-decent with the dagger, but it didn't mean that she was stupid enough to think she could beat or outsmart a eight year trained warrior daughter of Athena.

Kia was going have to play dirty.

They both knew the first rookie-rule of a blade-fight: Never hit first. Because of this, Kia knew that as Annabeth was a girl who played by the basics heavily, she would have to strike first.

Continuing to circle each other, Kia made sure there were absolutely no contingencies as she very suddenly dove out to swipe at Annabeth to push her back. Rookie-rule Two: The first strike is always the most important.

The scope of the field they had to fight on was narrow, but the boulder behind Annabeth where Kia had stopped circling her would do to keep her trapped and within a limited range of motion. From there, Annabeth would only be able to go front, left or right, and after several hundred hours of sparring with Annabeth, Kia already knew her move.

Despite being left-handed, Annabeth favoured her right. She figured it was because Annabeth thought it was a 'tactical advantage' considering most opponents assume the dominant arm as the preferred direction favoured. Annabeth's foot planted down on the right and she shifted her weight to that foot to bring her left arm back with the dagger to the right side of her head to swing at Kia, and Kia, anticipating this, spun to the left and went to sweep Annabeth from beneath her feet.

It seemed that Annabeth, as well, had anticipated the split-second decision Kia made—it had been stupid of Kia to take that gamble, because sweeping the opponent's feet off from under them was a common tactic Kia used, and the predictability ruined the element of surprise Kia had aimed for. Annabeth's left foot had already come up and thrusted forward into Kia's shoulder.

Advancing, Annabeth struck diagonally at Kia, and Kia rolled over to the right, kicking in a wide arc right onto Annabeth's ribs. She gasped in slight pain, and Kia took the half-moment to scramble up and get a proper grip on her dagger. By the time Annabeth recovered, she was already coming around back to slash at Kia, who ducked downwards and blocked a second kick from Annabeth with her arm.

The position was awkward for both of them, too off to get a proper hit, but like Kia said: she was going to have to play dirty.

Caught up in the moment, Kia wrapped the arm blocking the kick around the leg to hold it in place to stab with her dagger. It only managed to graze the bottom of the sole of the shoe Annabeth wore, because Annabeth had already pulled it back. She looked shaken, like she hadn't anticipated Kia to pull a move like that. Kia kind of enjoyed it.

"Aw, you poor things," crooned Eris' forgotten falsely sympathetic voice. "So up to killing each other. What a shame."

Kia had almost forgotten what actually brought the two of them here. For a moment, her head cleared, and evidently, so did Annabeth's, and they turned to look at Eris. "Wait, what are we—"

"Ah! Kia, don't you see? Annabeth over there is simply conspiring against you with that Athena wisdom of hers. And Annabeth, don't you see how cloudy Kia's eyes are? Don't you think it has something to do with those gods-awful dream powers she has?"

Eris was clearly clever enough to disguise the first part as a compliment to Annabeth's smarts so she wouldn't deny it, but something else caught her attention, and it was somehow powerful enough to break the power Eris had employed over her. Annabeth has gone back to looking absolutely furious with Kia, but Kia was looking at Eris.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait. What's this about gods-awful dream powers?"

Eris' face fell as if she had lost something great. "Oh, you know, those seeing-through-mist-powers. Nothing you don't already know about." But Kia didn't believe her. Eris had been so fluent with her language of chaos but now, there were certain slip-ups—and Kia noticed them.

Upon observing the look on Eris' face, there was a sense of falseness to it, like a kind of personal insincerity that everyone had. Kia thought, just for a moment, to call it out, but then she devised a new plan—wherein she would be the master of all these puppets.

The angry look on Kia's face resumed, and she started circling Annabeth again. This time, with her head clearer, she was able to come up with a proper plan to get to the point she needed—a position in which she could whisper to Annabeth without being overheard.

It seemed that Annabeth was even more impatient to start than her, because Annabeth broke the first basic she had ever taught Kia. She stabbed experimentally at Kia, and Kia dodged, moving closer to her. The action seemed to confuse Annabeth, which Kia understood, but she figured it wouldn't raise too much suspicion within Eris, considering Kia's weapon was still short-ranged.

Annabeth aimed a hesitant kick at Kia's thigh, which Kia figured was a sign that meant the spell of chaos was wearing off on her as well, and Kia used it lock her arm around Annabeth's neck while going behind her and holding her dagger to the other side of her neck.

Eris clapped her hands wildly as the two girls stayed panting, Kia pressed up behind Annabeth. "Great! Now kill her!"

She didn't. Kia leaned closer to Annabeth. "You realise it, don't you?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good. It'd be a pain to get you out of this."

"Shut up."

"Okay, so here's the plan."

At some point, Eris had gotten tired of waiting for Kia to kill Annabeth. "Well, come on! Get it over with! I am not getting any younger!"

At the mark, Annabeth elbowed Kia in the guy at lightning speed, so quick that even if it wasn't part of the plan, Kia wouldn't have been able to react. Grabbing her arm, Annabeth flipped Kia over onto the ground and held her down, her knee digging into her back. Eris whooped with glee, and it made Kia confused because wasn't she just rooting for her the other moment?

"Now," Kia whispered.

"Like hell I'd ever let you fucking touch him!" Annabeth yelled, almost comically so that it grabbed Eris' attention.

It worked, because Eris leaned forward curiously, and Annabeth's knife where she had left it was not getting any farther away. Annabeth suddenly turned to look directly at Eris, and said, "Could you get me that knife over there? So that I can, you know, kill her and stuff."

Wow. Annabeth was really bad at this.

The craziest thing was that Eris believed her. Everyone here was an absolute fucking nutjob. Eris walked over, her talons raking across the floor—well, rock—as she retrieved Annabeth's knife. She handed it over to Annabeth, and looked at Kia with something vaguely resembling pity.

Kia also looked at her directly in the eye, and suddenly, she had a vision. It was like all of the weird things Kia had seen in her life combined—and something more; the man with the shifting faces in the building where her mother died, a girl that looked just like her tied to a pole with crows surrounded her, the room with the thousands of mirrors of altered versions of her, her drowning in a bathtub, Ethan in a bathtub with ice-cold water with blood polluting it, the blonde boy with electric blue eyes and the girl with glossy black hair in purple with gold weapons in San Fransisco—all as clear as day.

Suddenly, Kia was back in present, and she was already standing up. Annabeth had already stabbed Eris in the shoulder as planned, and she was howling in pain, golden ichor dripping from her wound as she reeled backwards. Kia was surprised for a moment, but she closed her eyes and concentrated.

This was the most important part—as well as the most unstable. Kia would have to rely on something incredibly stupid—the chaos goddesses' random words, something her father had told her multiple times and something her cabin's co-counsellor had once said to her.

Gods-awful dream powers.

You are more powerful than you know, kohana.

If you inherit any of his powers, you could probably manipulate reality itself.

Channelling all of her existing energy into her gut, Kia felt the slightest pull from all the corners of the universe. She could almost feel it—all the strings of reality coming apart to reassemble itself, weaving together into the pattern Kia wanted; it was as if the entire universe was deconstructing and reconstructing itself in these few moments, as if was all entirely in Kia's hands—which, it kind of was. It made her feel powerful, but also wistful, in a way. It was different than how she imagined it—definitely still difficult, but also... fun.

She willed all of the random objects to disappear, all the rocks and debris to disappear, the atmosphere to calm and be replaced with one of total tranquility. The goal was to get it to be the complete opposite of someone like Eris' place of strength.

When Kia opened her eyes, her feet were surrounded by water, and she found that they were all in a state of peace with the sun dropping steadily beyond the horizon, the sky and water a shade of light blue, fading into orange as it got closer to the sun. Kia wasn't even sure if it was the Earth's own sun.

"What have you done?" Eris screeched, pulling at her face, deforming it even more than it already was. "Where are we?"

"We're in peace," Kia said calmly, paying no attention to Annabeth who was staring around in awe. "Harmonia, if you will."

"No, no, no! She is my universal opposite! Do you know what will happen if I stay life this, hero?"

Eris said hero like it was some kind of disease.

"No. And to be fair, I don't really care. Fade. Go extinct. Die. Whatever. I will let you out, though, on one condition."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at Eris challengingly as well, as if daring her to refuse their offer. Eris sighed, but it also sounded like a growl. "What is it?"