"Perseus Jackson!" The dracaena snarled. "I should've known! Shame on you, Prometheussssss!"

"No." Percy held up a hand. "I came of my own accord. And I came to join you." The dracaena blinked.

"Thisssss issss a trap!" She cried, pointing a claw at him and writhing her twin snake tails in anger.

"If it's a trap, then sure, go ahead and kill me. I have nothing else to live for. But if you let me join, then I will make sure that all the Olympians will pay and pave the way for Kronos' leadership. I don't really care about either one, it's a win-win solution for me." He examined his nails as Prometheus pondered over that for a while.

"What happened to your eye, child?" The dracaena asked, pointing at his one pure black iris.

"A simple price for everything, dear monster." A darkness no one had seen before crawled onto his face. 

"But you are crippled." She protested.

"It is better to be underestimated than overestimated." He said simply. "Now, Prometheus? Are you done with your, ah, discussion?"

"I will need some time to overlook this, if you approve, Lord Kronos." He bowed low to the sarcophagus. 

"We will need time." The voice rasped. "You may return him to the godling world. Do not reveal your identity to anyone, Perseus."

"Yes, Lord Kronos." He put a mask of calm over his face before pulling his cloak back up over his face.

"Are you quite sure, my lord?" Prometheus asked as Percy vapor-traveled away.

"Quite sure, dear brother." Prometheus could feel the sarcasm in Kronos' voice even if it was disembodied.

At Camp Half-Blood—

"Agnostos! Where were you?" Grover shouted as Percy trudged up Half-Blood Hill.

"I heard a sign from Percy. I decided to check it out, according to the waters, I think Poseidon has found his son." Agnostos levelled his voice, hiding the dark aura that radiated from it.

"I haven't found the empathy link yet." Grover confessed. "How'd you find him?"

"I have my ways." Agnostos said coolly. "'What belongs to the sea always comes back to the sea.'"

"How did you know that?" Grover asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Stories." He shrugged. "Now, Chiron said I had to lead a sword-fighting class?" Grover nodded. "Just like the old times." He muttered under his breath.

At the arena—

"Alright, listen up. First things first, please call me Agnos. Agnostos is a mouthful and I don't really like it anyway." He looked at the young campers, who had nervous expressions etched onto their faces.

"Also, I'm not like those kinds of monsters. I'm...like Argus, I guess." He added quickly. The tense air lightened a bit. Percy clapped his hands together.

"Alright, before we get started, any questions?" A camper held up a hand timidly. He nodded at her.

"Did you really know Percy Jackson?" Percy stiffened.

"Uh, I don't talk about him very often since he died in Tartarus." He said quietly and looked away, silently cursing Zeus and the Olympians. "Anything else?"

Another camper raised his hand. "Why won't you uncover your cloak?" 

"Um, I also don't talk about that." He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Enough with the questions, let's get started." The eager campers nodded their heads vigorously.

"Let's get started with your type of weapon. If you're a child of Apollo, get me far away from your bow. I guarantee you that I will not hit the target. I'm terrible at archery." A few chuckles sounded at this, and Percy wasn't that nervous anymore. He smiled a little.

—Le time skip—

"Alright, that's the horn for dinner." He smiled at his students. "We will continue this tomorrow. Off you go." The children cheered and ran out of the arena towards the dining pavilion.

"That went better than expected." He said to himself, cleaning up the sword racks. He didn't want to go to eat just yet, since the people were having a hard time trusting him. 

Do not become soft towards the young ones, Perseus. A voice cackled in his mind.

Just a little trust to turn against them. Percy thought slyly at the titan lord of time. After all, nothing hurts like a little revenge.

He finished cleaning up and headed out of the arena, swallowed by his thoughts so much so that he bumped into a wall. Wait, not wall. He bumped into Nico.

"Gah! What the f—oh, it's you." Nico sighed. "What are you doing out here?" He shrugged.

"Didn't feel like eating and went for a walk. What are you doing out here?" He asked.

"Huh, I came out for a walk, too." A heavy silence went between them. "Um, so, uh, what's up?" 

"Nothing much. I really like the little kids, though. So full of energy. I remember when..." He trailed off, not wanting to reveal too much.

Nico didn't press him further. Instead, he asked, "What was he like?"

Percy was surprised. "Who?"

"Percy. About Percy." Nico deadpanned. Percy suddenly became uncomfortable, and he shifted his feet awkwardly.

"Well, he was thin. And scared. But he had faith. Faith that the Fates would lead him through Tartarus. I told him not to trust anyone. We were almost out of there. But then he got killed in the process." He said bitterly. A/N: Anyone get the reference? Actually, there are two from the same fandom.

Nico was silent. Percy glared at him from under his cloak. He knew Nico still supported him, but could he trust anyone? Nope. Nopety, nope, nope.

Percy faintly heard the songs from the pavilion, the chorus of demigod voices around the campfire.

All things couldn't be worse,

When your parents run the universe.

All things couldn't be worse,

When your parents run the universe.

I don't care where our parents may be,

As long as you are here with me.

As long as you are here with me.

Percy sighed. Those were the good times, the easy times where the only super serious thing he'd have to think about was who his godly parent was.

"I'd better get going." Nico waved. "See you around, Agnos." Percy nodded in reply, still thinking. Maybe he should visit Rachel. Yeah, that would be a good idea. He set off towards the cave where the Oracle resided.

He knocked on the cave flap. "Hey, Rachel. You there?" A muffled voice said, "Coming." The flap opened.

"Hey, Agnos." She greeted curtly. "What brings you here?" 

"I'm bored. Wondered if you needed any help or something." Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Sure. I'm rearranging my stuff here, mind helping?" She pointed to a bunch of paints, an easel, cotton stretch canvases, various art tools, a table where scattered sketching lay astray, and a colorful quilt bed.

"Sure." He said happily and got to work organizing stuff and moving it around where Rachel decided it would be. He was shuffling through her sketch notes when a certain drawing caught his eye.

It was him and Rachel, riding Paul's blue car at the beach, smiling and laughing. His breath hitched in his throat and he fought back tears. Love...it was so complicated. For him, it had been something used against him. For him, now it was just a tool to break hearts. He'd have enough of that.

He quickly covered it with more drawings.

"Hey Agnos, could you help me with this easel?" Rachel called from the other side of the room.

"Of course." He scanned the easel. It was quite heavy-looking and made of Celestial Bronze. He grunted a little and it tilted to the right.

"I need to move it over there." She pointed at a corner. "On three, one, two, three!" They lifted it up and shuffled it towards the spot.

"Phew! Thanks for your help." She thanked him.

"No prob. You're a really good artist, Rachel." He complimented, pointing at all the artwork she had done in her cozy little cave. She blushed.

"Thanks. Now, good n—" Green smoke spewed out of her mouth.

Not again, Percy groaned mentally as the voice of Delphi filled the room.

Beware the one who wears a mask

And hides his true intent

He will betray the ones around him

And cause their legacy to end

He will deceive them with his words

And lead them to their doom

He will ignite a war of gods

And bring forth endless gloom." 

Percy caught Rachel as she collapsed.

"What did I say?" She asked innocently as Percy stared at her in horror. He slowly repeated the prophecy, and a look of understanding crossed her face.

"We need to tell Chiron." She said immediately, running towards the Big House. Percy caught sight of Nico outside.

"How much have you heard?" He demanded.

"I heard the prophecy." He admitted. "This is not good. We have a traitor among us." Percy's ADHD mind instantly flitted to a red spacesuit in the shape of an 'A', but he shoved it away.

"Who do you think it is?" Percy asked. "Be honest. I want to know." Nico scratched his neck sheepishly.

"You."