A web of fates | Percy Jackson and the Olympians

XVII| Oh Silena..

Theo couldn't believe what he was seeing, the scene before him was horrendous, a tableau of blood, smoke, and betrayal that churned his stomach. He hated it with a ferocity that threatened to consume him

A wave of nausea, thick and suffocating, washed over him, making the battlefield swim before his eyes as he registered Silena Beauregard, her face smudged with grime and tears, gently wiping a tear from Valentina's innocent eyes. The tender gesture was a stark, heartbreaking contrast to the devastation surrounding them.

"What were you thinking?" Clarisse La Rue's voice was a raw, guttural sob, stripped of its usual bravado. She knelt, cradling Silena's head in her lap with an almost unnatural tenderness, her calloused fingers gently stroking stray strands of hair from Silena's ashen face.

Silena tried to swallow, a dry, rasping sound in the chaotic air, but her lips were dry and cracked, her throat raw from the smoke and exertion. "Wouldn't... wouldn't listen," she rasped, her voice barely a whisper. "The Cabin would... they would only follow you. They wouldn't fight otherwise."

"So you stole my armour," Clarisse said, her voice rising in disbelief, laced with a bitter, heartbroken fury. Her grip tightened on Silena's arm, not in pain, but in a desperate need for understanding. "You waited until Chris and I went out on patrol; you stole my armour and pretended to be me." Her gaze, sharp and accusatory, swept over her own siblings, the remaining Ares campers who stood nearby, looking anywhere but at the scene before them. "And NONE of you noticed?"

The Ares campers, a picture of uncomfortable silence, developed a sudden, intense interest in their scuffed combat boots, their gazes fixed firmly on the ground, a collective evasion of eye contact. The unspoken admission of their complicity hung heavy in the air.

"Don't blame them," Silena whispered, her voice a strained plea. "They wanted to... to believe I was you; I had help..." Her eyes flickered towards the edge of the immediate circle, a silent acknowledgment of others involved.

"You stupid Aphrodite girl," Clarisse sobbed, tears finally breaking free and streaming down her grimy cheeks, blurring the lines of her furious expression. "You charged a drakon? Why? Why would you do something so reckless, so suicidal?"

"It's all my fault," Silena choked out, a single, clear tear streaking a clean path down the side of her face, leaving a track of glistening wetness through the dirt. "The drakon... Charlie's death... the camp endangered—"

"Stop it!" Clarisse's voice cracked, a sharp, violent interruption. She shook Silena gently, desperately. "That's not true, Silena. Don't you dare say that."

With a supreme effort, Silena opened her hand, her fingers trembling slightly. Nestled in her palm, glinting dully in the chaotic light, was a simple silver bracelet with a small, intricately carved scythe charm.

The unmistakable mark of Kronos.

A cold fist, icy and paralyzing, closed around Theo's heart, squeezing the air from his lungs. The world tilted on its axis, and the pieces of a horrifying puzzle slammed into place with sickening clarity. Silena and Daphne. Accomplices. They worked together to ensure the downfall of Camp Half-Blood.

"You were the spy," Theo articulated the words, a flat statement of utter devastation, the realization a physical blow.

Silena tried to nod, the effort visible on her face. Her voice, when it came, was weaker now, tinged with a desperate need for understanding, for absolution. "Before... before I liked Charlie, Luke was nice to me. He was so... charming. Handsome. He made me feel... seen." A faint, wistful expression crossed her face, quickly replaced by guilt. "Later, I wanted to stop helping him, but he threatened to tell. He promised... he promised I was saving lives. He said fewer people would get hurt if I helped him. He told me he wouldn't hurt... wouldn't hurt Charlie." A fresh wave of tears welled in her eyes, blurring the memory. "He lied to me. He lied to Daphne, too... She doesn't know... I forced her to help me with this, she disguised me to look like Clarisse..."