~The Children of Fate, Wisdom, and Mischief~

Chapter 3: The Death of a Hero

I continued to follow Connor further into the woods for about five minutes before we came across a small clearing. I stayed at the edge and hid in the shadows. "Katie, is it secure?" Connor asked the daughter of Demeter who was also in the clearing.

"Yeah. No one can find us here."

I looked around the clearing and saw Connor, Katie, Clarisse, and Leo. They all stood in a circle with flashlights, from my perspective it looked like they were standing around something. "Clarisse anything new?"

"Just small flashes. Nothing I can decipher." The daughter of Ares said. Connor nodded, "The only thing I can understand is a tower."

"A tower?" Leo asked, almost confused. I had no idea what they were talking about, though I wasn't going to make my presence known. Clarisse nodded at the son of Hephaestus.

"I've been flying around with Festus and the sensors... I can't find anything." Leo said, holding up a device, he flicked a switch and the device seemed to turn on. "About a week ago it spiked but I haven't been able to find her- woah."

The device spiked once and the group started to look around the clearing so I moved quickly to hide behind a tree but, I stepped on a twig. "Who's there!?" Clarisse called over in my direction.

I looked around the tree I was behind and saw what they were standing around. It was a chest full of different things: camp shirts, necklaces, drachmas, different small statues of people. Though one thing stood out, in the flashlight I saw a bronze pen shining in the chest.

I walked out from behind the tree with my hands out to show I was unarmed. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"Phoenix? How the Hades did you find us?" Connor said, lowering his fists. I didn't get a chance to answer because Clarisse jumped me with her spear.

I moved to the side before Lamier stabbed my face, and bolted for the chest. It was true that I was unarmed and my illusions would do nothing against a daughter of war, I had to grab my mother's old weapon.

The other three people saw where I was heading and tried to stop me though I made spikes of ice rise from the ground to stop them, the perks of being half frost giant.

I grabbed Riptide and uncapped the pen, watching as the beautiful bronze sword came into existence. I stopped Lamier from hitting me a second time and held my ground against the four demigods.

"That doesn't belong to you." Leo said summoning flames to his fists. I just smirked.

"Oh, I think it does."

Clarisse jumped towards me without her spear and tackled me to the ground. We wrestled for Anaklusmos until I was able to kick her in the chest and I flew upward. Mom isn't the only one with wings.

I was only a few feet off the ground holding my mother's sword. I floated there watching what the group would do. They just stood there, some with tears in their eyes, then it hit me.

Long black hair, blue eyes, camp shirt, Anaklusmos.

I looked like my mom. They thought I was Persephone. I lowered myself to the ground and retracted my raven colored wings, "You think I'm Persephone... I'm not."

"But you know who she is! She isn't dead... she can't be." Katie said, mumbling the last bit under her breath. I capped Riptide and walked back over to the chest where I found it.

I looked closer and saw what the statues were. They were celestial bronze statuettes of Persephone, Calypso, Travis Stoll, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo, and Will Solace. Connor saw me staring and explained a bit of what they were doing.

"Aphrodite... She took them all from us. We don't know where they are, though we know she's responsible. We're going to find them. That's what we're doing out here, looking for our friends."

"Don't say her name, it just alerts her. My people call her the Dove... So you're the resistance inside of Camp Half-Blood?" I asked standing up, the group nodded. "What about Camp Jupiter?"

"Nothing. At least nothing that we know of." Clarisse said, still tense from our fight. I grabbed the Jason statuette.

"You can stop looking for Jason... he's dead. I know that for a fact." I said handing the figure to Leo. "The others are alive... I think. I have no idea about Solace and di Angelo."

Connor finally seemed to wise up. "Who are you?"

"Phoenix Lokisdottir. Persephone's youngest daughter. You want to resist the Dove? Then join the resistance." I turned to all of them. "We still have some time before the sun rises, let's move."