We ran until we were exhausted. Rachel steered us away from traps, and I kept us from the ones she couldn't see, but we had no destination in mind—only away  from that dark mountain and the roar of Kronos.

We stopped in a tunnel of wet white rock, like part of a natural cave. I couldn't hear anything behind us, but I didn't feel any safer. I could still remember those unnatural golden eyes staring out of Luke's face, and the feeling of the time stopping around me.

"I can't go any farther," Rachel gasped, hugging her chest.

Annabeth had been crying the entire time we'd been running. Now she collapsed and put her head between her knees. Her sobs echoed in the tunnel. Nico and I sat next to each other. He dropped his sword next to mine and took a shaky breath. Percy kneeled down and started to comfort Annabeth, she didn't seem to listen to him because she kept crying.

"That sucked," he said.

"You saved our lives," I said. "Thank you, Neeks."

Nico wiped the dust off his face. "It's no problem. Once I saw you take off into the tunnel I had to run after you."

"Nice that you care so much about me." I shined my flashlight across the cavern. Water dripped from the stalactites like a slow-motion rain. "Nico. . .you, uh, kind of gave yourself away though. You're going to be in danger."

"What do you mean?"

"The wall of black stone? That was impressive. If Kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now—the son of Hades."

Nico frowned. "Big deal."

"I don't want you in danger." I said, pulling him closer. "You're like a brother to me. I can't lose you."

When he turned to me, I could've sworn there were tears in his eyes. Instead of saying anything, Nico wrapped his arms around me and buried his head in my neck. I wrapped my arms around him and just let him have a moment.

Annabeth lifted her head from Percy's embrace. Her eyes were red from crying. "What. . .what was wrong with Luke? What did they do to him?"

Percy told her what he'd seen in the coffin, the way the last piece of Kronos's spirit had entered Luke's body when Ethan Nakamura pledged his service.

"No," Annabeth said. "That can't be true. He couldn't—"

"He gave himself over to Kronos," Percy said. "I'm sorry, Wise Girl. Luke is gone."

"No!" She insisted, but she let Percy lace his fingers with hers. I couldn't help but miss the way Lee's arms wrapped around me, but I was excited for our date after this shitty-quest. "You saw when Rachel hit him."

I grinned, looking at Rachel with respect. "You hit the Lord of the Titans in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush."

Rachel looked embarrassed. "It was the only thing I had." 

"But you saw," Annabeth insisted. "When it hit him, just for a second, he was dazed. He came back to his senses."

"So maybe Kronos wasn't completely settled in the body, or whatever." I said. "Doesn't mean Luke was in control."

"You want  him to be evil, is that it?" Annabeth yelled. "You didn't know him before, Kiera. I did!"

"What is it with you?" I spat. "Why do you keep defending him!?"

"Woah, you two," Percy interfered. "Knock it off."

Annabeth started to cry again. "Get your sister under control!"

"Shut the fuck up! You shouldn't be defending him after all he's done!"I  snapped, and Percy sighed before running a hand over his face.

"Annabeth, take a few breaths," he instructed. "It isn't her—"

"Yes it is!" Annabeth insisted. "She's a monster!"

I started to sit up fast, but stopped when a sharp pain in my chest burst. Apparently I had adrenaline from the fight with Kronos, because it surely wore off and I realize I was injured. Nico immediately helped me lay back down.

"Hey, take it easy," Nico mumbled. He rummaged through the backpack I had and cursed. "Fuck, where is the ambrosia? Bandages?"

I tore off the designated charm and the needed amount of godly food formed in my hand. I downed both within seconds, and a burning sensation filled my body. 

"Good news," I started to get up. "I'm alive, the stuff is working. Bad news; that definitely wasn't a normal blade." The world started spinning and turning green.

"Kiera!" Percy called. He moved over to me and winced when he saw the wound. "That doesn't look good."

I tried to look down but it made me nauseous and I groaned as the world shifted again. "Is it just me or—or wait. . ." I blinked and my brother was yellow. I narrowed my eyes. "Since you when—woah. You been—FUCK!"

I threw my head back, and obviously, I hit my head on the wall. "Damnit! Why I bad luck—AGH!"

Percy snorted before sitting me back up into a sitting position. "Since when what?"

"Yellow?"

Everyone shared different looks, probably having a conversation without me. I frowned. That's not very nice. I'm feeling very discluded.

Because Annabeth was right. You're a monster.

No I'm not!

Yea, you can't do anything right. Miserable. Stupid. Just give in! Let the poison kill you, nobody would care.

What? Poison?

You're lucky enough that the blade should've killed you, but yet here we are. You are a miserable  godling. You cant even—

"Kiera?" Nico snapped his fingers in front of my face. "You alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, jus' tired n' all that." I frowned. Was I slurring my words?

Percy and Nico shared a concerned glance before Percy dumped his water bottle all over me. I closed my eyes as the familiar sensation surrounded me. It leaked into my wound, slowly healing it. It didn't sting like it should, it tingled and then stopped.

When it all fell to the floor, it was just a few drops. "What?" I asked.

Annabeth was still glaring at me. She wanted to play it that way? Fine. Two can play that game. I glared right back at her. Rachel walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We have to keep going."

Nobody was in any shape to run, but she was right. Annabeth had a mental break-down and was now beefing with me. Percy looked exhausted. So did Nico. I had some sort of sword-slice. Rachel looked the only one of us who was fine.

Percy knelt back next to Annabeth and helped her up. Nico helped me support my weight, which was quite embarrassing. At least I didn't feel drunk anymore—hah, not that I would know!

"Let's get back to New York," Percy decided. "Rachel, can you—"

He froze. A few feet in front of us, my flashlight beam fixed on a trampled clump of red fabric lying on the ground. It was a Rasta cap: the one Grover always wore.

————————☁︎ ✯  ☾ ✯ ☁︎————————

Percy's hands shook as he picked up the cap. It looked like it was stepped on by a huge muddy boot. After all that I'd gone through, I couldn't stand the thought something had happened to my best friend.

Then I noticed something else. The cave floor was mushy and wet from the water dripping. There were large footprints like Tyson's, and smaller ones—goat hooves—leading off to the left.

"We have to follow them," I said. "They went that way. It must've been recently."

"What about Camp Half-Blood?" Annabeth said. "There's no time."

"We have to find them," I insisted. "I'm not losing a brother and best friend. If you want, you can go to camp. I can get them by myself."

She glared at me, "That's not what I said—"

I ignored her and picked up Grover's smashed cap and forged ahead with Nico smiling ever so slightly at me. The tunnel was shit. It sloped at weird angles and was slimy with moisture. Half the time we were slipping and sliding rather than walking.

Finally we got to the bottom of a slope and found ourselves in a large cave with huge stalagmite columns. Through the center of the room ran an underground river, and Tyson was sitting by the banks, cradling Grover in his lap. Grover's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving.

"Tyson!" I cried out. Nico was moving too slow, so I stumbled my way over to the two.

"Kiera! Come quick!"

We ran over to him. Grover wasn't dead, thank the gods, but his whole body trembled like he was freezing to death.

"What happened?" Tyson murmured. "Large snake. Large dogs. Men with swords. But then. . .we got close to here. Grover was excited. He ran. Then we reached this room, and he fell. Like this."

I trapped him in a hug and felt relaxed he was okay. Tyson was alive. My baby brother was okay. I immediately turned back to Grover and felt for his vitals.

"Did he say anything?" Percy asked.

"He said, 'we're close.' Then he hit his head on rocks."

I placed two fingers on his throat, and felt a beat. Then I moved to his forehead. It wasn't cold, so that messed me up. I frowned. "That isn't right. Shivering is the body's way of warming up, he isn't cold. Everything else is all right."

When I reached above his heart, a strong sense of wildlife surged through me. It was like someone inserted thousands of photos of beautiful nature, and it felt like pure adrenaline in my veins.

"Grover," Percy said. "Wake up."

"Uuhhhhhhh."

Annabeth knelt next to us and splashed icy cold river water at him, dousing me.

"Splurg!" His eyelids fluttered. "Kiera? Percy? Where. . ."

"It's all right," I said, gritting my teeth to ignore Annabeth. "You passed out. The presence was too much for you."

"I—I remember. Pan."

"Yeah." I said. "Something powerful is near."

————————☁︎ ✯  ☾ ✯ ☁︎————————

I made fast introductions, since Tyson and Grover had never met Rachel. Tyson told Rachel she was pretty, which made Annabeth's nostrils flare like she was going to blow fire. I snorted, is she seriously jealous?

"Anyway," I said. "Come on, Grover. Lean on me."

"Ah, no way. He can lean on me, you're still injured." Percy said.

Annabeth stepped forward, "If she wants to do it, let her. What's the harm?"

I sneered at her and lifted up Grover. Together we waded across the underground river. The current was strong. The water came up to our waists. I willed myself to stay dry, which is a handy little ability, but that didn't help the others, and I was still cold. I felt like I was going to pass out with Grover's weight on me, but I was determined. I wasn't going to let Annabeth have anything against me.

Halfway through, a surge of warmth flooded my system. I held back a gasp as the warmth flowed  from my core to my arms and legs. Grover must've noticed because he stared at me. Memories of Leo and I on the roof of Cabin Three spread through my head, and I had to mentally scold myself to keep going.

Kiera, not the time. Think about him later—no! You're dating Lee. Not even later.

"I think we're in Carlsbad Caverns," Annabeth said, her teeth chattering. "Maybe an unexplored section."

"How do you know?" Percy asked.

"Carlsbad is in New Mexico," she said. "That would explain last winter."

We got out of the water and kept walking. As the crystal pillars loomed larger, I started to feel the power emanating from the next room. I'd been in the presence of gods before, but this was different. My skin tingled with living energy. My weariness fell away, as if I had a full night's sleep. I could feel myself growing stronger. The scent coming from the cave was nothing like the dank wet underground. It smelled of trees and flowers and a warm summer day. I felt a cold rush of wind and realized my clothes had changed. I was dressed in my attire that formed whenever I was with a god, which meant this was the right way. I really need to fix this, it's becoming a problem.

Grover whimpered with excitement. I kept going only because I was ready to let go of him. Even Nico seemed speechless. We stepped into the cave, and Rachel said, "Oh, wow."

The walls glittered with crystals—red,green, and blue. In the strange light, beautiful plants grew—giant orchids, star-shaped flowers, vines bursting with orange and purple berries that crept among the crystals. The cave floor was covered with soft green moss. Overhead, the ceiling was higher than a cathedral, sparkling like a galaxy of stars. In the center of the cave stood a Roman-style bed, gilded wood shaped like a curly U, with velvet cushions. Animals lounged around it—but they were animals that shouldn't be alive. There was a dodo bird, something like a cross between a wolf and a tiger, a huge rodent like the mother of all guinea pigs, and roaming behind the bed, picking berries with its trunk, was a wooly mammoth.

On the bed lay an old satyr. He watched us as we approached, his eyes as blue as the sky. His curly hair was white, and so was his pointed beard. Even the goat fur on his legs was frosted with gray. His horns were enormous—glossy brown and curved. Around his neck hung a set of reed pipes.

I stumbled and landed on my knees as an overwhelming feeling of life overtook me. The smell was sickly sweet, but still nice. I could sense all of the lives in the room. Mine, Nico's, Rachel's, Tyson's, Annabeth's, Grover's, Percy's, Pan's, and the animals and plants in the room.

"Sorry, dear," the god smiled at me.

The feeling stopped and I was able to get back up, but I bowed nonetheless. "Thank you, Lord Pan."

Grover fell to kids knees in front of the bed. "Lord Pan!"

The god smiled kindly, but this time there was sadness in his eyes. "Grover, my dear, brave satyr. I have waited a very long time for you."

"I. . .I got lost," Grover apologized.

Pan laughed. It was a wonderful sound, like the first breeze of springtime, filling  the whole cavern with hope. The tiger-wolf sighed and rested his head on the god's knee. The dodo bird pecked affectionately at the god's hooves, making it a strange sound in the back of its bill. I could swear it was humming. 

Still, Pan looked tired. His whole form shimmered as if he were made of Mist.

"You have a humming dodo bird," Percy said stupidly.

The god's eyes twinkled. "Yes, that's Dede. My little actress."

Dede looked offended. She pecked at Pan's knee and hummed something that sounded like a funeral dirge.

"This is beautiful," I said. "Lord Pan, h—how?"

"I'm glad you like it, dear," Pan said. "It is one of the last wild places. My realm above is gone, I'm afraid. Only pockets remain. Tiny pieces of life. This one shall stay undisturbed. . .for a little longer."

"My lord," Grover said, "please, you must come back with me! The Elders will never believe it! THey'll be over-joyed! You can save the wild!"

Pan placed his hand on Grover's head and ruffled his curly hair. "You are so young, Grover. So good and true. I think I chose well."

"Chose?" Grover said. "I—I don't understand."

Pan's image flickered momentarily turning to smoke. The giant guinea pig scrambled under the bed with a terrified squeal, and two more animals emerged. One black and one white snake, both intertwined. However they moved, I didn't know. The wooly mammoth grunted nervously. Dede stuck her head under her wing. Then Pan re-formed.

"I have slept many eons," the god said forlornly. "My dreams have been dark. I wake fitfully, and each time my waking is shorter. Now we are near the end."

"What?" Grover cried. "But no! You're right here!"

"My dear satyr," Pan said. "I tried to tell the world, two thousand years ago. I announced it to Lysas, a satyr very much like you. He lived in Ephesos, and he tried to spread the word."

My eyes widened. "The old story. A sailor passing by the coast of Ephesos heard a voice crying from the shore, 'Tell them the great god Pan is dead.'"

"But that wasn't true!" Grover said.

"Your kind never believed it," Pan said. "You sweet, stubborn satyrs refused to accept my passing. And I love you for that, but you only delayed the inevitable. You only prolonged my long, painful passing, my dark twilight sleep. It must end."

"No!" Grover's voice trembled. I placed my hand on his shoulder for comfort. There can't always be something, that I knew. Creation came with destruction. Love with hate. Life with death. It was balanced. Always.

"Dear Grover," Pan said. "You must accept the truth. Your companion, Nico, he understands."

Nico nodded slowly. "He's dying. He should've died a long time ago. This. . .this is more like a memory."

"But gods can't die," Grover said.

"They can fade," Pan said. "When everything they stand for is gone. when they have cease to have power, and their sacred places disappear. When they are simply erased from history. The wild, my dear Grover, is so small now, so shattered, that no god can save it. My realm is gone. That is why I need you to carry a message. You must go back to the council. You must tell the satyrs, and the dryads, and the other spirits of nature, that the great god Pan is  dead. Tell them of my passing. Because they must stop waiting for me to save them. I cannot. The only salvation you must make yourself. Each of you must—"

He stoped and frowned at the dodo bird, who had started humming again.

"Dede, what are you doing?" Pan demanded. "Are you singing Kumbaya  again?"

Dede looked up innocently and blinked her yellow eyes.

Pan sighed. "Everybody's a cynic. But as I was saying, my dear Grover, each of you must take up my calling."

"But. . .no!" Grover whimpered.

"Be strong," Pan said. "You have found me. And now you must release me. You must carry on my spirit. It can no longer be carried by a god. It must be taken up by all of you."

Pan looked straight at Percy with his clear blue eyes, and I realized he wasn't just talking to the satyrs. He meant half-bloods, too, and humans. Everyone.

"Percy Jackson," the god said. "I know what you have seen today. I know your doubts. But I will give you this news: when the time comes,you will not be ruled by fear."

He turned to Annabeth. "Daughter of Athena, your time is coming. You will play a great role, though it may not be the role you imagined."

Then he looked at Tyson, "Master Cyclops, do not despair. Heroes rarely live up to our expectations. But you, Tyson—your name shall live among the Cyclops for generations. Miss Rachel Dare. . ." 

Rachel flinched when he said her name. She backed up like she was guilty of something, but Pan only smiled. He raised his hand in a blessing.

"I know you believe you cannot make amends," he said. "But you are just as important as your father."

"I—" Rachel faltered. A tear traced her cheek.

"I know you don't believe this now," Pan said. "But look for opportunities. They will come."

He turned to me, "Ah, dear Mira. It has been many long years since I saw your last host. I guess you were right, you would see me in my last moments."

I blinked. I wasn't Mira, sure I was the Moiraio, but I wasn't a goddess. I bleed regular blood, not ichor. I wasn't immortal.

"I know, Kiera Jackson," Pan sighed. "You believe I may have finally lost it," he laughed, "but I assure you. I have not. Mira and I were very alike in comparison. Like you understand everything, there must be a balance. Good and evil. Life and death. Yin, and Yang.  I am sorry, Kiera. You will feel guilty for loses, but it is not your fault. You cannot save everyone."

I hadn't realized I was crying till a tear traced down my cheek. Something slid over my sandals and I looked down. The black and white paired snake was looking up at me with both of it's heads. I bent down and picked it up, where it happily curved around my wrist and laid both it's heads down.

"Keep them for me, aye?" When Pan looked back at me, there was some sort of memory playing in his