Mind Games

My name is Mia Pallas, I am a daughter of Athena and a Naiad named Pallas. Now, I feel quite lucky that I was not a daughter of Poseidon or I would probably be sporting only one eye. I had a lot of friends at camp half blood but one night, my attention wandered to a "spark". This was quite unusual, you see, in Camp-Half blood, the demigods each have a cabin that represents their godly parent. I sleep in the Athena cabin. We usually do not get any night time visitors because they have to go through Harpies to move from cabin to cabin. Most nights, in recent history, there had been arguments between our Camp leader Chiron, a centaur who is our immortal teacher, mentor, trainer and a son of Hermes. These arguments always got heated. I filed that into my random information drawer for later retrieval, if necessary. This sparking business really got me wondering and when I see a puzzle, I just need to piece it together.

After a couple weeks of daily and nightly sparking, my universe started changing very slowly. It felt as if, at night, instead of being in my cabin, I was in the Big House, watching these arguments. I was being transported into a slightly different world. One day, I noticed another argument. This person ( was he really a person?) was arguing that potatoes were stronger and greater than bananas with the same son of Hermes that had been sparking for all these weeks. This Potato humanoid was supposedly the Emperor of a far off land, a entire reality. Apparently, there had been a big battle which had killed this very son of Hermes ( I will call him Nolan) . I soon understood that Nolan had lost the fight and had been sent to the Underworld, where he escaped. The child of Hermes had an odd fascination with bananas, a prosthetic leg and a half eaten hot dog. I needed to find out more about this obsession because, according to Nolan himself, it was tied to a Great Prophecy pertaining to a child of Athena. I had never heard of this Prophecy, I became increasingly interested. One thing was evident, Nolan was a trickster, like most children of Hermes but, he must have been a legacy of Athena because his intelligence was impressive. Not only was he smart, a trickster and an escaped spirit of the Underworld, he claimed to be the fastest demigod alive. All these arguments and gloating interested me. Being a daughter of Athena, I wanted to know more. Slowly, I started speaking to this Emperor potato. The idea was to understand how a Potato could kill a lord of Bananas who was also a Hermes child. Gods were the most powerful beings out there, were they not? Demigods are powerful but I also have the hidden advantage of being half nymph. This feeling of advantage almost led to my fall.

Although the sparking demigod was confusing, the Potato person was overconfident, sometimes rude and seemed to think he was better than everyone. I decided to watch quietly and learn more of what was going on. I watched his interactions with my half brother and sparking Nolan, Lord of Bananas, son of Hermes. My interest grew daily. This is when I decided I knew enough to try and make friends with these three people to get an insight on the dynamic of the group and power levels. I realised that my half brother, Ender, whom I had not met yet, was very easy to approach. He was only at camp when the Potato Emperor was at camp. Normally the protection around the camp would not allow any other than demigods, centaurs or satyrs to enter, so how The Emperor gained entrance was a mystery to me. Maybe I was transported to his world or he infiltrated camp. I couldn't know for sure as sometimes the mist would even cloud demigod's vision of reality. I noted that Ender clearly sided with the Emperor. Being a son of the Goddess of Wisdom, I assumed he was on the right side so I started speaking to both together. Nolan was harder to approach given his erratic schedule and the fact that he was a spirit. When I did interact with him, I was very careful to appear witty. I know better than to make an enemy of a child of Hermes, let alone a spirit son of Hermes. We agreed on many points.

I tried to infiltrate the arguments between the demigod and Chiron and became agreeable. I could see that a confrontation was about to happen. Most nights, I set an alarm so I could reply immediately to his sparks. I didn't want to miss the slightest comment, which usually was a HaHa! Mia. Now I knew that I had been noticed by all factions. I had an ace in the whole. One late night, a very nasty argument took place between the Emperor and the Son of Hades, there was much name calling, threatening and desires to destroy each other. Ender even threatened to summon Hades to give back the son of Hermes' spirit to the underworld. As we all know, children of Hermes are incredibly fast. He issued a prophecy, which I imprinted in my mind and disappeared before Hades appeared. When the three were fighting, I always stayed away and watched. When he would spark in the night, I would now speak to the son of Hermes and tell him I was impressed and liked bananas better than potatoes. I would smile at his stories and laugh with him and during the day, I would infiltrate the second group. The group now held an Emperor, a scribe who was my own brother and a goddess of dragons and demigods.

The very next day after the day the prophecy was issued. A new being arrived. Well, he did not arrive. It felt like the world around me changed. The scenery was clearer, the blues of the streams were beautiful. It was all mesmerising, then I was pulled into a darker place with the arrival of the God of Ps. We were all watching this creature that was trapped in a dark jail, which actually looked quite comfortable. It had no windows but there was a nice comfy chair to sit in. He was charming and seemed kind, I was being showered with compliments and for once, I was not ignored. It felt like I was really seen, like I had some kind of value. He was talking of horrors committed by this Emperor Potato. He spoke of a Saint that was wrongfully killed, extinction of planets and even the fact that the Emperor destroyed this new creatures homeland out of malice. He was quite convincing and the way he spoke was hypnotic. Those who were there to hear him speak, had to listen, there was no other choice. His voice dominated your mind. The Emperor tried to defend his actions but it was difficult to focus on what he was saying when his answer to everything the creature was saying was met with the Emperor saying: "Yes, it is true, but..." The Emperor starting speaking of the crimes the Ps committed. He spoke of a creature that infected the world with it's evil thoughts, who whispered in your mind. A creature who destroyed everything thing it touched. And this creature would reply: Lies, he is trying to trick you, he will destroy everything you hold dear as he destroyed my home." Although the creature was extremely convincing, I weighed this new information against ,my past interactions with the Emperor. Seeing that I would possibly be swayed, the Emperor showed me some information. He said: "Look, he said this himself. Look at how he describes himself!" And so I did look at the evidence written by the creatures own "hands". It was equally as horrifying as all the things that the PS accused the Emperor of doing. The creature must have felt that his hold over me was wavering because he showed me what the Emperor had written himself : " Till all are One!" This confirmed the goal of the Emperor being to invade and conquer our world.

My brother, Ender, was standing fast with the Emperor, which made me think that he must have more information. At that moment, I decided to speak to him in a more primitive kind of communication. Ender had a book of Scribe that he had written and he had given me a copy. When I would wave my hand over the book, I could communicate with Ender without anyone knowing this information. I asked him who he was believing. His answer was Potato. I agreed and asked him if he had a plan. He said he could destroy the creature once and for all. We encountered a communication issue in the planning stages therefore, we decided to communicate through iris messages which were real time discussions that could not been overheard by anyone. We needed a plan and Ender had one. Let the creature out and destroy it. Yes, well, that made sense but, as all people concerned were giving information as to what their exploits were, I started asking more pointed questions to give us clue as to how the Ps could be destroyed. While he was still charming, I informed my brother that I was going to let myself be swayed by his sweet talk and give him clues as to what I truly wanted in order to give him pertinent information so it would be believable.

At this point, I had noticed that Ender was favoured by the Emperor and I was often ignored. Ender had the attention of the Emperor and the Empress but more than that, he had the attention of Athena. I was pretty much no one, which truly hurt my feelings. I thought that if I could leak this information to the PS, then I could be easily swayed by being told that I was important. The plan worked perfectly. As this was happening, an idea struck Ender. Greek fire. It burns hot and fast plus, it does not burn out. Ender found a very primitive way of asking the Emperor if this would be successful. He came back with bad news. This is when I started thinking of something that is very, very rare and hard to come by. The Physician's cure. We tried to find a way to get it but, it just wouldn't work.

The following day, was a Friday. Fridays could be exciting at camp half blood because that meant that some of us got to go home on the weekend. Seeing that my Mother was a goddess and well, my other parent was deceased long ago, that meant that I got to stay here pretty much all the time. Anyway, the day went pretty much as it always did, in the morning, we all hurried to the dining pavilion, said hello, had breakfast then went to lessons with Chiron, Thomeus and Roy. We had some friendly competitions and discussed the Raptors win of the Basketball tournament. I felt a twinge of excitement. A special gift had been hand delivered to myself that would make my life much easier. I'm not sure if Athena gave it to me or of it was delivered by a Son of Hermes but the plan was falling into place.

The next day, we met up and discussed the Scribe's new drawings of the Emperor and Empress Sam near the Potatocis' palace ( Potatocis is the Emperor's name). Eventually, the PS creature wanted an audience with the Emperor and Ender and I followed. Again, the PS creature tried to solidify his position with me by using his charisma and brainwashing type abilities. Psykers can sway even the strongest minds. I decided to pretend to be swayed and give signals that it had worked. Meanwhile, Ender would attempt to kill the creature twice, earning him some issues and scolding by the Emperor.

While I was listening to the conversation, asking questions and watching failed assassination attempts, I was also discussing the Plan with Ender. I am more of a passive person, whereas, Ender's  ADHD is much more apparent in his impulsiveness and restlessness. I told Ender the plan. We had to make Greek Fire to destroy the PS creature and have it ingest the potent mixture that would utterly destroy it. Ender would be the one to administer the poison and I would set PS free. The very hard to obtain Physician's cure was still an issue but, I thought of a way I could obtain. If my plan worked properly, someone would provide the Physician's cure without me having to do anything but talk. So, I started talking. Talking about how life is finite and illness is ravaging my body and only one thing could save me. I even shed a tear, I was quite convincing because, I was speaking the truth but no one knew that at the time. After having gotten my message across, I issued a challenge!! "I will side with Whoever can get me the Physician's cure !"

The second item, I would have to cook up myself. I had to excuse myself in order to cook it. I told everyone that I was going to bake blue cookies. I went to the Hermes cabin and found Luke Castellan's diary. The ingredients to Greek fire were inside. I created 3 vials of Greek fire and one batch of cookies. I waited until the following day to return to the Prison.

Let me tell you that when the spark came that night, Nolan took shape appeared, he gave me a round of applause and called me devious. I smiled and thanked him kindly. He laughed his crazy, I have a plan laugh and disappeared.

That night, I ran over the plan and checked the prophecy to make sure my back up plan was still viable and I hadn't made any mistakes. I then realised that the cure wouldn't work. It would need to be corrupted. That night, I used the labyrinth under camp half blood and made my way to Medea's mall. What would I need? How to corrupt the physician's cure into a poison. I figured I would know when I saw it. There were many options...which one would be more lethal? I grabbed some vials as I walked quietly around, wearing my new invisibility cap. I couldn't think of anything potent enough. I looked to the right and I saw it, there, locked behind a glass door. Gorgon's blood. Yes, this will do nicely. I was not a child of Hermes so lock picking was a bit of a challenge but I finally succeeded. With the gorgon blood in hand, I returned to camp half blood. This, this was going to work!

I spoke to Ender some more about the issues we still faced. He was compromised, he could not get close enough to free Ps. It was up to me.  If we could not get the Physician's cure, we would still try the Greek fire and gorgon blood mixture. I wanted to wait until the last possible minute to mix the two ingredients together, in case it went wrong and I ended up killing myself. That would be very disappointing. We theorised on how we could do the exchange secretly. We still had the problem of passing the vials of Greek fire/gorgon blood mixture and the Physician's cure to Ender.  A plan developed. The only way to transfer the vials from my possession to Ender was to feign a fight. The subject was easy. Ender was not only Mother's favourite ( which I still believe to be true) he was also the Emperor's favourite because he received the title of Imperial Scribe after drawing a few pictures and I? I was a necessary annoyance that just wouldn't go away. We had to make it look real and, in order to minimise possible mistakes, I would use a sword in the fight because, with a spear, I am practically unbeatable. Although Ender had always been the favourite of both Mother and Potatocis, I really didn't want to injure him because I might need him to help me if things go wrong and, he is my brother.

The next day was the day that we would enact the plan. As usual, Ender and I discussed and tried to find flaws. We had planned and emergency exit just in case. We even discussed the option of including Nolan in our plan but we dismissed the subject seeing as Nolan and Ender, apparently had some kind of history which made Ender hate him. I decided not to mention the sparking. The secret I held close to me was that I knew this was day three from Nolan's prediction. It had to happen today. There was no question but I was excited and nervous.

As we all converged to the jail, I realised we were running out of time and something had to happen now. I was pretty sure the Emperor viewed me as an enemy and the Ps viewed me as a potential ally but one can never know what goes on in a person's mind. I would have to risk it all. I had gotten some Intel from Nolan who had, maybe inadvertently, told us the key to freeing the PS. I had a suspicion that he wanted us to do it. We needed to get a message to the Emperor but seeing as he was not a demigod, we could not use our traditional ways. Ender ran the original idea by him of destroying the Ps with Greek fire and gorgon's blood. Ender told me the bad news. It would not work. On the bright side, the Physician's cure was in the hands of the Emperor. This was going to work. All I needed was celestial bronze to free the Ps and then came the risky part. Just to add to the stress of the situation, Ender just informed me that he had been summoned to the Underworld so we needed to act now or he would not be available for the fight.

The fight, which had taken hours to plan, was going to happen right after the Ps was freed. I got to work. With my celestial bronze blade, I freed the Ps Later on, when my memory was partially restored, I was asked by the Emperor to explain my motivations for freeing Ps. It was not as simple as I would have liked it to be. I would have liked to say that I decided to free him in order to help the Emperor destroy Ps but that would only be a partial truth. In my mind, Ps was not lying. The horrors he said that the Emperor had committed were even confirmed by the Emperor himself. Although Ps had done some very bad things, when the discussion changed to poor Saint Spuddia, I was overwhelmed in confusion. Then Ps said the only two things he could have said to make everyone believe my loyalty to him. The first was: "Free me and I will give you the Physician's Cure". The second was: "Potato does not see your value. He refused to make you Adviser. I would take you as adviser."  Although this did make me feel valued and important, I kept in mind that Ps would do practically anything to leave his cell. I did know that he did not normally lie so I knew his word was good but I also knew he had a way to get out of it.

Not knowing who was the good guy and who was the bad guy. I had to make a decision because I was already in this pretty deep. The idea was to side with he good guy knowing that the good guy may have been on the wrong side. My curiosity and thirst for knowledge made me want o go with Ps but Ender was with the Emperor. In that moment, I committed to follow, Ender, It was as simple as that. Although I wavered many times during these three days, in the end, I believe I made the right choice, although I still had a little penchant for Ps. The Emperor obviously didn't care for me, at all, but the prisoner, he was kind.

As, I was saying, I got to work freeing Ps from his prison and followed the plan we had come up with. In return for his freedom, I was given the Physician's cure and some sort of magical book. I thanked Ps very convincingly but there was no way I was opening that book. Knowledge is power but knowledge could also be very dangerous and until I knew the specifics of this book, it would remain closed. I had a healthy mistrust of gifts of knowledge, although I really did want to see what was inside, I was able to push down the thirst. We had a job to do here. We needed to move fast before the Emperor was aware of what had been done. Ender played the part perfectly! He feigned anger:

" Why did you free him!!! What is wrong with you??", he drew his weapon. I did the same , with my trusty celestial bronze sword.

" You heard him, you know what he said about the Emperor. You are on the wrong side. Ps values me, he does not underestimate me like mother does. Even the Emperor. You do nothing but draw and get an Imperial title and I? I get ignored by my own mother. I help the Emperor, give him solid advice and he ignores me!!! Ps does not ignore me he appreciates me!"

I'll be honest, the sword play was kind of bad because, well, we didn't really want to harm each other but Ender I kept hearing Ender's voice in my head telling me I was very convincing and that he hoped  I had not turned on him. I laughed on the inside and replied: good. As I had Ender up against the wall, I passed him my new Raptor's invisibility cap which contained the vials of Greek fire and gorgon's blood.  The exchange passed unnoticed. The Emperor roared in anger and I've really been scolded so badly in my entire existence. I was gong to die and I knew it. As luck would have it, Nolan had arrived. Perfect distraction. This time Ender had an idea or maybe the idea came before because it takes a while to make an automaton. He had one handy. It replaced me and I hid. Ender informed me that I was going to the Underworld with him. The idea was to erase my memories so the Emperor would not need to kill me. The poor automaton was being bounced between Ps and the Emperor. Ps, trying to protect me and the Emperor wanting to kill me. Apparently Nolan had some kind of plan for me or had taken a liking to me because he chose to free what he thought was me.

Meanwhile, I took three vials of water from the River Lethe before I took a lovely dip in the River Lethe and my memories of the "betrayal" were properly erased. The idea was to have them handy in case we could come close enough to Ps  and hopefully erase his memory. I gave them to Ender because he was the logical choice and I wouldn't know who Ps was after my moments in the River so he should use them whenever he had an opportunity. After the whole memory wipe thing was done, I had a lovely week long visit with Persephone and Hades in the Underworld. Ender would drop by once in a while to say hello. It was actually quite enjoyable, apart from the fact that food had to be delivered for me because one cannot eat food in the Underworld unless the person wanted to be trapped there forever but that is a story for another time.

Hold up, Ender just told me that that was an implanted memory and that I actually spent a whole week asleep in the Hypnos cabin at camp half blood. Well, that's a bummer. I always wondered why Persephone and Hades would treat me better than my own mother. I mean, that is quite a bit of effort to get food delivered to the Underworld. Well, it was nice of him to try to give me some happy family time. Anyway, I guess that after a week of sleeping, I well, woke up and joined the others. I was greeted by my friends and everything was like it used to be. We would train daily, attend the lectures, pass inspection in the morning. There was no sign of Nolan. I was told that he made a dramatic exit after some sort of drama took place on the day I left to spend time with Persephone and Hades and that we would not be seeing any more of him. For some reason, I was disappointed. Sometimes I loved that Nolan guy, saving my behind and making me feel valued, sometimes I hated him for messing up my plans, but he was truly useful.

Ender would sneak off during the day so I decided to follow him to see what he was up to. Apparently, all the action had moved away from camp half blood and the other worldly prison. Daily, Ender would leave our world and go to some kind of an Imperium where Emperor Potato was the ruler and A giant Ps slept in the centre of a planet. I thought I had seen Monsters before but the creatures on this planet were things from nightmares. Everything was so grand on this new Planet. The palaces were so tall that they reached to the sky. There were people but there were also giant soldiers that reminded me of transformers that were marching down the streets. There was a small river that flowed through the countryside. It was very magical. Giant statues of Potatocis were erected. This confirmed to me that Potatocis thought very highly of himself and was not in need of a self esteem boost. The people seemed happy enough. I met Ender by the River and we started sparring. Once in a while, I would dunk him in the River and laugh. He did the same to me but the Emperor still did not trust me and I could not phantom why. Although I tried to infiltrate the group of friends, it never worked. Ender became not only Scribe, but a General. I stood by and watched trying to stomp down my jealousy.

Ender and I would meet daily by the River near the Palace and we would spar for fun. It was a nice escape of the daily routine. We would talk about camp and Mother and other things. Ender simply could not let go of our failure to eliminate Ps. He kept coming up with plans and ruses and  I helped develop them. I would then keep them in mind for a better opportunity but Ender was more of a create your own opportunity. One of these plans was actually a brutal head on attack that I was unaware of. When I realised what Ender was doing, it was too late to stop him. I knew that if it happened, he would be killed. I tried to talk him out of it but he just wouldn't have any of it. Ender swung his sword and before it connected, he was stopped, frozen in action. The Emperor had previously come to a non aggression agreement that he intended to keep with Ps. In exchange, Ps was to keep the worlds he already has and promise not to expand. This is why the Emperor stopped Ender from administering this blow to Ps. The problem was that the attack, although thwarted, was still an act of aggression. Ps tried to convince Potatocis that the pact was null and void and that Ender had to die for breaking the pact. After some negotiations, they came to an understanding. Ender could live but he would no longer be General. In all honesty, I was not sad about this new development, which made me feel like a bad person. He was my brother and I should have been furious but for him to be stripped of one of his titles, it gave me a little bit of satisfaction.

Ender was now only a Scribe and I was still overlooked and underestimated. Maybe that was not a bad thing...I started thinking that since I was just a no one, I was not a threat...The only person who actually knew what I can do is Ender and he's not sharing that with the others. Being ignored is to my advantage. If I can just manipulate, ever so slightly the events that are unfolding, I can make sure that Ps and Potatocis are at a stalemate. When I see a major move unfolding, all I have to do is tell Ender what I believe the significance of the move is so we can either start thwarting it before it comes to fruition or hold out counter measures to the last minute and turn the tides. Yeah, I did not have much to my advantage but my gift from Athena was strategy in war and I was not willing to let on just yet. I also still had not revealed that I was part naiad so just being near a water source would help strengthen me. The underdog was a good thing to be in such an environment. The only problem is that my brother, love him to death, tends to jump the gun...so once in a while, I had to step in and let it show that I knew what was coming. Most days, I would do research on Ps and the Emperor, alone in the cabin at Camp Half blood, trying to get ahead of everyone's plans. I soon realised that Potatocis was more of a reactive person and the Ps would be instigating, little by little. Every word was calculated, every little thing was done with a purpose in mind. Every step or word uttered in my mind were going to lead to the end of the World, if I didn't figure it out and do something about it.

Meanwhile, there were parties and festivals near the centre of the planet where Ps slept. At first, these songs did not bother me. Parties are alright but eventually, it started getting to me. I would ask what it is they were celebrating and the answer I would get was festivals. What kind of festivals? I just had to know. The music and the voices started getting to me. At first, I would just sway slightly as I was sitting by the River watching Potatocis, Sam and Ender discuss the issues of the Imperium. I was used to being left out. Once in a while, I would speak up and ask them if they were sure their strategies were wise but I was ignored. I decided to stop trying and would mention my concerns to Ender in private. He always paid attention to me. I would tell him what I thought was going on and why such a strategy would fail or a theory as to why Ps was doing something with the fauna but we kept that to ourselves because, well, there was no point in sharing. The Emperor did not like theories without proof and there was no way to show proof to a future event.

Yet, I still tried. Everyday, I would show up and analyse and pay attention to every single detail, try to get ahead of the big plan to destroy the Emperor and corrupt the people of the planet. Sometimes I wondered why I put so much effort into doing this. Eventually, I realised that it was because I enjoyed the challenge of trying to  thwart Ps. I was getting the validation I so desperately needed when I did figure out a plan. I felt useful and  and appreciated and then, something else happened.I started admiring the attention to detail and high level    level quality of planning on the part of Ps. My focus changed became more of a one on one psychological  between Ps and I. I started  showing him when I understood his plans. This is when I started getting into trouble. I guess you can call it vanity or pride. Hiding in the shadows and setting up counter measures was getting old for me. i wanted him to know that I was useful too. That was a big mistake. I became more of a target.  If he took me out of the equation, then he would be able to create more chaos.I don't know if the Emperor noticed the change in my strategy but I did start trying to convince him that I was on his side, even though Ps' mind games were very impressive. In the back of my mind, I knew I was in trouble, especially seeing as I was the only mortal person there. Which must have seen odd to them because this has been going on for years. Nymphs live for as long as their water source is intact. They can die in battle but otherwise, we had very long life spans. Since only Ender knew about my nymph side, this makes me wonder what they were thinking was going  on.

One day, Potatocis, Ender and I had been talking at Camp half blood about trivial things but I had a question. I kept asking the Emperor why he did not trust me even though I kept trying to be helpful. He kept answering that I had a weak mind and that I would easily be swayed by Ps like before. I assumed he meant the singing and festivals but I wasn't really swayed. I was able to block it out so it made no sense that he would say that. Now I know that he was talking about the time I freed Ps. I must have played the double cross a little too convincingly. So, that evening, at camp half blood, a new god arrived. This god was a Primordial and was very powerful. He challenged Potatocis. I watched as the verbal battle began. I was not going to get in the middle of this, I knew that my odds of getting utterly destroyed were high in a fight between the two. It is important to know one's limitations and one's place. I did tell Dylan, the Primordial that he should not challenge Potatocis because it wouldn't end well for him. I was told to stay out of it. I did, for a while but I did summon some popcorn and watched the interaction. As I watched, I intervened periodically telling Potatocis what I thought was going to happen next. I always started my interventions by WAIT!! The battle began, it was impressive. I was surprised that the Primordial did not loose immediately. He put up a good fight. I started backing away, I did not want to get caught in the cross fire. I had to do something to turn the tides and give the advantage to Potatocis. One last intervention. Before I did so, I prayed to my mother Athena, hoping she would pay attention. I knew this intervention was going to cost me. I gathered my courage and insulted the Primordial God...yeah, not very smart but Ender would be disappointed if I stood by and let the Primordial win. As expected, he did not take the insult well and he propelled me into space. We had a problem, because, well, I was not immortal. Before I got to destination, Athena teleported me to Mount Olympus thus saving my life.

I was surprised when she answered my prayers because normally, it was like I was talking to myself. Mother doesn't visit much nor does she interact with me on a daily basis. I knew that if I intervened in this altercation between a Primordial and the Emperor, it would probably be the end of me. The whole point of the intervention was to rebuild a trust relationship with the Emperor. I was not counting on her helping but maybe, just maybe, Ender had put in a good word and asked her to help out. There was no other rational explanation...except for pity and I don't like to think of anyone taking pity on me. I dismissed that reason quickly. Mother told me I should lie low for a while so I was invited to stay on Mount Olympus. During my stay, we barely talked but imagine my surprise when I found out that Ender had been made a minor god. Typical...he got a lot of attention from Mother. Again, to me, it made no sense because he was a Legacy of Poseidon and Athena and Poseidon had a long time feud because Poseidon offered horses to an island community and Athena offered Olive trees so she got to be the Patron Goddess of that Island. Oh, and there was also the mess with Medusa but I digress...I spent most of my days reading books and admiring the architecture of Mount Olympus. Ender would visit and we would hang out. He would keep me up to date on the happenings between the Emperor and Ps. Apparently, Dylan, the Primordial had decided to side with the Emperor after their fight which seemed strange to me. I did not trust him. Ender informed me that my ploy to rebuild trust between myself and the Emperor has been unsuccessful. What a shame.

While I was in hiding out in Mount Olympus, I did some research. I checked my notes and searched the library for more information on Ps. I also asked around Olympus to try to find out more about our "new friend", who had just tried to send me to a premature death. This person had just shown up one day and decided he would rule the Republic. It felt quite ambitious of him. Perhaps he did not understand who he was dealing with and thought of me as an annoyance instead of an ally or enemy. The Emperor, Ender and myself, we were underestimated in this person's point of view, exactly where I liked to be. Potatocis put Dylan back in his place. Although Dylan was smart and quick and strategic, he may have decided that vying an ally to Potatocis was the best option for him.

Dylan, the Primordial had switched sided and decided he should support the Emperor instead of fighting him. The change of mind was unexpected, so I decided to look into that also. Ender had been able to communicate our  alliance with the Emperor but I still felt like we were nowhere near trusting each other. We decided that we should let him know of our mistrust of the change of heart on Dylan's part. While I was doing research,  I realised that we were dealing either with Tzeench himself or one of his high ranking follower/servant. I shared the books I found with Ender. Ender agreed that PS was likely associated with Tzeench but not likely the chaos God himself. Ender disagreed, he said Ps was most likely a high ranking Tyranid after he looked at the evidence I sent his way. A new theory started forming but I wasn't sure enough to say anything. There was a newer fifth chaos god and this one was Ps. I would later acquire enough evidence and information to be at least 85% sure that my theory was right. I started building a relationship with Dylan but I was being cautious. I did not give hi all the information I had  discovered but I hinted to an association  with the chaos god Tzeench. At this point, i realised that I had met my match. I would have to be more cautious in my dealings with Ps and I realised that I was foolish and naive to try to outsmart him. Since I had time on my hands, I also started research on  Potatocis, the Emperor of Man and the Primarchs. I realised that Potataocis was a  formidable being but  the odds were that Ps would be the one to get me killed or be able to sway me to the side of chaos. I needed to be more careful.

I took my time returning to the Republic. When I did make my return, I learned that Ender was gifted the new status of godhood and the powers of a God. I felt that twinge of jealousy again, our mother had chosen him and ignored everything I have ever done. She would never deem me worthy of becoming a god. I wasn't even sure I wanted to be one but it would have been nice to be offered the option. Everything I did to try to please my mother and to try to save the worlds, I would never be good enough.

When I left Olympus, I stayed at Camp half blood. Once in a while, the Primordial would check in, like nothing happened. I figured, what better way to keep my eye on this situation than to befriend him. I told Ender of the plan and he informed me that they already had a private place to discuss matters of the Republic and strategies to protect it. He was already keeping an eye on Dylan which both made me proud and concerned. I did the same and then we had private discussions about our meetings. Dylan seemed to have a full change of heart but we couldn't be 100% certain that it was true. I still did not trust him fully. Once in a while, he would make a very small, almost insignificant decision which would snowball into a lot of trouble for Ender and I. The question was, is he aware of this? It often felt like we were being set up but we had to wonder if that was intentional. He even backed out of a very elaborate plan to get rid of Ps. It was very dangerous and we had explained the risks clearly of this plan.

Ender was going to do a body switch with Dylan. The reason? It was obvious that Ender wanted to end Ps, I was still trying to win back the trust of the Emperor, if I made any sort of move, that trust would be destroyed so the only logical candidate was Dylan. The circle was drawn, Ender's part of the incantation was chanted. I asked Dylan privately if he was ready. He said: " hell no, I'm not crazy enough to do that. And....Ender was blown. There was no way we could pull this plan off with just the two of us. A week of planning, down the drain. Another example was the set up with the ship unleashing the creatures. Dylan knew for a fact it wasn't me but he never said and he even encouraged both Ps and Potatocis to believe it could be me. All the while, he was trying to rush me into an explanation that could have gotten me killed easily and I hadn't done anything wrong. That was the end of the trust but I was not going to tell him that. That was for me and Ender to know and Dylan to find out the hard way. As we were uncertain of Dylan's true loyalties, Ender petitioned the Gods and I was granted godhood, this would keep me relatively safe is Dylan decided to try to kill me. The timing was odd but I decided there must be a reason and it is a logical assumption that someone soon was going to try to throw me in space again or something or the sort.

I'm not sure if Ender had tipped Potarocis off about Dylan the Primordial because his story ended abruptly with him being arrested for breaking the laws of the Republic and had to serve 3 years in jail. On the bright side, at least we didn't have to worry about this alliance anymore and we could focus on Ps.

In the meantime, Ps was busy creating all kinds of new fungus and invasive species of flora. He even gave birth to children, which shocked everyone. I had a sneaking suspicion that his children were meant to oppose us. Obviously, Potatocis' enemy was Ps. When he gave birth to a water nymph with fangs and claws, I realised that she was meant to be my nemesis. There were also dysmorphic spud babies. All of these beings matured quickly to adulthood. The evil water nymph was trying to convince me to go and visit her but I knew better than to fall prey to a new version of a maenad. I watched her and prayed that she would not need my help in keeping her waters healthy because, if she asked for help, I would be bound to provide that assistance. I started working on defensive measures and an escape plan in case I did have to go to her for any reason.

By this time, a new organisation had been created. They were known as the Children of the Empress and their leader was a woman named Olivia. The Children were protected by Empress Samirah and she was considered their Mother. Gardens were created in her honour and the Children created laboratories and were curing the population from ailments with elixirs that had been perfected in the Children's laboratory, they also had large libraries. This was suspicious to me. This new group shows up and decides to help the people and associate themselves with the second highest authority in the Republic. Maybe I had a suspicious mind or something odd was going on. I decided I should infiltrate their laboratory and realised that they were dabbling in gene manipulation. It made sense and it wasn't a stretch because that is one way to cure ailment, erase or modify genes that are defective. I decided to stay at their lab until I understood better. Ender moved my room into the lab, which was appreciated.

Ender informed me that the Children were doing some odd rituals in an underground. He was curious. He thought that perhaps, he could fight dark magic with dark magic. I'm not sure how wise that is but he still snooped around and reported the actions of the Children to me. I started thinking about their purpose and thought I should inform the Empress. I formed a link with her and informed her that the Children were dangerous and that she needed to be careful with her interactions with her. I told her that she was being manipulated and she informed me that she was in a cave with Olivia. Olivia was the leader of the Children and that she wanted a new arrival to be allowed to join the Children and be protected by the Empress herself. I told her that this was dangerous, that she should not allow the creature to come to the surface. She was in a precarious position. She needed to leave the cave but it would be dangerous. I told her to stall and ask Potatocis for help.

Apparently, the Empress liked to rely on herself but she would still take advice so maybe she would leave the cave unharmed. She asked me to tell Potatocis to help but I told her that we were not on the best of terms right now so there was no point, he probably wouldn't listen. I felt her fear rise and I asked what was going on. She told me hat the creature wanted to touch her. I told her to get away from it...to run!! I wasn't going to let the Empress get corrupted or killed. As I decided to blow my cover, she did something that surprised me. She told the creature the truth. Told it that she thought it was a bad idea that he come to the surface and that it should go back to where it came from, then she turned and left. To my surprise, she was allowed to leave the cave.

Ender started acting more erratic, I did not understand what was wrong with him. Although he had always been impulsive and quick to jump to conclusions, there was a reasoning, a logic behind what he did. I watched and tried to give him as much advice as I could but he kept acting erratically. I told him to leave Ps alone, do not approach, do not try to engage or awake him. It was dangerous. I read the books learning more and more on Ps and fear, no terror is more accurate burned in my soul. I told him everything I knew and his response...

"I'm gonna wake him up."

"No! You will not wake him up!! "

"I have a question and I need a favour."

"Ender!! You will not approach Ps, you will not wake him. Your favour, if you wait a little, I'll come up with a solution but I really need to go now. DO NOT DO ANYTHING RASH!!"

I left. The Children offered me access to knowledge, they wanted to take me to the Dark Library. Before I could answer, I needed to know what this was. I did not trust them and I did not want to be tempted beyond the safe point by knowledge. I read up on it and realised that it was not a safe place for me to go. Before I made up an excuse not to go, I checked in on Ender and found him speaking to Ps. He had awaken him. I could not believe Ender would do such a thing especially after I told him everything I knew about him and his title of Oracle of Secrets. Was he not paying attention? Did he not know that this creature could kill everything and destroy the whole planet? I knew I had told him about all of this but he chose to ignore it.. I scolded him so badly as he spoke. I wished him good luck and just gave up on him. His impulsiveness and impatience was going to get him killed, right then and there.

Then something unexpected happened. Ps granted Ender his wish of having a planet for himself and with a stern warning to not disturb his slumber again, he let Ender go. Ender had plans. He spoke to me in private and told me:

"Do not help me anymore. I am no longer on your side."

I was shocked to hear this. For a moment, I did not know what to do but I realised that, if he took the time to tell me this, then he was not as far gone as he said he was. He still cared. I soon understood that he was planning this for a long time and that this is why he had petitioned the Gods to make me a Goddess, to protect me. I had to do something but what?

After I spoke to Olivia and refused the offer of going to the Children's library, I realised what was really going on with the Children and how big of a threat they were. I started alluding to this knowledge. Ender caught on and decided on a last show of support. He revealed the whole ploy. I was surprised he was willing to take the risk but he did. It was a little disconcerting. Unfortunately, I don't think Potatocis and Samirah took notice but now, Ender and I were threats. How do the Children of the Empress deal with threats? They eliminate them. On a happy note, they did not outright try to kill me, they had to keep the favour of the Empress so instead, they decided to frame me. The hope was either that the Emperor would kill me or I would at least be distracted enough to forget to mention the plan and move on to a more pressing issue. If the latter was the plan, then it succeeded beautifully.

While I was away, there was an invasion of gene Steelers on the planet. It was timed perfectly with my return to the republic. The gene Steelers were quickly dealt with but the Children insisted that I was the one who planned the attack. As I was approaching, I noted the invasion and understood what was going on. I tried to find a way to prove that it wasn't me but I could not think of anything. It looked really bad so I entrusted all my weapons to Ender, which was another risk I had to take and  went down to greet the Emperor. There was only one way to possibly survive this. Honesty, pure simple and transparent honesty. I stood in front of Potatocis and told him that I did not do this. I told him that, although I have been secretive and my intentions had been unclear many times before, the truth was that I was not responsible for this invasion, I would never allow an invasion, it goes against everything I believe in. I was the Goddess of peace, after all. I also did not point any fingers at anyone, although I really wanted to and I offered for him to look into my mind to see if I was lying. In all honesty, I expected to die or be imprisoned. The plan was not great but the Emperor did not look into my mind, although I offered and, incredibly enough, he said he believed me and trusted me. This was nothing short of a miracle. Unless, once again, my brother intervened in my favour... Empress Samirah had successfully thought me that when you are cornered, tell the truth. It will serve me well in the future.

I was curious to see how much attention I was getting from Ps as I realised his motives for giving Ender a planet that was protected from the Emperor's reach. Ender was making demons. Ps would take the sacrifice of some of these demons in order to grow stronger and awake. This was very bad for the Republic. I needed to know what was going on so I took another risk. I started communicating with Ps while I was away, either in Olympus or sometimes I liked to spend time at camp. When I realised that Ps and the Emperor were both paying attention to me, I would start to reveal insights. Sometimes, I would even bluff. I was aware that  something big was going to happen and I needed a way to warn Potatocis but he often just ignored me so I was start by saying:

"I know what you are doing" or "I saw that".

This would make Ps curious and he would encourage a reveal. I would then explain a past situation that had occurred then tell both Potatocis and Ps what these events meant for the present or future. By speaking vaguely and in code and also, by asking some veiled questions, I would often learn some important piece of explanation. Sometimes, all I had to do was say one word or one sentence or give away one theory that was not quite right and I would get my answer. Although Dylan was in jail, I learned to trust him and I still trusted Ender to not kill me so I alerted them to these conversations and I would call the next threat ahead of time, which gave us time to come up with a decent plan and eliminate  the ones that had too many loose ends. The problem with these moments was that, I had to give away some of the knowledge I already had but, on the other hand, I developed a camaraderie with both Ps and Potatocis. This was a major issue because, I no longer had a side to be on. Ender had gone rogue, Potatocis had decided not to kill or jail me but how long would that last and I was starting to enjoy Ps' trickery. As I gained knowledge, I held back some of the important information I had, thus possibly helping Ps  in his endeavours. I started understanding slowly that the side of chaos was exciting and it scared me. Ender and Dylan started asking me who's side I was on. I always answered Potatocis but I kept certain events to myself.

Then I started theorising on what Ps could do to win against the Emperor. It was like watching a game of chess unfold. I saw the check mate and I wanted to tell someone but the guilt was eating me up so I told Dylan and Ender. They started fearing me...instead of being upset, I was delighted and this also scared me. I tried to tell myself that I was not turning, not really but it felt like a lie. In order to prove, mostly to myself, that I was on the right side, I would still get in the way of certain minor events but I now know that the temptation was too much.

In order to rectify the situation, I broke down my goals. At first, I wanted to help, then my goal changed. I wanted to know more, gain knowledge, thwart actions that could hurt the Republic. At this point, I didn't really care if I was helping Potatocis or not, I only wanted the Republic to survive. When Ender defected, it looked like he was enjoying himself. I started wondering if he was really going to the other side...perhaps his goal was to overthrow the Emperor...that seemed a little ambitious but I needed to ask anyway. I did and he told me that he  had no intention of overthrowing Potatocis, although he did not agree with his tactics, he did not want the power. This made me question my motives. Do I want power? The answer was clear...absolutely not. Even when power will be offered later, I wanted nothing to do with it, although I had to accept it. Do I want to join Ps and destroy the Emperor and the people of the Republic? This was not my motivation either.

I asked myself the following question...a question I was dreading to know the answer. Did I want to outsmart both Ps and Potatocis? Unfortunately, the answer was very disturbing. Yes. This had become my goal. The shame and embarrassment I felt when I realised this was what motivated me. I thought that knowing was half the battle and I could stop if I wanted to. I disappeared for quite a while doing some introspection, trying to change my motivations. It was not easy. I realised that I was addicted to my friends telling me they were afraid of my logical thinking and problem solving skills. How could I fix it? There didn't seem to be a way so I dug deeper. What did I want more than this? I wanted to survive and I wanted to save Ender and Dylan with me. It was clear that most of the planet was already converted and likely lost...there would be too many. It was also clear that if Potatocis and Ps tried to destroy each other, all would be destroyed. No one cared about me, Ender and Dylan, so I made them care and I tried to slow the progress in order to save myself, the prisoner Dylan and Ender. If I could save the Empress also, I would. That was noble, maybe it made up for my earlier motivations. I started working on a new plan, one to survive the end...

I was aware of Ps' grand plan and there was no way I could tell the Emperor, unless. One of my friends from camp arrived one day. I may or may not have invited her. Anastasia was her name and she was a daughter of Hermes. It was a hot summer's day and the children were passing out drinks. I had just been through an ordeal back at camp. A giant spider, well not really a giant one but it was massive for a normal spider had been found in the cabin laundry. I'm not gonna lie...I screamed and threw the laundry as far as possible. Anastasia heard the scream. I was shaking in a corner. She found the spider and stomped on it. I was so grateful but still terrified. What has this to do with anything? A lot actually. Unfortunately Ps was now aware of my phobia of spiders so odds were, he could use them against me. I spoke to Anastasia about the Ps creature and the republic. She asked me to take her with me to the Republic. I did. When she got there, the Children offered her a lemonade. I was busy at the time so I did not notice but when my attention returned to her, I saw her lift the glass to her mouth and I slapped the cup out of her hand, in front of the Emperor.

"Never! Never, accept food or drinks from strangers."

This was a good thing, I told myself. I said nothing but the message was obvious, I hoped. After this day, Anastasia had not come back to the Republic but we did start speaking more often at Camp and we became better friends. I was back on the right path. I had saved 1 person already. Maybe I could do this?

I became quieter, more focused on the details and paying attention, not trying so desperately to thwart actions but planning to save as many as possible. Many people were already lost. Ender was driven mad and was no longer around although I did feel him around from time to time. I was sad because we had lost him while he tried to prove a point. I thought that, being a Greek God, he would heal himself but the madness took over. Meanwhile, a surprising turn of events happened. The leader of the Children, Olivia, had passed on. I was surprised because I assumed she would live forever in some way, shape or form. Olivia could not fall. She was the stability of the Children, the strongest link between Empress Samirah and the Children. The trusting relationship and the bond between the two were very strong. This brought up another issue. Why was Samirah not telling the Emperor about Olivia and the children's blood rituals? She was aware of many concerning details of the forbidden rituals and newcomers but she never told Potatocis. Again, the question of brainwashing came up or maybe...Samirah had turned.

This thought was very scary because you could tell that Potatocis loved Samirah deeply. He trusted her although, sometimes it felt like he thought he didn't deserve her, she could be easily manipulated. Samirah was raising Potatocis' son. She needed to be on his side. New discoveries were coming every day. At one point, Ender and Dylan had discovered that the Children were doing some odd cult-like rituals. At first, the Children had been dabbling in medicine and genetics, now, they were doing blood rituals and summoning rituals and becoming much more reckless and dangerous. It was unclear who they worshipped until they awoke Saint Spuddia.

During the silent war that was taking place and the replacement of the human population by genetically changed beings that would mindlessly follow Ps, he was busy creating more creatures. Some were spud like creatures, an evil water nymph and other deformed monstrosity that he called his children. Ps feigned sleep as he bid his time to awake fully and defeat Emperor Potatocis. How would I know all this? Being a curious and prideful person, I needed confirmation that I was right and I decided the best course of action was to ask. I went to him, while everyone was occupied with he Children of the Empress and I simply asked.Usually, I would get a non-committal hmm...I needed more so I shared my theories, except the one that he was a new chaos god...the more I information I gave, the more of a straight forward answer I would receive, until the day where I made a deal with chaos. It took a while before I made a decision. I had to make sure I had an out, a way to escape the destruction that would be released upon the Republic. I talked it over with my allies and we worked out the kinks, then I proceeded in accepting the deal.

I would be Governor of Greco ( if you knew me, you would know that a position of power is the last thing I would want). Apparently, I had a job to do. I had to vote for the removal of the title of Emperor from Potatocis and favour Samirah as a replacement and Potatocis had to agree to getting treatment for his paranoia. Normally, i I couldn't have gone through with this but considering the situation, it seemed like the right thing to do. He had just killed his people in cold blood although he claimed St-Spuddia made him do it. Regardless, Potatocis needed a break. With the support of the senate and potatocis' agreement, the title was removed and he left on holiday for a little while. The second Part of the deal was to distract Potatocis and to turn a blind eye to the children's activities and other creatures. What did i get in return ? A seat on the Senate (meh) and a promise that my friends and I would not be destroyed along with the Republic.

I did not trust Ps' word so I was already working on a back up plan with my friends. This was the first time I went to Carter Kane for Egyptian magic.

 **Mia Pallas**