Chapter 21

J
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I was on edge. Piper was being stubborn and was going to try and get Drew to confess.

She wasn't thinking about the camp and everyone in it. There's a good chance that this will be the end of Camp Half Blood.

What we saw in her knife was pretty clear, Jake and Zach were going to destroy the camp and everyone in it. The most disturbing part was when they had Percy on the chopping block. The two of them were arguing over his life and by the looks of it, Jake wanted him dead. The way that Jake was shouting at Zach and the way that Zach acted relieved when he won the argument, it was clear which side they were arguing.

As much as it pained me to admit it, Jake was public enemy number one and Zach was a close second.

I could contact Camp Jupiter and see if they could help. I thought. No, they have they're own problems with that massive werewolf pack.

Why did this have to be so hard.

I started walking to the Big House. Regardless of what happened, war was coming and there wouldn't be a way out of it.

I got to the big house and walked in.

"Chiron!" I shouted. "Chiron, we need to talk!"

Chiron came from around the corner, sitting in his wheelchair. Five new campers followed behind him.

Great. I thought. First day at camp and they're dragged into a war.

"Chiron, this matter is rather sensitive." I said, carefully choosing each word. The last thing we needed were the recruits to panic, leave the camp, and get themselves killed.

Chiron seemed to understand what I meant.

"I see." He said before shouting to a random camper inside the Big House.

"Shane! Would you mind showing these new recruits around the camp?"

"Sure thing." Said Shane before he led the new campers outside.

"Now, what's wrong, Jason?" Asked Chiron.

"We're at war." I said.

Chiron blinked a couple of times, taking in the single statement I'd given him.

"We looked into Piper's knife and saw Jake and Zach marching on the camp. The camp gets totaled and they may kill Percy." I said gravely.

"Wait, they may kill Percy?" Asked Chiron. "Please explain."

"We saw Jake and Zach in a heated argument." I said. "Zach said something to Jake, Jake shut up, then Zach walked over to a prisoner with an execution hood. Zach pulls the hood off and it's Percy. Zach then kneels down and puts a hand on Percy's shoulder. That's where it ended"

"I see." Said Chiron. "I will make an announcement at lunch."

At that moment, Percy Jackson himself burst through the door.

"Chiron." He said out of breath. "We need to talk."

"Keep your head about you, Percy." Said Chiron with a sly grin.

All the color drained from Percy's face and he rubbed the back of his neck.

Wow. I thought. That joke was so wrong. Hilarious, but wrong.

"Jason has already informed me about the situation. I plan to make an announcement at lunch."

"Okay, good." Said Percy.

"And I'm sorry about that joke, Percy. I just couldn't let the opportunity pass." Said Chiron.

"Leo would be proud." I said as I walked out of the Big House.

P
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I had set up a tape recorder and had it in my pocket. I was going to record my conversation with Drew in hopes of getting a confession.

It wasn't easy, but I finally got her alone. I had convinced all our other siblings to go somewhere else. Most of them went to look at the boys in the training arena but I still had brothers. So I got Percy to help get some girls soaking wet which led to a small party at the lake. Once the bikinis came out, my brothers were taken care of.

That just left me and Drew in the cabin.

"That was pretty cleaver, Drew." I said as I hit record.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"That whole rape story, good timing too." I said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"How you told the story right after the virgin, man-hating, Hunters of Artemis showed up."

"He picked a bad time to rape me." She said coldly.

"Drew, you and I both know that Jake Fuller didn't touch you."

"You don't know that! He stole something I can never take back." She started tearing up.

"Now you expect me to believe that you're still a virgin?" I asked.

"How dare you?" She shouted in outrage.

"I'm not bad mouthing you. I think it was really smart of you, smarter than anything I would have come up with." I said with a thick layer of charmspeak.

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"I said that it's smarter than anything I could have come up with."

She looked rather proud of herself.

Perfect. I thought.

Drew might be another charmspeaker, but she said what she wanted to hear. The trick it to tell them what they want to hear and use it to your advantage.

"I am pretty cleaver, aren't I?" She boasted.

"Very." I said as I tried not to laugh.

"Obviously smarter than you." She said.

"Yep." I said.

"And better looking." She said.

"How could I compete?" I asked, still trying not to laugh.

"You can't." She said arrogantly. "It's that simple."

Yeah. I thought. You're so much smarter than I am.

"You're barely smart enough to figure out what I did." She said, still bragging.

Is it really going to be this easy? I thought.

"Figure out what you did?" I asked, playing ignorant.

"Oh, so you're not even that smart. Looks like I gave credit where it isn't due." She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh, hon, Jake didn't rape me. Do you honestly think I'd let that hick anywhere near me?" She said as she walked over to a mirror and started to preen herself.

"No, you're so much better than that." I said with a massive grin.

"Yes, yes I am." She said, still preening.

"Well, I should really get going. Jason is waiting for me." I said as I walked out the door and stopped recording the conversation.

I then ran to the Big House. I burst into the living room and found Chiron in his wheelchair.

"Chiron!" I shouted.

"Yes, yes. War is coming. Jake and Zach destroy the camp. Percy might die. I plan to make an announcement at lunch, dear." Said Chiron.

"How'd you know that?" I asked.

"Jason, Percy, Annabeth, Travis and Connor each stopped by at different times." He said.

"Well I have different news to report." I said confidently.

"Oh good! I've grown tired of that story." He said excitedly. "Lets hear it then."

"Jake and Zach never touched Drew." I said.

He looked at me skeptically.

"Piper, Drew was very convening when she told her story." Said Chiron. "And I don't think that she's that good of an actress."

I pulled the recorder out of my pocket and pressed play. The conversation played through and Chiron heard Drew's confession.

"Well, it seems that I was wrong." He said. "We should contact the two of them and ask them to return to camp. Then we should deal with Ms. Tanaka."

Chiron opened a drawer in one of the end tables. He dug around in it for a moment before pulling a prism out. He also fished out three drachmas. He placed the prism on the coffee table and angled to to where he could get a rainbow.

"You can't contact Jake for some reason, so just call Zach." I said.

Chiron threw one of the drachmas into the rainbow and it disappeared.

"Iris, goddess of the rainbow and carrier of messages. Hear my prayer." He said. "Connect me to Zach Morris in... wherever he is."

Once again, Zach's face shimmered into existence.

He was in a perfectly round, stone room. Behind him was Jake and the empousa, Tammi.

"Jake, Zach. I would like to apologies for unrightfully kicking you out of the camp. Piper has just proved your innocence. You are now openly welcomed here if you wish to return."

"Sorry, Chiron, but those hunters you sent after us were the last straw." Said Zach.

"Hunters? I didn't send the hunters after you." Said Chiron. "They must have done that on their own."

"Liar!" Shouted Zach. He started to swipe through the image, making it extremely fuzzy.

"Zach!" Shouted Jake before Zach could end the conversation. "Stand down."

Zach pulled his hand out of the image and it refocused.

"Piper, Chiron, how are the two of you today?" Asked Jake as he stepped forward.

"Not to well, Jake." Said Chiron. "We think that you may wage war on us."

"Well, you'd be right." Said Jake. "We were discussing plans just now, I suggest you do the same."

"That's too bad, Jake." Said Chiron. "I hope you realize what your doing."

"I do Chiron." He said. "Is Madison there?"

There was a slight change of tone in his voice when he asked about Madison.

"No, she's training at the moment." Said Chiron.

"Oh." Said Jake, disappointed. "Well can you tell her that I want her to leave the camp? I don't want anything to happen to her, or you, Piper. Could you actually tell her, Jason, Annabeth, Travis, Connor, and Percy to leave?"

"I'll tell them, but they won't leave." I said.

"Promise?" He asked.

"I swear it on the Styx." I said.

"Thank you." He said. "Prepare, Chiron. The next time we speak, we won't be so civilized."

With that he swiped his hand through the image, disconnecting the conversation.

I left the big house and found every one Jake had wanted me to talk to.

Travis and Connor just nodded solemnly.

Percy simply said that he'd protect this place with his life.

Annabeth didn't say anything, she just walked into her cabin.

Jason went to the armory and sharpened his sword.

Madison nearly broke down again but kept it together.

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant task.

When lunch rolled around and Chiron stomped his hoof on the stone table and the mess hall grew quiet.

"Heroes!" He said. "It with great sorrow that I inform you of this, but we are at war."

No one said or did anything.

"Earlier today, Piper brought me evidence proving Jake and Zach's innocence." He said. "After reviewing this evidence I contacted the two and invited them back to the camp. They refused the offer and openly revealed that they were planning an attack."

Again the mess hall was silent.

"I also discovered that the hunters moved in to eliminate Jake and Zach. Jake alone stood against them. They were defeated within minutes." He said. "This information came from Thalia herself."

"So Thalia is the only hunter left?" One of the Hermes kids blurted out.

"No." Said Chiron. "Jake was kind enough to spare them, but they are all badly injured and likely won't be able to aid us in the upcoming battle. We cannot expect the same kindness to befall us."

"Why not? What did we ever do to the kid?" Shouted one of the Hephaestus kids.

"Yeah! We only treated him like a monster, made him feel like dirt, condemned everything he ever did, refused to even associate with him in any way, constantly talked about him behind his back, and kicked him out of the camp for something he didn't do!" Shouted Madison with more anger and force than anyone would have ever expected.

The Hephaestus kid shrunk down in his seat and didn't make another noise.

"We brought this upon ourselves!" Shouted Jason. "We can only pray that Jake forgives us."

A/N: Here it is! Proof that Jake and Zach are innocent! But Chiron didn't deal with Drew yet... maybe he knows that he needs all the help he can get in this war. But, what do I know? I'm just the author!

Once again, review, review, review!