First Person: Lucy

He was screaming this time. I silenced him as soon as possible, but that still didn't take away the unease knowing he was in pain. I think he was in Tartarus this time. I think he was begging for something, but he didn't say what. He thrashed around and I sedated him, trying to convince myself that it was just a dream, and he'd definitely wake up the next morning completely fine. But I had no guarantee of that. This was only the beginning, and he was proven to have a strong soul, but would it be enough?

"Help me…" I had kept him from punching, kicking, and screaming, but it seemed the sedation wasn't enough to prevent the little things, like him gripping the sheets and rolling around muttering things. "Go…run…" He rolled over onto his back and I could see him sweating. He was breathing hard and was gritting his teeth. I wiped a cool cloth over his forehead, but that was the most I could do for him. It seemed he was going from a dream of pure pain to one more vivid, where some kind of scene was playing out. I'd guess it was something that would shake his heart to the core, maybe us being killed by monsters while he's helpless to help, or maybe even him killing us himself while he's unable to stop. The psychology wasn't hard to figure out in my opinion. If there was something worse, I had yet to think of it, and it must be brutal on him.

The next morning, I changed into my normal outfit and set out Veon's - though they were now freshly washed. Hazel was in the kitchen making a breakfast for Frank. I liberated some orange juice before heading back up and summoning some cereal for Veon. I always wondered if summoning food has some sort of effect, negative or positive, but apparently even the goddess didn't know, or she didn't really care to test it. So far nothing had done anything it shouldn't have (at least to my knowledge) so I just went along with it. By the time the sun was up, I knew the ogres were going to start their attack. I went to the roof just as the sun began to rise, running into Ella in the attic.

"Alaska. 626,425 square miles. State mammal: the moose." Suddenly she switched to Latin. "To the north, beyond the gods, lies the legion's crown. Falling from ice, the son of Neptune shall drown-" She stopped and scratched her disheveled hair. "Hmm. Burned. The rest is burned."

"So you have read the Sibylline books," I muttered. "Ella, I'll be on the roof. Send the others up there when they come." I headed up the ladder to the roof to find day was nearly breaking. The ogres were mulling about restlessly until they began to throw their cannonballs. I pointed my finger at it in midair and then a small bolt of lightning shot out to cause it to detonate. It was a powerful explosion, but luckily it seemed it had been far enough away that it didn't do any damage. This process continued for a while as I shot down the explosives. The Laistrygonians kept yelling for Frank angrily, so I assumed I was right in my guess at what they'd been promised. The biggest problem was getting out of here.

"Hey, what's going on up here?" Audrey asked. She, Emily and Veon came up to the roof, cleaned up and dressed in new outfits not much different from their other ones, jeans, their purple T-shirts from Camp Jupiter (accept for Veon who stayed with his black shirt), and their jackets. Veon looked like he'd just stayed up all night watching movies but was trying to stay awake on caffeine. Poor guy. I'm not really sure if the nightmares count as sleep, but either way they seemed to be taking a toll on him. This was his first real and unimpeded nightmare and he already looked terrible.

"Hey, there's a hose here!" Audrey said.

"Periclymenus was a descendant of Neptune," I said. "Might make sense to have a source of water up here."

"Are they just throwing the cannonballs?" Veon asked.

"So far. Doesn't seem they find storming the place appealing."

"Where is Frank Zhang?!" An ogre demanded.

"He'll be up soon!" Emily shouted. "Why don't you all just sit tight, okay?" The ogres bellowed, maybe in excitement that Frank would be coming, maybe in the prospect of a break. Either way, they continued milling about, sometimes throwing the occasional cannonball that I had to blast out of the sky. Percy and Hazel came up next, ready for a fight. They had been cleaned up, probably having showered. Percy was in the same clothes as they day before - jeans, his purple T-shirt, and Polartec jacket - though they had been freshly washed, and Hazel was in jeans, a cream-colored jacket, and a white shirt that made her skin look as warm as cocoa.

"What's going on up here?" Percy asked.

"Have a hose," Audrey said, putting said hose in his free hand, with Riptide having been drawn in the other. "I've checked. It's working and hooked up to the house's water supply."

"Good," I said. "You two take over cannonball duty. Just blast 'em with the water and they should explode a safe distance away. It doesn't look like they're planning on doing anything more until Frank gets his arse up here, so we're good for now."

"How are we planning to get out of here?" Emily asked.

"Uh, run for it? That's usually my plan. I can distract the ogres for a good deal of time for you guys to get clear of the mansion. The only issue lies in your transportation to Hubbard Glacier. I think there's an airbase somewhere nearby, and we could liberate a helicopter. Actually, I think there's a former demigod there that might aid us if we show Reyna's credentials to him."

"Good enough for me," Audrey said. When Frank came up, he was wearing an olive-green shirt with beige cargo pants (I think Hazel had chosen the outfit) and had his spare bow and quiver with him.

"Morning," Percy said grimly. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Cheer up, Percy," Emily ordered.

"Cannonball!" Audrey announced as she threw her hand out. It transformed into a stream of water from her wrist that sprayed at the cannonball and caused it to explode. Then the water came back together to form her hand again. Hazel came over from patrolling the widow's walk between the two attic gables. Frank was smiling at her, and she gripped her sword. When she glanced at Frank, her eyes flashed with concern.

"Are you okay?" She asked. "Why are you smiling?"

"Oh, uh, nothing," He said. "Thanks for breakfast. And the clothes. And…not hating me." Hazel looked baffled.

"Why would I hate you?" Frank flinched like he'd regretted saying that.

"It's just…last night. When I summoned the skeleton. I though…I thought that you thought…I was repulsive…or something." Hazel raised her eyebrows before shaking her head in dismay.

"Frank, maybe I was surprised, maybe I was scared of that thing, but repulsed? The way you commanded it, so confident and everything, like - Oh, by the way guys, I have this all-powerful spartus we can use. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't repulsed, Frank. I was impressed." Frank looked baffled now.

"You were…impressed…by me?" Percy laughed.

"Dude, it was pretty amazing."

"Even if you only got one line of orders to him," Veon added.

"Yeah, you were great, Frank," Emily agreed.

"Having a tame spartus is an honor indeed," I said.

"Cannonball!" Audrey said.

"Honest?" Frank asked.

"Honest," Hazel promised. "But right now, we have other problems to worry about. Okay?" She gestured at the army of ogres, who were getting increasingly bold, shuffling closer and closer to the house.

"Hey! You guys should just stay down there for a little longer!" Emily shouted. "No! A little further back! There you go! You guys like just standing down there, don't you?"

"I've got a trick up my sleeve," Percy said. "Your lawn has a sprinkler system. We can blow it up and cause some confusion, but that'll destroy your water pressure. No pressure, no hose. We've still got Audrey and Zy, but we can't just stay up here forever. We gonna just run for it?" Frank seemed to be lost in thought from Hazel's praise, when he finally began concentrating.

"Guys, I've got an escape plan," He said, explaining that his grandmother had a friend with an airplane already waiting at the airfield, and she had given him a note for the pilot as well. "He's a legion veteran. He'll help us."

"But Arion and Zoltan aren't back," Hazel said. "And what about your grandmother? We can't just leave her."

"Arion and Zoltan can find us anywhere we go," I said. "We are talking about horses that move at supersonic speed, right?"

"As for my grandmother…" Frank said. "She was pretty clear. She said she'd be okay." Veon's expression darkened, and Emily looked at him, so I could tell that he sensed Frank's grandmother was going to die today.

"There's another problem," Percy said. "I'm not good with air travel. It's dangerous for a son of Neptune."

"Really?" Audrey asked. "I mean, air travel is dangerous anyway, but I've done it before."

"You'll have to risk it…and so will I," Frank said. "By the way, we're related."

"What?"

"Periclymenus," I said. "The Argonaut? I told you he was a grandson of Poseidon, correct? He's an ancestor on Frank's mother's side. I thought we'd established this before."

"So you'd be a descendant of Neptune?" Hazel realized. "Frank, that's…"

"Crazy?" He finished. "Yeah. And there's this ability my family supposedly has, but I don't know how to use it. If I can't figure it out-" Another massive cheer went up from the Laistrygonians. I looked to see them pointing and waving and laughing at Frank.

"Zhang!" They yelled. "Zhang!" Hazel stepped closer to him.

"They keep doing that."

"We've got to protect Ella, take her with us," Frank said.

"Of course. The poor thing needs our help."

"No, I mean yes, but it's not just that. She recited a prophecy downstairs. I think…I think it was about this quest." He repeated the lines from Ella.

"How can a son of Neptune drown?" Audrey asked. "We can breathe underwater, right?"

"Yeah," Percy said, though he seemed tense. "But the crown of the legion-"

"That's got to be the eagle," Hazel said. He nodded.

"And Ella recited something like this once before in Portland - a long from the old Great Prophecy."

"The what?" Frank asked.

"Tell you later." He turned and shot another cannonball out of the sky. It exploded in an orange fireball. For some reason the ogres seemed amused, clapping their hands with appreciation.

"Pretty! Pretty!"

"The thing is, Ella remembers everything she reads," Frank continued. "She said something about the page being burned, like she'd read a damaged text of prophecies."

"Burned books of prophecy?" Hazel asked, her eyes widening. "You don't think…but that's impossible!

"The books that Octavian wanted back at camp?" Emily asked. Hazel whistled under her breath.

"The lost Sibylline books that outlined the entire destiny of Rome. If Ella actually read a copy somehow and memorized it-"

"Then she's the most valuable harpy in the world," Frank concluded. "No wonder Phineas wanted to capture her."

"Frank Zhang!" And Ogre shouted from below. He was bigger than the rest, wearing a lion's cape like a Roman standard bearer and a plastic bib with a lobster on it. "Come down, son of Mars! We've been waiting for you. Cone, be our honored guest!" Hazel gripped Frank's arm.

"Why do I get the feeling that "honored guest" means the same thing as "dinner"?"

"Probably because it does," I said bluntly. "Hm…Hey, do you guys have a car here?"

"Yeah," Frank said. "My grandmother's car is in the garage. It's an old Cadillac. The thing is like a tank. If you can get it started-"

"We'll still have to break through a lone of ogres," Hazel pointed out.

"I can handle that," I said.

"We can use the sprinkler system," Audrey said. "It can help as a distraction."

"I'll buy you as much time as I can," Frank said. "Get Ella, get in the car. I'll try to meet you in the garage."

"I'm the distraction," I said. "I'm a better option to stay behind. Plus, I'm less…breakable than you."

"But they're after me. I disappear and they'll come flooding in."

"Then we talk it out and buy time," Emily said. "I'm a peace talker. I'll stay here with you, Frank, and then Zy can be our defense of things go wrong. No arguing, just go."

"Give us your answer, Frank Zhang!" The ogre yelled up. "Come down and we will spare the others - your friends, your poor old granny. We only want you!"

"They're lying," Percy muttered.

"Yeah, I got that," Frank agreed. "Go!" They ran for the ladder.

"Hey down there!" I called. "Who's hungry?!" The ogres cheered as Frank paced along the widow's walk and waved like a rock star. Frank looked like he was trying to concentrate and transform into something. What were the odds he was going for something eccentric like a dragon? He'd have to know an animal really well in order to transform into it, and I highly doubted that he'd met a dragon in real life before. The ogres started to become restless, the cheering turning to catcalls. A few Laistrygonians hefted their cannonballs.

"Wait! You don't want to char him!" Emily shouted. "He wouldn't taste very good that way."

"Come down!" They yelled. "Hungry!"

"Do you promise to spare my friends?" Frank asked. "Do you swear on the River Styx?" The ogres laughed, one throwing a cannonball that I blasted out of the sky. "I'll take that as a no."

"No throwing cannonballs!" Emily shouted. "Put them down! Yes, I see you right there! Drop it. Drop it." The ogres dropped their cannonballs, one of them a little more reluctantly than the others.

"Okay, fine!" Frank shouted. "You win! I'll be right down. Wait there!" The ogres cheered, but their leader in the lion's-skin cape scowled suspiciously. We all climbed down the ladder into the attic. Ella was gone, so they'd most likely gotten her to the Cadillac. Frank grabbed an extra quiver of arrows labeled ASSORTED VARIETIES and then ran to the machine gun. I grabbed the large shuriken that I'd found yesterday and pocketed a few of the smaller ones as well. Might as well have them just in case, and why let Frank's weapons go to waste?

"What are you doing, Frank?" Emily asked. He swiveled the barrel, took aim at the lead ogre, and pressed the trigger. Eight high-powered spuds blasted the giant in the chest, propelling him backward with such force that he crashed into a stack of bronze cannonballs, which promptly exploded, leaving a smoking crater in the yard.

"Well, okay then," I muttered. While the rest of the monsters ran around in confusion, Frank pulled his bow and rained arrows on them. Some of the missiles detonated on impact, others splintered like buckshot and left the giants with some painful new tattoos. One hit and ogre and instantly turned him into a potted rose bush. How I missed using a bow and arrow. The feeling of power you got from drawing the bowstring back and practically feeling your arrow fly through the air to your target felt so good. I'd never missed using the weapon so much, and with Zyanya's power I could do so much more with my arrows and never run out. But I'd promised on the Styx that I'd not use a bow and arrow until I made up for my brother's death.

Unfortunately, the ogres recovered quickly and began throwing cannonballs, dozens at a time. I sent out a blast of lightning that jumped from one to the next in a web of destruction, but the ogres put in their entire arsenal and the cannonballs began detonating too close to the house. I knew that I could do anymore to hold them back and gave up. The whole house groaned under the impacts, and we ran for the stairs. The attic disintegrated behind us, smoke and fire pouring down the second-floor hallway.

"Grandmother!" Frank shouted, but the heat was so intense he'd never reach her room.

"Frank, come on, we need to go!" Emily urged. He reluctantly came with us, and we raced to the ground floor, clinging to the banister as the house shook and huge chunks of the ceiling collapsed. The base of the staircase was a smoking crater, which we promptly leaped over and stumbled through the kitchen. I pulled out cloths and gave one to Emily and Frank, telling them to put them over their mouths and noses for the smoke. We burst into the garage to find the Cadillac's headlights on, the engine running and the garage door opening.

"Get in!" Veon shouted from the backseat. I shoved Frank and Emily into the backseat with him, Audrey and Hazel, Percy at the wheel and Ella in the front seat. It was crowded enough, so I slammed the door shut behind the two of them and slid under the garage door.

I summoned my long, sleek, white sword, Immortal Light, in my left hand and grabbed a gun from the back of my belt with my right hand, considering I was a better shot with my right hand and ambidextrous when it came to using my sword. I charged at the line of ogres, slashing away with my sword and turning many of them to dust, before jumping up to fire at some while flipping in the air and then landing to spin in a blitz, my sword out and my gun firing ahead. I raised my sword into the air and then summoned a lightning bolt that spread out in a web of destruction against the monsters, shaking the ground in the process.

I saw the Cadillac come shooting out of the garage before it was fully open, leaving a Cadillac-shaped hole of splintered wood. Suddenly the irrigation system exploded as promised, and a hundred geysers shot into the air along with clods of dirt, pieces of pipe, and very heavy sprinkler heads. They were going about forty when they hit the first ogre unlucky enough to be in their path. By the time the other monsters overcame their confusion, the Cadillac was half a mile down the road. Some of the ogres managed to throw some of their flaming cannonballs at them, but I began to attack as many as I could as fast as I could, taking their attention.

The ogres all began to turn their sights on me, for better or worse, and I began to strike and anyone who I could get close to. The ogres might still be able to catch up to the others if they started running after them now, so I knew I needed to be a big enough target that not a single one could go after them. They were strong and their cannonballs still hurt, though, and I only had two arms. I slipped my gun back into the back of my belt and switched my sword to my right hand so my left could draw a shield. The cannonballs still pushed me back a good deal, and with the Laistrygonians on all sides I had to be quick not to get grabbed and crushed.

I was low on power from the goddess, but I still had her battle skill and knowledge. I could still put my own power into things, so coming up with a plan, I sheathed my shield and turned my sword to light before it disappeared. Not wanting to ruin my jacket. I removed it and had it disappear as well (because no way was I leaving it behind). I concentrated and then felt my power within me building, ready to do as I commanded. I willed my idea to become a reality, and though it wasn't something I was used to and my power was built for, the goddess allowed me the potential for anything as long as I had a strong enough will. And she'd chosen me for my willpower. I felt a burning on my back, but not a burn that said I was doing something wrong or I was burning up. It was one that felt empowering, one that told me I was doing the right thing, and I pushed it further. I felt as a large wing emerged from my back and jutted out to the right. It was only one wing, but it was at least twice my height in length and it was plenty strong enough to support my weight. The feathers started purple on the top, but then they faded to red, orange, and then yellow at the very tip. I didn't have the strength for a second wing, not without pushing myself too far, but this was plenty enough.

I tested my movement of the wing, and it followed my command like any other limb would. As the ogres stared in confusion, I swung the wing in front of me like I was trying to slap something, and a large number of feathers shot out at deadly speeds, attacking all of the ogres in front of me and striking with the deadliness of a million knives. I launched forward, using my power over the wind to control the currents under my wing and allowing flight. I dived and swung my large wing like I would my arm, sweeping the large monsters off their feet. Some cannonballs were thrown my way, but I held my wing in front of me like a shield and it blocked them easily. I swung at the monsters with a much wider range than I had before, jumping up to crush some of them to dust with my strong wing and blowing the ashes around as much as I could while also swinging to block and attack the rest of them.

"Zyanya!" I heard Veon yell from a good distance away. Time to go then. I flew up and then went in the direction of the airfield, which was easy to see from so high up. The others were out of the Cadillac that was parked just inside the gates. I landed next to them to find that, unsurprisingly, Ella wasn't willing to get in the plane.

"Okay," Percy was saying. "Just stay around this area. I can send a friend to meet you and take you to Camp Jupiter."

"A friend?" Frank asked. Percy waved his hand in a tell you later gesture.

"Ella, would you like that? Would you like my friend to take you to Camp Jupiter and show you our home?"

"Camp," Ella murmured before switching to Latin. "'Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome.'"

"Yes, yes, I know Ella," I said. "We can talk about that later. You'll be safe at camp. All the books and food you want."

"No planes," She insisted.

"No planes," I promised.

"Ella will hide now." Just like that, she was gone - a red streak disappearing into the woods.

"I'll miss her," Hazel said sadly.

"You'll see her again. Just show those letters to the pilot and get moving." An explosion sent the airfield's gate spinning into the air. "Get going! I'll meet you in there!" I turned and flew towards the coming ogres and swept my wing around to knock the front lines back. I blocked some of the exploding cannonballs when they were thrown to the plane. I swung my wing while in the air and let the feathers dig into the ground within the ranks before they exploded like numerous mines, leaving craters in the ogres' ranks. The survivors were still advancing, some of them stopping just to throw their bombs. I spun and swung my wing in a fluent dance, attacking and slashing at all the ogres I could before jumping up and blocking the thrown projectiles. I heard the plane's engines rev before I slammed down onto the ground with an electric pulse that knocked most of the ogres off their feet.

"Zy! Come on!" Veon called. I turned and flew towards the plane at top speed. Behind me, metal groaned as the Cadillac exploded. I shot into the plane just as the stairs stared to rise, accidentally tackling Veon who had was standing at the doorway with his arm extended for me. The pilot understood the situation, as there was no safety announcement, no pre-flight drink, and no waiting for clearance. He pushed the throttle, and the plane shot down the runway. Another blast ripped through the runway behind us, but we were already in the air. I sat up and looked down to see the airstrip riddled with craters like a piece of burning Swiss cheese. Swaths of Lynn Canyon Park were on fire. A few miles to the south, a swirling pyre of flames and black smoke was all that remained of the Zhang family mansion. Frank looked devastated at having not been able to save his grandmother, having not been able to use his powers.

"Frank…?" Emily asked. I quickly realized I didn't have my jacket or my cuffs on, so I wrapped my wing around my torso to cover both my upper arms. It was a bit charred and some of my feathers were out of alignment, but otherwise it was fine. When Vancouver disappeared in the clouds below, Frank buried his head in his hands and started to cry. The plane banked to the left.

"Senatus Populusque Romanus, my friends," The pilot said over the intercom. "Welcome aboard. Next stop: Anchorage, Alaska."

"You okay?" Veon asked as we began to settle into the plane. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Fine," I said.

"Why are you going all Sephiroth on me with one wing?"

"Well one wing was hard enough, and I didn't have the energy or necessity for two. It takes energy to sheath the thing as well, and that's gonna drain me more than just using the thing will. Plus, it's warm."

Percy seemed to be very tense on the flight. Every time the plane hit a spot of turbulence, Percy seemed to jump and grip the armrests of his seat ever tighter. Audrey was sitting next to him, telling him not to focus on it and imagine we were on a ship, though Percy kept denying that it was impossible to convince himself of that since he couldn't sense the water. Audrey was a special demigod, all the people that I'd chosen for my team were. It wasn't luck that we'd ended up in the same high school and ended up becoming friends. Even as a child of Poseidon, she wasn't as affected by being in the air. Veon said that he was fine with being in a plane as long as he didn't stare out the window too long or the plane wasn't big enough. As long as the vessel he was in was big enough that it could feel stable, be it boat or plane, he could suppress his urge to hurl. I had to admit that a small boat like the Pax had felt a bit unstable, and I had tried to stay as still as possible because of it.

Hazel and Emily were trying to consol Frank, assuring him that he'd done all he could for his grandmother. He'd stood up to the Laistrygonians and had been very brave. Frank kept his head down like he was ashamed to have been crying, but none of us could blame him. The poor guy had just lost his grandmother and seen his house go down in flames. Frank refused to explain his shape-shifting gift, but as we flew north, he did tell us about his conversation with Mars last night, as he had been invisible to the others. (He'd very rudely told us to "take a hike," as I could still see and hear him, sadly). Mars had told him how he was one of the seven of the Great Prophecy and how Juno saved him for a reason. Frank's gifts made him a great threat to Gaea, Juno aimed to unite the Greeks and Romans, we could still save Thanatos and Camp Jupiter, etc, so not much I didn't know already. He explained the prophecy Juno had issued when he was a baby - about his life being tied to a piece of firewood and how he had asked Hazel to keep it for him, not something too surprising.

"Frank, I'm proud to be related to you," Percy said. Frank's ears turned red. With his head lowered, his military haircut made a sharp black arrow pointing down.

"Juno has some sort of plan for us, about the Prophecy of Seven."

"Yeah. I didn't like her as Hera, I don't like her any better as Juno."

"You get used to her," I said. "In any case, she plans for the three of you to be a part of the seven, and I can confirm you are. My team is allowed to assist the seven of the prophecy and therefore you three."

"So, you are a Greek demigod, aren't you Percy?" Hazel asked. Percy gripped his leather necklace.

"I started to remember in Portland, after the gorgon's blood. It's been coming back to me slowly since then. There's another camp - Camp Half-Blood."

"Yeah, and there's something else," Emily said. She and Audrey looked at each other before digging through their bags to pull out their Camp Half-Blood necklaces. Veon dug around his bag for a moment longer and took out his.

"You…you've been there before?" Percy asked.

"We came from Camp Half-Blood," Audrey said. "We're Greek, whether we like it or not."

"You're meant to be both," I said. "I brought you to both camps not just to retrieve and watch over the seven of the prophecy, but to have you be a part of both cultures. I've been to both camps on numerous occasions, not just within this host, as it were. I've lied to keep the peace between the camps all this time, and I've informed Reyna on my opinion of the divide. Hopefully, she'll be able to make a point when it comes to the Greeks and Romans. I mean, the Greeks and the Romans don't know about each other, and the Greeks wouldn't plot against you. We gods have bent the Mist as far as we can to make sure you never remember any encounters. I still find it idiotic that you Greeks and Romans still have quarrels. Granted, if you've ever spent time with the gods, you'll see that they can tend to act like they weren't just threatening to kill each other two minutes ago. Maybe I've become too forgiving in that aspect."

"Another camp," Hazel repeated. "A Greek camp? Gods, if Octavian found out-"

"He'd declare war," Frank agreed. "He's always been sure the Greeks were out there, plotting against us. He thought Percy was a spy."

"That's why Juno sent me," Percy said. "Uh, I mean, not to spy. I think it was some kind of exchange. Your friend Jason - I think he was sent to my camp. In my dreams, I saw a demigod that might have been him. He was working with some other demigods on this flying warship."

"Yes, that's Jason and some of others of the seven," I said. "They're hoping to come and aid Camp Jupiter, but I fear they won't make it in time. The making of that warship was rushed at best, and it will take them a couple days to make it across the country." Frank tapped nervously on the back of his seat.

"Mars said Juno wants to unite the Greeks and Romans to fight Gaea. But jeez - Greeks and Romans have a long history of bad blood."

"That's why the gods have kept you apart this long," I said. "If a Greek warship appears in the sky above Camp Jupiter and we don't act in time, Camp Jupiter will fire upon them immediately. I worked very hard on making that ship, and I'd hate to see it go to waste that quickly."

"Sorry we had to lie to you guys," Emily said.

"We know why you did it," Hazel said. "To think of what bad things could've happened if we'd known you were Greek from the beginning. You've proved none of you have anything against Camp Jupiter and the Romans."

"We've also heard stories about Percy, since he's kind a famous back at Camp Half-Blood," Audrey said. "You've got tons of people worried about you, Percy."

"I trust you guys," Percy said. "I hope you trust me. I feel…well, I feel as close to you as any of my old friends at Camp Half-Blood. But with the other demigods, at both camps - there's going to be a lot of suspicion."

"A great problem, and I wish we had more time to properly introduce the two camps with the gods in the middle making sure you don't fight," I said. Hazel leaned over and gave Percy a sisterly kiss on the cheek, smiling affectionately.

"Of course we trust you," She said. "We're family now. Aren't we, Frank?"

"Sure," He said. "Do I get a kiss?" Hazel laughed, but there was a nervous tension in it.

"Anyway, what do we do now?"

"I've got to make contact with a friend," Percy said. "To keep my promise to Ella."

"How?" Frank asked. "One of those Iris-messages?"

"Still not working," Percy said sadly. "I tried last night at your grandmother's house. No luck. Maybe it's because my memories are still jumbled, or the gods aren't allowing a connection. I'm hoping I can contact my friend in my dreams." Another bump of turbulence made him grab his seat. Below us, snowcapped mountains broke through a blanket of clouds. "I'm not sure I can sleep, but I need to try. We can't leave Ella by herself with those ogres around."

"I can knock you out," I said. I snapped and his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed. "Oops, probably should've put him on the couch first."