Percy was having a bad day. He had spent most of the morning up to his elbows in monsters. But that hadn't been all that bad, in fact he had enjoyed the simplicity of a fight. It somewhat made the current meeting he was sitting through somewhat more manageable. It had been the fifth one that day alone, and as with the other four the Senate meeting had been reduced to a glorified shouting match. Percy had been one of the ones shouting at first, desperate to have himself heard above the others. He had continued his efforts until the third meeting in which he realized the futility of a shouting match. The issue that the Senate had been debating was on what the Romans should do about the rampant number of attacks that had taken place. Percy had, of course, voiced his desire to offer aid to the other demigod camp considering the Roman camp's immense size and available troops. He had been met with two main reactions, ready agreement and outraged denial. The Senate seemed to be split evenly down the middle on the issue with half of them in favor of bringing the camps together and the other half only concerned with protecting the Romans' own people.

He had implored both Frank and Annabeth to give their aid to his cause but, to his shock, both of them had regretfully denied his request. "It's not smart to bring everyone together right now." Annabeth had told him sadly. "Not until we have a better idea of what we are facing."

"Bringing both camps together would be painting a huge sign on our back." Frank had agreed.

So now Percy waited on the stone seats as the umpteenth Roman senator stood and made his case for whatever side he had decided to take. Percy had stopped listening after the first Roman had spoken, assuming the blank stare that he had mastered in his years of school. Annabeth sat at his side, taking the complete opposite direction. She watched the Roman speak, drinking in every word and narrowing her eyes. "He makes some good points." She muttered to Percy.

He grunted an unintelligible response which had been his principle form of communication in the past two meetings. He was not happy that Annabeth had shot down his idea to go to the aid of Camp Half-Blood but he also understood her reasoning behind the decision. Hazel sat on Percy's other side, her eyes just as bored as his were as they took in the scene as yet another Senator stood to speak. She immediately launched into a verbal rant about how they should band together the forces of both camps, immediately drawing several shouts of opposition. The Senate quickly fell into a near deafening roar as the two sides went at each other again. "I'm leaving." Percy decided, muttering his verdict to Annabeth. "This isn't going anywhere."

"Oh, don't leave me here." Annabeth whispered back in dismay. "I don't want to have to listen to them by myself."

"You have Frank," Percy protested. "I'm not the Praetor here."

"Well then, as Praetor I am ordering you to stay."

"I'm not a Roman either."

"Well then, it's a good thing that you are going to stay anyways isn't it?" Percy's neck cracked as he spun his head around to see who had spoken. He had not heard anyone approach, which usually meant that either Nico was around or a god had decided to visit.

It turned out to be the latter, though Percy had also been mistaken. It was not just one god that was sitting behind him, it was three. He recognized two instantly, Venus and Juno, but the third was a mystery to him. He frowned at the third, racking his brain to come up with an answer. She was beautiful, but then again most of the gods were, and her tunic was made out of a rich assortment of colors. She raised an eyebrow at Percy's inspection, but she did not seem to be offended. In fact she eventually smiled and chuckled softly. "I am assuming that you do not recognize me?" She guessed.

"Nope." Percy admitted, wincing. This goddess seemed nice enough, but then again a god could be as kind as the day is long as still turn you into a turnip for breathing wrong. Or, in Nico's case, a cornstalk. Percy's ADHD kicked in and he looked away from the goddesses when he realized that he could no longer hear the arguing from the senators. He was treated with what seemed like the world's most intense game of charades. The senators were still shouting at one another, but Percy could not hear a single word they were saying. Coupled with that was the fact that they seemed to have no idea that three of their principal goddesses had appeared mere feet from them. "Are they alright?" He asked concernedly.

"Oh, they're fine." Venus said brightly. "They can hear each other, but I do not like shouting. At least, not when it isn't in passion. They are shouting simply because they can, they don't really have any heart in it. Rather disappointing actually. A passionate argument is a wonderful thing but a meaningless shouting match makes me rather annoyed."

"They can't see us either. To them, the five of you are all watching them with interested expressions." Juno added. Her presence was enough to both irritate and caution Percy. Roman or Greek, Hera or Juno, she was by far one of the most sneaky and underhanded of the Olympians. Percy wouldn't put it past her to have something to do with the disappearing demigods.

"Um, excuse me," Hazel asked cautiously, drawing the attention of the three goddesses. "What exactly are you doing here if I may ask? I doubt you came just to watch the Senate argue."

"You are correct." The unnamed goddess told her. She paused and smiled at Percy. "I believe that you know me in my Greek form as Demeter? I am Ceres."

"Oh." Percy instantly made the connection between her clothing and the colors found in nature. "Sorry. I don't see Demeter very often and I have never seen you before."

"Which begs the question, why are you here?" Annabeth asked rather venomously, glaring pointedly at Juno. Percy wanted to caution her, but he agreed with her anger too much to actually bring himself to do so. Hera and Juno had both caused them more than a lifetime of trouble in the past.

"We are here to assist you." Venus told them. "At least, in what manner we can."

"Because of the taken demigods?" Frank asked, his eyes sharp. Percy could nearly see the multitude of thoughts and ideas that were running through his mind even as he spoke. "Or because the camp was attacked?"

"Both, and because of what may be coming." Juno answered, examining her toga with mild interest. "It has been many years since the gods walked freely among the demigods, mostly because of Jupiter's silly rules." Overhead the sky instantly grew dark and a rumble of thunder boomed, causing Percy to wince. Juno merely rolled her eyes and waved airily at nothing in particular.

"So, why now?" Piper inquired, crossing her arms. "What caused Zeus to change his mind?"

"He is afraid." Ceres answered carefully. The sky rumbled again, though much softer this time. "Or perhaps worried is the better term. I am sure that you are aware by now, but the two camps were not the only ones attacked. Poseidon's palace was attacked as well, as were many of the creatures of the forest. The Amazons' headquarters has been reduced to near rubble and those that survived have been scattered to the winds. On top of that it seems as though the Giants and the Titans have been brought together and are now working towards a common goal, though as to who is uniting them is still a mystery to us."

"My father's palace was attacked?" Percy demanded, half-rising from his seat. "Is Tyson alright?"

"Tyson?" Juno inquired, one eyebrow raised. Comprehension suddenly dawned in her eyes and she nodded. "As of right now he is alive."

Percy breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down, his heartbeat resuming its normal pattern. Annabeth patted his arm in reassurance and he smiled at her uncertainly. "So are you here to tell us whether or not we should unite the camps?" Frank asked warily. Percy saw the determined set of his jaw and he knew that if the gods' logic in their plan was not sound then the Praetor would not carry them out no matter the consequences. Such loyalty to his legion was one of the things that Percy most respected about him. That and he seemed to be a kindred spirit in not immediately trusting the gods' words implicitly. Percy firmly believed there should be a healthy wariness that should be assumed with any god or goddess.

"We are." Venus said, clearly happy to see the passion in Frank. "The camps will remain separated."

Annabeth shot Percy an I-told-you-so look and nodded in agreement. "It makes the most sense." She said, slightly smugly.

"That being said, we do have some bad news." Juno said. "Jason Grace has been taken prisoner by the enemy."

Percy's eyes widened in shock and his hand went to where Riptide was resting in his pocket. His fingers wrapped around the pen and he narrowed his eyes. "So what are you going to do about it?" He challenged. "We have to do something."

"We already are." Ceres told him in a placating tone. "The other demigod camp has already sent someone to go retrieve the son of Jupiter. A demigod by the name of Ryker I believe. You know him I take it?"

Mixed emotions could not even come close to describing Percy's mood set. On the one hand he was relieved that the gods had actually sent someone to get Jason. But on the other hand they had sent perhaps the one demigod alive that they simply could not control. Percy was well aware that Ryker's skills would give him a good chance of rescuing Jason, but he also knew that Ryker would not be willing to do everything in his power to save him if it meant that the son of Cybele would be risking his life. "So who are we sending?" Percy asked, his tone indicating that he wanted go as well.

Venus was quick to shoot down his hopes however. "No one." She said smoothly, observing the senate with an expression of mild distaste. "For now we have a different task for all of you. Our forces need to be rallied before the next attack. Even with the gods' assistance, if the Titans and Giants attack as one we cannot guarantee a victory. Our best chance lies in brining as much strength under our banner that we can. The Amazons that have been scattered after the fall of their factory should be brought back to this camp."

"That might cause some issues." Annabeth warned. "There are a lot of males here that haven't met them."

"In the face of overwhelming danger, I think they can manage to get along for a little while." Juno said dryly. "From what we understand they have relocated to their separate base of operations. It is well hidden in the mountains of North America, and even better defended than the last one."

"So how are we going to get them to come here?" Annabeth asked. "They are really independent. I can't imagine that they will want to come here, especially if they see it like they are running away from a fight."

"Leave that to us." Ceres advised, examining the dirt under her nails. Percy was momentarily captivated by the idea of a goddess actually having dirt under her nails, but then he remembered his own father fishing in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. With the gods anything was possible. "Once you get there you will only need speak with them and get them back to camp. It should not be very difficult."

"So when do we leave?" Frank asked finally. "And who is going?"

"I rather thought that the five of you would be a good group." Juno said, smiling pleasantly at them. "Don't worry, I am sure that they will find a temporary leader for the camp. Once we send you along your way we will make ourselves known."

"Wait, but what about Orion?" Hazel demanded. "He's still taking demigods."

"I think that you won't have to worry about that anymore." Ceres smiled knowingly. "He may be using the earth to escape, but I know the earth better than anyone. If he deigns to make another attempt he will be met by more than just a demigod."

Just a demigod. Percy echoed in his head sourly. "So, when do we leave?"

Venus smiled at them in such a way that Percy instantly regretted the question. "Why right now of course!" She cried, clapping her hands together and causing the five demigods to disappear.