Annabeth couldn't help but be impressed with Percy's speech. She walked her horse in through the gates with Percy on one side and Thalia and Artemis on the other. They had no sooner entered the gates than they were approached by an overweight soldier.

"I am Captain Saleas. Just so we're clear, I'm in charge." he snapped.

Annabeth immediately disliked the man and wanted to argue withhim that they were going to save his life. But Percy surprised her when he said, "Of course." Annabeth, Artemis, and Thalia all gave him a surprised look. "What are your orders?"

The man gave him a surprised look then quickly changed it to one of seriousness. "Orders. Of course." he puffed himself up to make him look more important. My orders are to . . . are to . . ."

"How about we let the rest of my men in at the other gates." Percy suggested.

"Of course. I was just about to say that." he snapped. "You there!" he pointed some soldiers wearing Olympian uniforms. "Go to the other gates and get the rest of the Athenian soldiers inside the city walls."

"Yes, sir." They saluted smartly.

Percy glanced at Annabeth who smirked back. She had caught onto Percy's game now. "We need to take stock of all the supplies we have: food, water, weapons, arrows, and the like." Annabeth ordered.

Captain Saleas glanced at her as though she were an annoying child. Annabeth gritted her teeth as he looked back at Percy expectantly.

"What?" Percy looked expectantly back, "She's the daughter of the wisest queen in Olympus. I would listen to her."

He was clearly not happy with this. "The head of the kitchen will know what we have stored." He guided them toward the palace. The streets were crowded with all the incoming citizens. They worked their way through them.

"How many soldiers did Zeus leave here?" Percy asked.

Captain Saleas puffed his chest proudly and said, "Fifteen thousand strong."

"Only fifteen?" Thalia scoffed. "There were over a hundred thousand here."

"We were more than capable to defend ourselves from you." He challenged. But it sounded strained as the sound of a distressed child was growing louder. This seemed to upset him further. As soon as said child came into view, he muttered, "Unruly child. Needs to be punished."

Annabeth grit her teeth at the comment. She could tell that it didn't set well with Artemis or Thalia either. She turned to see what Percy's reaction was, but was surprised to see him walk up to the little gir and crouched down so he could look her in the eye. She had brown hair and bright blue eyes. Tear streaks left tracks on her dirty face. There was so much noise that Annabeth couldn't hear what he was saying.

"What is he doing now?" Saleas grumbled.

The mother, who had been trying to comfort the child said something back. Percy nodded in understanding and then pulled out a doll that was dirty and looked as though it had been trampled on. It definitely didn't look like much, but the little girl stopped crying immediately. A huge smile split her face as she snatched the doll out of Percy's hand and held it close to her chest as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Then the child surprised him and wrapped her little arms around Percy's neck and gave him a kiss. The mother said something to him and Percy only shook his head in response.

"You're staring." Thalia's voice whispered in her ear.

Annabeth immediately blushed, no matter how hard she fought it. "Everyone's staring." She snapped back.

"Not like you."

"It's not what you think." She said defensively.

"Sure it isn't. Stop yourself from going down this road. It only ends in pain. Trust me, I know."

Annabeth looked at Thalia. She wondered if Luke had ever told her the truth about himself. She had a strong urge to tell her, but Percy had come back.

"What was that?" Artemis asked as they continued their progression toward the palace.

"Oh, that? I found it on the road. I figured someone would miss it. Looks like I found them."

"How very perceptive." Artemis looked like she was evaluating him.

Saleas scoffed, "You wasted time on a doll? We have more important things."

As they approached the palace gate, Annabeth noticed the crowd following them. They looked lost and scared. When they went to enter the gate, the captain only allowed them through the closed gates and lokcked the crowd out.

"What are you doing?" Percy bluntly asked.

"What does it look like?" He grumbled back.

"But." Percy looked like he was about to start an argument.

"Royals and soldiers are the only ones allowed within the palace gates. Those are the rules." He growled back. "Those useless riff raff . . ."

"Are what we are fighting for." Percy finished.

"Are you questioning my orders?" He questioned back. He was looking for a fight.

"We could use their help." Annabeth tried to help.

"They'll help just fine slowing Kronos down."

"Those are innocent people that we worked hard to bring here to protect." Thalia argued.

"You can not be serious about such a massacre." Artemis snapped.

Annabeth could tell that this did not sit well with Percy at all. But instead of yelling at him, his voice became dangerously low. "And what will be left of Olympus for Zeus to come back to if all of it's people are dead? What you fail to realize is that they are Olympus. That useless riff raff is what we are fighting for, not the empty palace."

Saleas looked like his small brain was trying to comprehend what Percy had very eloquently said. If he was going to say anything, he didn't get the chance as fighting broke out among the people on the other side of the gates.

Percy didn't wait for permission this time, he looked at the soldier by the gate and in a commanding voice said, "Open the gates, now."

Annabeth swore the soldier almost pissed himself. He motioned for the gate to be raised. The scene on the other side wasn't pretty. Grown men were punching each other while women stood on the side desperately trying to protect their children from the chaos.

"Stop it!" Percy yelled into the fray. "Stay your hand." He yelled again.

"I order you in the name of Zeus to stop." Captain Saleas commanded. Nothing happened.

Percy got some some Athenian soldiers to help break up the fighting. Once Percy had everyone's attention, he looked to Annabeth. He looked unsure of himself. But she had already seen his leadership skills coming out, and the people believed in him, not her. This was his moment. She smiled enouragingly at him. He took a deep breath and faced the crowd. "We have already lost the moment we fight amongst ourselves. I know you are scared. I know our future looks uncertain, but the moment we loose hope is the moment Kronos has already won. We have to work together. If there are no idle hands, if everyone helps out, we stand a chance." He looked over at Artemis and Thalia. "This is Artemis, the maid of the hunt. They are the best archers Olympus has ever seen, but they are only as good as their arrow supply. We need sticks, straight sticks to make into arrows. Who can help with this?"

"I can." A stoutly woman stepped forward. "Many an evening, I helped my husband, a soldier of Thebes, groom his arrows.

"I know where some sticks are." A young boy eagerly stepped forward.

"Great." Percy exclaimed. "Anyone who wants to help with making arrows see . . ." Percy paused as he looked at the woman.

"Gladys." She called back as way of introduction.

"See Gladys." Percy confirmed. "Any men who are willing to fight, see my second in command, Otic." Percy pointed to him in the crowd. "We'll open what's left of the armory, but there may not be much left, so find what you can as a weapon. Most anything will work as a weapon. Kids, you can collect rocks. Buckets and buckets of rocks. The bigger the better. Get them to the southern gate. Women, we will need bandages, bedding, and medicine prepared for incoming. Everyone helps. If you have an idea, any idea on how to better defend this city, find me. All ideas are welcome. The sooner we start preparing, the better our odds."

Annabeth had never before seen so many be put to action before. There was no more fighting. The city was put to purpose. Everyone went to help with the defence of the city. "That was brilliant." Annabeth beamed at him.

"We still need to figure out supplies." Artemis glared at Saleas.

He looked like he was trying to regain some composure after Percy just showed him up. "This way." He led them to the kitchens. The staff were mostly outside the kitchens looking on at the scene with interest. They especially took interest in Percy, which bothered Annabeth. "Nefeli is the head of the palace kitchen." He pointed to a skinny woman who had her hair pulled tightly back.

"I need you to figure out how much food you have to feed thirty thousand."

"Am I only feeding your men?" She asked sternly.

"No. We brought our own food. This is for the Olympian soldiers and the citizens." Percy looked a bit offended that she even thought it was only for him.

She in return looked surprised. "For how long?" She asked.

Percy thought for a moment. "Give me estimates for at least a month maybe a couple of weeks."

She looked surprised. "Yes, sir."

Percy looked at the palace as though admiring it. It was worthy of admiration, Annabeth thought. It looked delicate, but Zeus was no fool. It was the strongest building in Olympus. "How many rooms does this thing have?" Percy questioned.

"Hundreds. I'm not sure. You'd have to ask Aphila. She is over the household."

"Thank you." Percy replied politely. "Where can I find her?"

"I'll take you." A young girl offered. Annabeth instantly disliked the way she gazed at Percy.

Percy didn't seem to notice. "Thank you." He replied.

"You're welcome, my lord." She bowed respectively.

This startled Annabeth. It startled Percy too. "I'm not a lord." He said as he followed her into the palace.

She however didn't seem to hear him as she glided across the polished floors to a door. She knocked on it. A voice called back, "Come in."

They entered the room to see an old woman sitting at a desk. "Can I help you?" She asked politely.

"Yes." Percy strode purposefully forward. "How many people can this palace hold?"

"Hold or house?" She asked for clarification.

"Uh." Percy looked confused.

Annabeth had already figured out where he was headed. "House." She clarified.

The old woman squinted at them. "It can house up to a thousand people, more or less. Why?"

"Can you please help me situate the people outside in the rooms? Starting with the families with young children, the old, and so forth."

"You want to bring filthy peasants into the royal chambers of the palace?" The captain objected loudly. "I won't allow it."

"We are not going to be able to protect all of the city from Kronos. The safest place is in the palace." Percy argued back.

"No." Saleas argued.

"Of course, I will." The old woman said as she stood up.

"This is in direct violation of my orders. Zeus'orders." He yelled back.

"Blame it on me. I'm sure you will anyway." Percy dismissed him.

"I am in charge." He looked like he was throwing a tantrum.

"A real leader, does what is right despite what orders were given." Annabeth looked at Percy proudly, then glared at Captain Saleas. You lost it the moment you tried to sentence us all to death. It was only when Percy made you realize that you were only going to survive with our army, that you let us in, but by then everyone saw you for what you are, and will consequently never follow you."

"Shall I show you to the war room?" Aphila asked.

Percy looked flustered for some reason, so Annabeth said, "Yes, please."

"Zeus will not tollerate this!"

"Zeus is not here, and we'll be luck to survive long enough for him to get mad at us for defending his city." Percy said dismissively. "Go see to your men help us get ready for war."

Captain Saleas pulled a sour face, turned and left without another word.

"Not exactly how I wanted that to go down." Percy said tersly as he watched Saleas' retreating back.

"Shall we, my lord." Aphila guestured for them to leave.

Percy coughed uncomfortably. "Please dont call me lord. Really I'm not what you think."

The old woman smiled and said, "Of course." She then led them through a maze of corridors until they came to the main hall. She walked them toward a set of large double doors. She opened both of them to reveal a large room with a large table in the center. There were several chairs around it. A large map of Orthys lay on the table.

"What map would you like?" She asked.

"One of Olympus." Annabeth ordered.

She rolled up the map of Orthys that had been on the table and put it in the corner where several maps were rolled up. She pulled out a map in the back and layed it out on the table. "If you need anything else, please let me know." With that she was gone.

Annabeth wasted no time in looking over the map.

"So much to cover." Thalia looked concerned.

"We need to channel them. Make them go where we want them to go. We need to find a way to keep them focused on the southern gate. If they surround us, it will be difficult to keep them out." Annabeth deducted.

"How are we going to keep them from surrounding us?" Percy asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Perhaps, I can help you with that." A voice answered.

Everyone looked to the entrance wher the voice had come from. An old man stood there. "Teebs." Percy recognized him.

The old man squinted at him. "You know, you remind me of someone, not sure who though. It'll come to me. I always remember. But, if you want to keep from being surrounded, then you have to give them a reason to stay there."

"How do we do that?" Percy looked confused.

The old man lifted his sleeves and when he dropped them, two bottles of Greek fire came out. "Foot soldiers will take orders, but they dont like fire."

"You want to create a wall of fire?" Annabeth looked at him in a whole new light.

There was some noise outside in the hall when two kids burst in. They seemed to be arguing amongst themselves, but stopped once they realized who they were in front of. "You called for us." One of them bowed.

"I did?" Percy looked confused.

"You asked for ideas." The other kid said.

"And we have them."

"Tons of them."

"Traps that will kill hundreds."

"Thousands."

With a start, Annabeth realized that they were identical twins, dirty as they were.

"Great!" Percy said. "What are your names?"

"I'm Travis."

"Conner, my lord."

Percy flushed, "I'm not a lord."

"Ah, he's modest." One twin looked at the other.

"Whatever you say, my lord." The other bowed.

"What do you need?" Percy chose to ignore their insistence to call him lord.

"Give us a hundred men each, and we'll get it done in a day."

"Done." Percy said. "Hopefully we'll have more time than that though. Well, let's get to work."