Chapter 16: Console of Twelve

Percy

"…. there will be consequences if we don't—"

... Frozen strawberry dipped in chocolate, marshmallows melting in my palm, fresh lemonade refreshing my taste buds, I wanted it all. I want to run my hands all over how soft it feels, how sweet it would taste, how heavenly it would smell if I—

"Oi! Are you listening, Percy?!"

"Ahh!"

Scared stiff, the whole room turned toward me like ducklings to their mother, and in my pathetic attempt to save face, I hastily brought my attention away from…

"Sheesh… Are you even listening to what we've been saying?" Thalia bemoaned.

"Sorry, sorry… I am listening now."

Seriously, her abrupt slam on the desk scared the living hell out of me and I almost jumped off my seat in panic, though it couldn't be helped, not after what I've…

I snuck a subtle glance at her slender, captivating figure dressed in an elegant white dress while sitting beside me. She looked absolutely beautiful and charming, so much so that I…

Grrrr…

Yet those grey eyes were as sharp as a werewolf baring its fangs. I shrunk back immediately and gulped.

"~sigh~ You are really a hopeless moron, Percy." Thalia threw her hands out before returning to the rectangular table filled with twelve seats, five on each side, one at the front, and one at the end.

There were no empties tonight. Every seat was filled in by at least one person, but for some of them, an extra stood close by like their second in command or something like that. Besides everyone, there was one other person with us too, but he wasn't technically in the meeting. His back leaned against the brick wall next to a candle lamp, listening to what we've been saying.

Almost half of the faces in the room I have never seen before, and despite the brief introduction when we started, I'd already forgotten their names or which pantheons most of them belong to.

It couldn't be helped, I was meeting the other pantheon leaders of Camp Half-Blood for the very first time, and if I was being honest, some of the stares they were giving me made me want to curl up in a ball and hide in the corner of the room.

"Well, let's continue."

And thus, the Consul of Twelve finally began just as Annabeth said it would.

In spite of the difficulties I had brought upon myself earlier, I managed to get ready at the same time as Annabeth, then we asked Owlfred to temporal gate us to Camp Half-Blood so we could join the meeting with everyone.

I didn't know who else would be there at the beginning, and it didn't seem like Annabeth knew either. In any case, I was surprised when Annabeth guided me around Camp Half-Blood almost like she was a regular here. Of course, I received a smack in the head, followed by her exasperated grumble about how she spent that whole night working with everyone to settle in the new kids we rescued.

I remember smiling back then, it was as expected from the daughter of Athena who's never one step away from a perfect plan for backup plans.

"I guess you are going to be my tutor for Camp Half-Blood too, right?"

She pouted of course, and then proceed to ignore me completely and lead the way. We were soon climbing up the stiff cliffside mountains to the west; the trail was as heart-pounding as I would have imagined, but we managed to make it to a house built right into the side of the mountain, or what the Half-Bloods in the camp called the big house.

They weren't lying. This place was huge and complex. Did I also mention it was built into the cliff too? Yeah, the modernized house was inside the mountain! Seeing it with my own eyes for the first time, I wouldn't be surprised if there were tunnels or secret entrances leading to some underground bunkers inside the mountain we were on.

Of course, I wasn't surprised either when Annabeth made no conscious effort to hide her squeals of delight and those grey eyes from sparkling with joy. Her obsessive-compulsive personality of being an innate architect was leaking as she marveled around every inch of space inside the big house; the most impressive part for me though was a fifty feet viewing platform on the top floor, a round dome of reinforced glass facing the ocean horizon and beyond. It was one of those surreal sights that would calm me down instantly.

Sadly, we didn't get a huge tour of the big house for any more than five minutes because Chiron, or rather, Alfred the butler who's been Annabeth's caretaker since birth, fetched us from our fascination and brought us to the consul room.

Hence, this was how we found ourselves in our current situation.

The Consul room was dimly lit by sparse overhead lights, an eerie familiarity with some nuclear bunker war room type of vibe. The claustrophobic tunnel we took to get here did little to help us escape that feeling either.

"So, does anyone have anything else they like to add?"

The lengthy explanation Thalia gave to the rest of the pantheon leaders was anything but quick, but instead of more questions, everyone seated at the table nodded nonchalantly in response. It was unexpected, and not in a good way.

"So, what are you hoping for us to do anything about it?" A boy with rustic color hair asked from the left side of the table. He sat between a boy who looked like a model for the latest fashion magazine and a girl who was strangely familiar to me. It felt like I knew her name at the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't recall when I'd seen her before.

"Leo!" The boy next to him slapped the back of his head, "You are not being fair,"

"Shut it, Will." Leo snapped back and smacked his hands away, "You are always a softy when it comes to stuff like this, so don't try and lecture me about being fair."

The room went silent.

"Eh well… How about we start from the top anyway?" A girl dressed in a long white garb while wearing a skin-tight short skirt spoke from the corner. She had chestnut brown hair tied to a side ponytail and hazel color eyes. If she wasn't an actual person in front of me, I would have thought she was a really nice latte art. Also, there was something strange about her outfit, like if I take my eyes off her for a second, she might disappear.

"Hi. My name is Chloe. I am the leader of the huntress of Artemis. It's nice to meet everyone here."

At first glance, this girl clearly wasn't someone that we'd have to worry too much about, at the very least, she seemed cooperative.

"Nice to meet you too, Chloe, I am…"

"I know who you are." Chloe cut me off, but right between when her hazel color eyes caught mine, she blinked and turned away, "Nice to meet you too, Annabeth. I've heard a lot about you, especially about last night."

Eh? What just happened…? I thought to myself.

"It's nothing. I did what anyone would have done." Annabeth said casually, "Besides, I've learned a lot about Camp Half-Blood since then, something that I feel like I should have done a long time ago."

The other side of the table went silent.

"So why didn't you?" Leo spoke up, "Let me guess, you and your friends are all safe and sound living in the mansion while the rest of us had to live in camps, is that why? Or maybe we just aren't worth your time at all?"

I saw Annabeth's face drop. I probably looked the same because neither of us was expecting something like this.

"Leo!" Will smacked the table instead of his head, "That's going too far!"

"What? It's true!" Leo fought back, "You know as well as I do that they never really cared about us. All they want us to do is help them whenever they are in trouble, and that's exactly what is happening right now, isn't that right?"

Will bit his lips and stayed quiet.

Leo turned to a wide-eyed Annabeth who was for the first time taking all this by herself, "You might be Athena's daughter, but don't expect us to help you out just because of that. You lived in a completely different world than ours, so whatever problems you have, you should deal with them yourself!"

I slammed my hands on the desk and stood upright… or at least that's what I wanted to do and defend my wise girl, but someone beat me to it.

"Leo!" Thalia shouted, "That's enough out of you! Now I get why you hold such distaste for Athena, but…"

"You don't know the end of it, Thalia. You and Jason might be leading us, but the rest of us living here always have to fend for ourselves. We don't get some magic mumble jumble or neat gadget to save us when we are in trouble. If we are cornered, that's it. Game over."

Leo was on a roll now. Clearly, something must have happened to him over the years that made him feel this way, but I couldn't even begin to guess what.

I stayed quiet too. Passing a glance at the girl on my right, her expression went beyond blank, and behind those grey cloudy eyes, I recognized doubt and guilt flowing in those orbs. I bit my lips, wanting nothing but to dispel those feelings of hers right away.

But I didn't… I didn't know how to…

After all, it was my first time hearing this disdain the Half-Bloods in the camp have for Lady Athena, for me, and most importantly, for Annabeth who's asking for everyone's help right now.

It's not your fault, wise girl… I tried to tell her that, but with her head hung down and shoulder slumps, I didn't even have a chance.

"It isn't our fault that Athena got captured or that Amphitrite turned to the Titan's side. This shouldn't have been our problem to deal with in the first place. We are only Half-Bloods, not some Olympian Gods. They started this whole mess, they should fix it themselves."

"Leo…" A voice of reason on his left was drowned out by another heated bellow.

"And what can we possibly do against an enemy that's two steps ahead of us anyway? If what you said about last night is true, then those people already found out about each of our weaknesses. It's just a suicide quest to rescue a Goddess who's done nothing but sacrificed us one after another for the sake of saving humanity."

"Leo…." That new voice grew a bit more forceful.

"I won't go down that road. The way I see it, this world is doom anyway, regardless if we try to save it or not, and you bet I won't let— that… happen, not again-nn…"

The consul room went quiet.

Everyone beside me and Annabeth looked uncomfortable, yet it was the two of us that Leo held his unflinching gaze at. His intention burning behind those golden bronze eyes was anything but a game, they were a stream of lava consuming everything that stood in its path. He was trying to prove a point, and yet, the fire dimmed and he backed down after a while.

"Whatever…" He looked away, but I noticed his eyes were damp, "If you all are ready to get yourself killed for some faraway fantasy that's unlikely to ever happen, then be my guest. I am done."

Leo stood up and sunk his hands in his hoodie.

"I'll be in the workshop if anyone needs me for anything else besides risking my life." He turned around to face away from me and Annabeth, "I guess it was nice to finally meet you two, but I pray that's the last time we'll ever meet again."

Leo calmly paced out of the room instead of storming out. The fury in his voice, the unresolved anger, all that that seemed to have extinguished on its own somehow.

"~Sign~ We are going to ignore that," Thalia stood up to catch everyone's attention, "Now I know some of you aren't exactly eye to eye with Athena throughout the years, but this isn't a mission for her."

Thalia pointed at the girl who's been quiet since Leo took out his frustration on her. I still didn't feel right about that whole thing, but it would have to wait. Staying with her right now was more important than anything else.

Thalia gestured at Annabeth and me, "This mission is for them, and they are not Lady Athena. All I am asking everyone is to lend your ears, and whatever decisions you guys come up with, no one will say otherwise."

Then she gestured at Annabeth, "Well, let's hear your thoughts, princess."

Thalia sat back down just one seat away from Annabeth, Piper sat in the middle between them along with a really gorgeous girl behind her. Guessing she was Piper's second-in-command, her long wavy hair was the color of yolk and she had a slim and athletic figure worthy of being on sporting headlines. It was an interesting contrast between both daughters of Aphrodite. While Piper looked as nimble as a tiny squirrel skilled at sneak attacks, this girl behind her was like a big cat, unafraid to go the direct approach for any situation.

What was her name again? Lena? Sia?

"My name is Silena, daughter of Aphrodite, Prince Perseus."

Shocked, I blinked up and almost yelped when she found out I was staring, "Is there something wrong with my face?"

"No… Of course not."

Behind her, I saw Jason pass me some ultra-uncool bro-look and sighed. He gestured unwittingly behind me and looked away half-whistling as if danger was just a few feet away.

"I see? Well, let's save the welcoming for later. We are here to discuss mounting a rescue on Lady Athena, isn't that right?"

"Right! Of course!" I turned away and back to the table, but at soon as I met the other's gaze, I froze. Words were stuck in my throat not just because of the pressure of being stared at, but because I didn't know what to say in the first place…

Pumping my fist in the air while screaming: "We need to rescue Athena no matter what it takes!" would certainly draw their attention, but not only would I be labeled as the world's only massive idiot, it also wouldn't solve what we desperately needed: a good strategic plan.

There was only one person who could come up with the best, full-proof plans for backup plans, and that person was…

Craning my neck little by little, I finally turned and look back at what Jason was trying to warn me from.

Grrrr….

"Eeek!"

Meeting her infamous scary looks while she ground her teeth and stared daggers at me, there was only one course of action I could take.

"Um… How about we get an introduction going first? I might have forgotten all your names and your pantheons already. Hahaha…"

Trying to defuse the obviously pissed-off Annabeth, I rubbed a nervous hand through my hair and turned to everyone. It was impossible to hide the pathetic face I was making, but that's the least of my concern now.

The others in the room sucked in collective breaths together. I was surprised at how synchronized it was until everyone started laughing to themselves.

"Ah-hahaha… I am beginning to see why your friends say you are hopeless, Percy." Connor laughed and nudged his brother on the other side of the table. They were whispering and snickering.

"Wait, that's not…"

"Come on, Percy… you've got to stop pissing off your girlfriend like that, you know? Girls are sensitive creatures, and I wouldn't be surprised if one day Annabeth might have to put a leash on you just to keep you in line. Hehehe…" That was Katie Garden, the daughter of Demeter we've met the night before, who by the way, didn't hold back on that one, not one bit.

"P-P-please don't j-joke around like that…"

Seated next to the twin brothers, Katie was adjacent to Chloe, the pantheon leader of the huntress of Artemis if I remember correctly. She was sitting by herself at the corner seat, and despite meeting her for the first time tonight, if my instinct was correct, I guessed she didn't like me very much.

Chloe ignored the commotion with her face turned slightly away.

"S-Seaweed brain…? We are going to have a proper talk when this is done." My girlfriend's eyes turned yandere and not in a cute and kawaii way.

"Ah-hehehehhh…?"

Going around the table in that order, that left Thalia and Jason, Piper and Silena, Annabeth, me, and Rachel on this side. As for the last corner seat, it was taken up by Illya, the healing maid whose been helping us on our journey since the fight with Luke and the Nemean Lion.

Thalia briefly mentioned her past when we spent the night together, but I wondered if the rest of the Half-Bloods knew her story of being a magic mage from the secret Conwy family.

Back on the other side, there were two more people I haven't gotten acquainted with yet. There was the girl with deep purple violet eyes. They would look mesmerizing under the moonlight. She was also buffed with an athletic figure, pure strength wouldn't be something she ever had to worry about.

For some reason, she had been watching me intently since this meeting started, yet I couldn't read what she was thinking. Neither could I read what Annabeth was thinking when she periodically return her gaze with a pair of hostile ones.

"Ahem… In any case, I guess I'll introduce myself again. Hi, Percy. My name is Will Solace. I am a son of Apollo and leader pantheon of my cabin. It's nice to meet you."

He reached out his hand with a beaming smile, it was quite a match to his sunny model-like face.

"R…Right… It's nice to meet you too."

When we shook hands, he twisted his lips in apology, "I am sorry about Leo. He's not very cooperative with anyone from the mansion, not since Calypso… Umm, anyway, he's the leader of the Hephaestus pantheon just so you know, but give him some time, I am sure he'll warm up to both of you soon enough."

"I see…" I rubbed my hair.

"And like Chloe said already, she's the leader of the huntress. She's really good with a bow, so good that she can hit bullseyes even on top of a mountain."

"Pssshh… That's a piece of cake for me." Chloe waved the compliment off.

"And well, I know you are familiar with Katie and the twins already, so the last one left…"

Will turned hesitantly at the girl who's been silent since the consul started, "Well, she's the leader of the Ares's pantheon, and her name is Clarisse."

Clarisse…? Huh, when have I heard that name before…?

Annabeth gave me a worried look as if she was suddenly interested in my response. I gave her a small tilt instead.

"So you don't remember?"

I looked back at Clarisse who said that, "Remember what? Have we met before?"

She bit her lips and remained quiet.

I looked back at Annabeth and tried to demand answers that she seemed privy to as well, but someone burst through the doors and immediately slammed her face on the floor after tripping over herself. The dramatic entrance certainly stopped the room dead in its track.

"I've got it! I've got the location!" She lifted her face back up.

A girl in a t-shirt and skirt combo while wearing sparing pieces of armor around her body hurriedly got up and dusted herself off. She held a flash drive in her hand, it was very similar to the ghost drives that Annabeth used to steal info from Walter's experiments.

"What did you get, Reyna? Did you find it?" Annabeth jumped up.

Reyna exclaimed and tilted her study glasses back in place, "No, I didn't just find it. Drew told me almost everything there is about their base. It's all in this ghost drive you gave me, Annabeth."

"Give it to me!" Annabeth demanded as she bunny hopped over the ten feet wide table.

Mumble... mumble... mumble...

While the girls had a hushed conversation to themselves, I turned to Connor, "Weren't you supposed to keep an eye on Drew as well?"

"Ah? He-heh… I felt like Reyna could do a better job than me, so I left the interrogation to her."

Interrogation? I wonder what kind of torture they put her through…

"You just say that because you want to get out of guarding duty."

Connor scowled, "But… can you blame me? I can't do that for a whole day! Besides, Reyna is scary, she can get the job done much quicker."

"Huuwah? What did you say, you little pipsqueak?"

Connor deflected from Reyna's direction who was giving off major death-threat aura, both his face and body turned sideways, "Of course, you are very beautiful too, Reyna. Hmm! Isn't that right, bro?"

Travis sighed and buried half his face, "Don't ask me, bro. My girlfriend is right beside me."

I felt a smile on my lips as the scene played out.

"So, wise girl? Mind sharing with the rest of us?"

Once the two girls who seemed to really get along well finished whispering, Annabeth came back to my side and inserted the one-inch wide drive into the table. There was a slight whirling as the long consul table chimed with a start-up sound, then a ring of blueish glow surrounded the edge, ending with a minimalistic symbol of an owl in the middle. Holographic lights gathered into a sphere as it bend and oscillate atop the center, "I've got a plan to take down Amk."

As the projection hologram load into the table, I nudged Annabeth who looked smug and confident, "So, what did you ask Reyna to do to Drew exactly?"

Annabeth reassured me with a lopsided grin, "Don't worry… I didn't do anything too severe." She read my mind and whispered out of others' hearing range, "I just told Reyna to use some truth serum on her and be really, really scary. At least it worked."

"Hmm…" I hummed and took a mental note to never piss her off again.

"She should be in a cell inside the exile dimension right now, so that's another problem solved."

"Ah…" I gulped, "Hey, wise girl?"

She titled her head without looking at me, "Hmm?"

"Exactly how much work did you put into last night?"

Her fingers abruptly stop clicking the Holo-keyboard on the table while everyone watched the morphing hologram in awe.

Finally, she turned around and gave the best, brightest smile I'd ever seen. I've yet to see that proud, cheek-puffed-out look filled about seventy percent of her youthfulness, while thirty percent of her bashfulness was spent hiding her full grin. I fell in love right away.

"You'll see, seaweed brain. And I'm expecting a praise after this is finished, don't forget that."

I fell speechless too, but Annabeth didn't notice and went back to the group still here.

"Okay, everyone…"

While Annabeth did her thing, I took one last look at the empty seat between Travis and Will. It was sad that Leo wouldn't be joining us, but somehow, I still had hopes that he would help us in the end, even despite what he said.

Calypso… I whispered an unfamiliar name with an unusually heavy weight to it.

"So I know I am not my mother, and that in itself is saying a lot about what I am asking of each and everyone here, but I am asking anyway because I am going to make sure this rescue goes exactly as I've planned without any hitch."

A collective gasp echoed and bounced against the walls.

"You are that confident in your strategy?"

Annabeth's smirk surprised me as well.

"Just listen,"

Then the hologram unfolded and revealed a map of the city and the entire stretch of long island, including a few points of interest like our penthouse, our estate back here in a hidden corner of the Hamptons, and a few more blue dots scattered around the furthest ends of tiny islands. There was also a singular red dot pulsating outward, and it was coming from…

"Is this real-time?" Katie asked in a state of shock.

"Courtesy of my mother's many innovations. It seemed she's hiding a lot." Annabeth threw her hands out and expanded the map to focus on the city. A few of us gasped when we saw a sizable chunk in the middle of the map was gone, replaced by a five-mile-wide crater.

"Ahem… ignoring that," Annabeth grew red and scrolled down quickly, "The city's harbor is the approximate area I've narrowed down after studying all the notes my mother had last night, and if Drew is also telling the truth, then this is definitely where Amk is located, and where they are keeping my mother."

We all leaned over to get a better look.

"Governor's Island?!"

The daughter of Athena nodded.

"Wait, I thought the island was sealed off since that accident a few years ago?"

"Accident?"

Thalia nodded, "The way I heard it, a group of Half-Bloods on a quest to retrieve something for Athena got cornered when coming back. They were swamped by heavy monsters on the island alone, and because our reinforcements couldn't get to them without fighting through, they were slaughtered very quickly. Even though we tried to find their bodies afterward, they never turned up. It's almost like they vanished or something." Thalia explained, "Right, Chiron?"

Our heads turned to the wise Centaur in human form, "That's the rumors of the story, but I have no details for you, even I don't know the nature of that quest."

"So how come it is sealed off?"

Thalia shook her head, "It was a real mess afterward that the mortals got involved. Basically, Athena forbids us from going back. I don't know the real reason why."

"I remember the news that day too." Rachel spoke up and put us to a halt, "People said terrorists were responsible for blowing up the island, and there were strict evacuations to keep everyone out."

Could it be? I shared a secret look with Annabeth who thought the same, but that's not going to get us anywhere. Hunches or not, we have to rescue Athena from Walter and Amphitrite's schemes. The sooner we do that, the better.

"Here, take a look at this." Annabeth tweaked the settings and a wave echoed along the holo-map, "At first, I thought it looked the same as the real island in the pictures."

She was right. Zoomed in and rotating it as a 3D model, the peaceful island looked ordinary with a huge center building surrounded by tree gardens, but something felt off.

"But it's a trick…" Annabeth gestured, "Owlfred, do the thing."

"Sure thing, princess."

Unaware of Owlfred's presence in the meeting, what happened next made every pair of eyes widen from every corner of the table.

"That doesn't look like Governor Island…" Katie whispered.

Instead of the serene scenery from before, what reappear from the ground up was something much sinister, something that would send chills beyond our worst nightmares.

"That's because it isn't. Not anymore" Annabeth replied, "If what Thalia said is true, then Amk must have been created back when the accident took place, and it seemed they didn't just learn to take control of our powers either. They are now able to manipulate the mist on command. That's why we miss such a huge tower overlooking the city. We couldn't see it."

A collective gasp vibrated around us.

"Okay, that's all fine and good. We know our enemy's whereabouts, but how do you plan to assault that… fortress? It's seemed tough, and I bet they've already prepared counter-measures. Did you forget they stole our powers?" Chloe interjected.

Annabeth bit her lips, "Yes, but only in its most basic elements. Their soldiers might be more powerful than a regular mortal, but they aren't immune from being hurt. We aren't powerless against them."

"How would you…"

"The research. I've gone through every note we took from his hard drives." Annabeth explained, "At this point, they haven't managed to mimic our powers on the same levels. The biggest advantage they have is seeing through the mist and harnessing a small part of our celestial energy."

"That's a pretty big advantage…"

"Only on the surface, they are still relying on military weapons as their main source of defense, which means we have a chance to break through."

"Uhh… not to alarm you princess, but if we are going to attack with only swords and magic against automatic assault rifles and guns, we'd lose."

The group nodded in agreement. On the corner, Jason chewed his lips as he recently had first-handed experience with that.

"No joke, but Piper is right. We are just as vulnerable to those weapons as they are to ours, but from a pure numeric standpoint, they can easily mow us down. The twins might be able to dodge the gunfire with their speed, but the rest of us can't."

Despite the sound argument, Annabeth looked around confidently, "I've got a plan for that."

"Eh…?" A dozen more heads tilted to the side in confusion, including mine.

"W-What?" Annabeth made a half-frown and half-pout at everyone staring, "Trust me, we've got nothing to worry about…"

I sighed reluctantly.

As crazy as it was to believe, I wasn't worried. Sure, I was confused, but I wasn't worried.

Thinking back, I realize it's only been nine months since I met Annabeth in that small coffee shop, then I was helplessly falling in love with her, and afterward, we discovered this whole new world waiting for us, going through some tough life and death moments together, but even after everything, I would always trust Annabeth, no matter what.

However, it's hard to argue against everyone's apprehension. Given a real firefight, fighting with swords and shields against a group of trained soldiers each armed with military-class rifles and also powered up with our celestial energy wasn't a good plan.

"Mmm… just trust me for now, okay?"

Everyone went quiet around the holograph display. Despite not being fully detailed, the structures on the island were flushed out enough to be accurate to the real-life thing.

Looking at it head-on, it honestly seemed impossible. The island was surrounded by tall barrier concrete walls at least ten stories high. You couldn't risk climbing over it when spotlights shine at every inch of the exterior wall, and that's just the infiltration part. Getting to that menace-looking watchtower as tall as the Empire state building would be the real struggle.

"So, what's the plan, princess? You do have one besides asking us to charge through the front door, right?" Connor asked as everyone turned to the daughter of Athena.