Ruining the moment, Annabeth appeared in the doorway. "I got another call, and we have to get to Camp. Bring weapons and the spare med kit. Mortals are on their way home now," she said before racing from the room. Casey and Percy exchanged a look, then got off the bed, flipping the mattress over to get to the supply of weapons Jase kept stored there. Casey raced down the stairs with a duffle bag of weapons and grabbed the spare med kit.
Adora was sitting at the kitchen table with Annabeth kneeling in front of her. "We're coming home," Annabeth promised her. Adora was sniffling and grabbed her mom's sleeve. "But that's what Jasey said too! I don't want you to go," she cried.
A broken look crossed Annabeth's face. She was torn. Camp needed her, but so did her daughter. When she had kids, she promised that they would always come first. But there was an entire camp of kids in danger right now, and she couldn't bring Adora with them. Casey remembered her conversation with Percy. She softly pushed Annabeth aside and took Adora's hands.
"Adora, we're not going to die today. There's just a little issue we need to take care of, then we're going to get groceries and coming right home. Your job is to take care of Oscar, alright? Can you take care of Oscar?" Casey tried changing the subject. If Adora had a job to focus on she wouldn't worry so much. Adora nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth; a nervous habit.
"Do you want us to pick anything up for you at the store?" Casey added.
Adora shook her head, then stopped and nodded. "Goldfish?"
Casey took out a pen wrote goldfish on her hand. "There, now I won't forget. See you soon, sis!" Casey said cheerfully. Adora smiled and jumped from the chair.
Annabeth turned to Casey. "I don't know how you did that, but thank you. The neighbor is coming over for awhile; I told them there was a family emergency that I didn't want the littles to get involved in." Once Adora was out of earshot and Percy had joined them she added, "Octavian got out, he's raising an army to attack Camp Half Blood. It was his plan all along. He already has an army, they helped him escape and steal Camp Jupiters weapons."
Casey could feel her blood rising, boiling in her brain so her ears got hot. Octavian had tricked her. He'd used her to steal from Camp and get his army together. And now he knew Camp's setup. He knew they were wounded from their loss and that the newest members hadn't been trained yet. Casey had no doubt he'd be using this information against them. A sickening feeling filled her gut.
"Nate!" she yelped, jumping up and running around to gather the last of what they'd need.
"What about him?" Percy asked cautiously.
"We've been preparing for this! He's got traps set up along the boarder and some of the campers are on look-out detail. This is what Jase was warning us about! It has to be…" Annabeth and Percy exchanged a glance at their daughter's ramblings. They'd lecture her later on the dangers of running an operation like this but first they had to be grateful that she did.
Percy, per usual in life or death situations, took the wheel. He was a much more reckless driver, but he was fast. Nobody was even buckled in by the time they took off. Casey felt as if the G-force pressing against her would have made it impossible even if she did want to buckle up. The fifteen minute drive to Camp was reduced to seven minutes. When they arrived, they first saw a group of campers surrounded Thalia's tree to protect the golden fleece. There was a fight going on, but the battle was yet to pass the strawberry fields. Every once in awhile one of the enemy would step on a trap and go flying into the lake, just to be attacked by one of the giant sea creatures Percy had rehomed there over the years. Leading the attack was a certain grandson of Demeter.
Nathan Gardner hated fighting. He hated war and he hated battles and he didn't even like capture the flag. But this didn't mean that he wouldn't fight, or that he couldn't. When Octavian first began the attack, Nate was one of the first to know. One of the scouts, this one happened to be Katrina Grace, alerted him and the others that she saw Octavian heading up the hill with a small army in tow. This gave them time to ready the camp and send a message to the Jacksons and the Valdez's. Nate doubted Leo and Calypso were going to join the fight, but he felt they had a right to know what was happening. Nate recognized the sound of Percy's minivan pulling up and was nearly distracted long enough to get his head lopped off by Octavian, who was fighting Nate one on one.
"Hear that! The Jacksons are here, and they won't let you get any further than this," Nate spoke pridefully.
Octavian laughed a laugh deep in the back of his throat, the kind of laugh that sent shivers down the spine of people around him. "The Jacksons are broken, child. Everybody knows that," he said.
"That doesn't mean they can't still fight!"
"Not unless you know what to say," Octavian hissed. Nathan didn't know what Octavian meant by this but he figured he didn't want to find out. "This was too easy!" Octavian bragged. He danced around as if Nate was nothing but a flea buzzing annoyingly around him. "For the first time, a Jackson actually helped me secure my victory. Oh won't she be mad when she finds out, but I don't think she'll be able to stop me, do you?" he taunted.
"She didn't help you!" Nathan argued. Before Octavian could retaliate, Nate dropped his sword and geared up, then kicked Octavian hard between the legs. Just in time for Casey to run up the hill and join him.
"Nice," she said, trying to hide her surprise. Nate smiled cheekily and shrugged. He wondered if this would get him another kiss on the cheek. Once Octavian fell, most of his army ran off. The stragglers were captured by Percy's giant wave and dunked into the lake so they could be secured.
"You did good," Casey said to Nate as they walked across the destroyed strawberry fields towards the big house. Plants sprouted up in Nate's wake, their strawberry buds matching the tinge to his cheeks.
"Thanks. I don't really know what I was doing. The only time I actually did any damage was when I dropped my sword and just kicked him."
"You don't need to be good with a sword to be good in a fight. The best battles are won by brains, not bronze. Besides, I think Octavian is still in the infirmary. Nice kick." She cocked her head and pecked him quickly on the cheek. Then, per usual, she folded her hands together and walked a few feet ahead. Nate slid his fingers over his cheek in wonder. Maybe she really did like him. He was too deep in thought to realize when the pair had arrived at the big house, when Octavian was on the floor still clutching his manhood. He glared at Nate as he walked in.
"We can't exactly send him back to the jail, we have to completely screen everybody working there and that's going to take days," Frank said.
"Why don't we just lock him in the basement?" his wife suggested.
"Why don't we shove him down the throat of kronos," Percy added. Annabeth rolled her eyes and shoved his arm.
"You let me go, and I'll tell you everything you want to know," Octavian bargained.
"There's nothing we want to know from you," Annabeth spat. "Dissecting teddy bears isn't exactly an art."
Octavian glared, then slowly pushed himself into a hunched over sitting position. He really was quite skinny; his sunken in eyes glared ahead at Annabeth, his jaw was locked and you could almost see the hatred luming off of him.
"I know how Jason Jackson died."
