"Well, that's not ominous at all. That's the end of the chapter." Piper informed them all, closing the book.

Poseidon and Hades stood up, intent on speaking with their children. Nico, Hazel, and the Percy's were flashed by their father's to their respective rooms before anybody could say anything.

"Luke." Hermes called softly. He waited until he had the older boys attention before saying, "Walk with me. I think we have much to talk about." His other sons reflected that their usually joking and cheerful father looked old right then.

Luke looked nervous but followed his father. He'd had some time to think while he waited for his judgement... he had decided he was tired of being angry.

With Poseidon and the Percy's...

"Percy," Poseidon started, "I don't care how many schools you've been to, I want you to know that I am very proud, no matter what. I always have been. Sure, an education is important, but... when it comes to being a demigod, being street-smart is even more important. And I wish I could have been around more when you were growing up." Poseidon said, watching his sons carefully.

Percy smiled at him before coming to give him a side-hug where he sat on the edge of his bed. "I know dad. I wish you could have been around more too, but I understand there are laws, and you are very busy."

Percy came and sat on his other side. "You watched when you could, you did what you could." He said as he hugged his dad from the other side.

They were all silent for a while, before Percy asked, "What do I do when we are done here, and I go back to my time? What am I supposed to tell mom and Lily?"

"I don't know, son. I guess, we will just have to figure that out later, towards the end of the books." Poseidon said with a sigh. There was also the fact that Percy would be going back to Gabe when they were done here. Maybe the Fates would let him write a letter or something and let Percy take it with him?

They all groaned when Amphitrite came in to inform Poseidon that Zeus was demanding a council meeting right now. Poseidon had a feeling that this would be about Percy's power and Percy's insistence that Father was a threat and would threaten Olympus. He stood up and sighed before kissing Amphitrite on the cheek and hugging the boys before flashing back to the throne room, where he settled back into his throne and braced himself for a long 'discussion', he started thinking up ways of threatening Zeus so Zeus wouldn't immediately jump to the ridiculous conclusion that he was trying to use his sons to take over Olympus.

How did his younger brother become the ruler again? Last he checked, Hades was the oldest brother and he Poseidon was the strongest brother.

Not Zeus.

With Luke and Hermes...

Hermes led Luke out of the throne room and towards the gardens. They walked in silence for a while while Hermes gathered his thoughts.

Finally, he had enough of the silence, "How deep in were you?" He asked.

Luke looked down. "I, umm, gave him my body to inhabit. Before that, I led his armies and recruited demigods. When the time was right, I swam in the Styx so my body would be capable of handling his spirit until he was back at full strength. I gave him everything I was. I was never going to survive, and I knew that. Once he was back at full strength, his power would have blown my body apart. I did everything so he could come back and tear Olympus apart. And I didn't care. I just wanted the gods gone, I thought if they were gone, that demigods would have an easier life, that we would finally get some recognition. That Kronos actually cared where our parents didn't." Luke said.

By now, they had stopped by a fountain, and Hermes watched as some of the other Future Greeks walked past, going deeper into the gardens.

Luke watched them go too, his eyes on Chris. "Chris was one of my first recruits. The summer Kronos rose, I sent him into the Labyrinth. Alone. Without the String. Without any other way to navigate. It was a suicide mission, and I just, sent him in. I never ever expected to see him again. And I. Didn't. Care. My own brother, and I didn't care that I sent him on a suicide mission. We had a spy in camp, and later on she told me that when Clarisse brought him back to camp, raving mad, she kept him as healthy as she could while they waited for Mr. D to come back from seeing about the minor gods loyalties so Mr. D could restore his sanity. The 'enemy' treated him better than we did." He sighed.

"I told myself that it was a sacrifice we were all willing to take for the good of the rest of the world. That it was for demigods everywhere. For Percy's first quest, I set him up for a one way trip to Tarturus, the plan was for him to take the Lightning Bolt to Kronos, unknowingly. I have dueled Percy so many times, but the end of his first summer at Camp? I summoned a pit scorpion and set it on him. I'm told the nature spirits in the forest barely got him to Chiron on time, not even putting his hand in the water was enough. The next summer, I poisoned Thalia's tree. My older sister, that tree was made of her spirit, and I poisoned it." He looked like he was about to break down.

Hermes reached and put a hand on his shoulder, not quite sure if the hug he wanted to give him would be welcome.

"You made a mistake. A big one, but... Kronos is known for being persuasive, and I can only guess that he started talking to you shortly after you came to camp? I remember you were in a very bad way back then, after everything that happened with Thalia." Hermes started slowly. Luke looked up at him. "To him, you would have been easy prey. How long did it take you to really start listening to him?"

"A couple of years." Luke whispered. "After my quest to the Garden, everything he was saying started making so much more sense."

"See? You held out for close to three years. That's longer than anyone I have heard ever holding out and not listening to him. Luke, this is Kronos we are talking about. He has persuaded and tricked us gods into doing his bidding more than once. Zeus will never admit it, he forbade us from talking about it, but World War Two? You know that was mostly children of Hades versus children of Zeus and Poseidon? Well, Zeus denies it, but Kronos was pretty much helping tensions on both sides grow. He didn't start anything, but he sure didn't help it end either." Hermes said, squeezing Luke on the shoulder.

Luke smiled slightly, then sighed. "I'm worried about my younger self. He was supposed to steal the Bolt at the end of that meeting, get the Bolt somewhere safe, then be back on Olympus before anyone even realized the Bolt was gone. I've realized my mistakes, I've lived them, but, he'll just be reading about it. And he'll be reading about it from Percy's and the Olympians point of view. The very ones he sees as his enemies. He's not going to want to back down just from this reading. And when Zeus finds out? Oh, man." He turned away and ran a hand down his face. "The only thing keeping him from killing us then and there will be the fact the Fates forbade it."

"He'll have to go through me and your brothers too. Don't forget that." Hermes said, turning him around and holding his chin so Luke couldn't look away. "You made a mistake. One that almost destroyed the world, but it was a mistake. Those happen. And you are still my son. No matter how many mistakes you make. We will make your younger self see that. And we will make the others see how wrong we are in keeping so much distance from our children." He said, making sure Luke understood. Only then, did Hermes allow himself to hug his son.

A few minutes later, Demeter found them. She watched for a few minutes before she cleared her throat, when Hermes looked up, she started, "Zeus is calling a quick meeting. I think it's about all the Big Three children running around right now." Hermes growled a little at that before he sighed and nodded.

"I'll be right there." She nodded and walked away, back towards the throne room. "We will talk to your younger self, and don't worry about Zeus. I'll handle him if he starts to get ideas. Why don't you go find the younger kids? See what they're up to? I don't think anybody is watching them right now, and you know how Travis and Connor can be."

Luke smiled at that and walked away, Hermes watched him go, for once feeling every bit of his several thousand years. He couldn't help but feel he failed somewhere.

With Hades, Nico, and Hazel...

Hades sat on his bed, watching his two children in front of him. One of whom, he knew was supposed to be dead and in the Fields of Asphodel. As much as he really didn't want her there.

"Well? One of you want to explain to me how Hazel is here, alive and well? Not that I'm complaining, dear. It's just... you both know the laws." Hades said tiredly, running a hand down his face.

Nico glanced at Hazel, who was standing there staring at the floor, she didn't want her father to tell her that she had to go back. She had nightmares of that place... and then there were her flashbacks...

"Um, well... the future is pretty bad. They captured Thanatos, and have gained control of the Doors. Monsters aren't dying, they just reform faster than we can kill them. I, um, well... I took advantage of the fact Thanatos was gone, and the doors were wide open... and I went looking for Bianca. But Bianca had already gone for rebirth... and then I found Hazel, decided to give her another chance." Nico said, a little nervously. He had broken the very law of nature after all.

Hades stared at his son for a moment. Then he sighed and ran a hand down his face again. The future sounded like a lot of paperwork. Great.

He thought for a moment. "Future me might be able to turn a blind eye... but... it will mean not acknowledging you exist. Ever. If I do, I will have no choice but to bring you right back to the Underworld." He informed his children grimly. He was rewarded with blinding smiles and... hugs.

Well, blinding smiles by their standards. Which basically meant Nico smiled period.

They all hugged for a little bit before Persephone came in to tell Hades that Zeus was calling a meeting. He was even being so kind as to include Hades in it.

Joy.

"I'll go take care of this, I'll probably be questioned to Tarturus and back about the two of you. How is it, again, that I'm the one Zeus trusts the least, and yet I'm the one who kept that blasted Oath of his? For that matter, how did he become the king again? I'm the oldest brother." He grumbled on his way out the door. He decided to walk, instead of flashing.

Just to make Zeus wait.

After leaving Percy with Sally, Percy found Clarisse and the other futures he fought with in the Battle of Manhattan during the Titan war in the very back gardens, the MS were standing off to the side.

"Hey guys, shall we get started?" He asked Clarisse. "Hey, you guys have somewhere to sleep, right?" He suddenly asked the MS. When they all nodded, Percy said 'good' and left it that, instead turning his attention back to the challenge at hand.

"Rules?" He asked Annabeth as he and Clarisse stretched.

She nodded, "Alright, we don't have any of our usual equipment, but we got Beckendorf and Leo to throw something together similar to what we usually use. You will both be taking this," She pointed to a awkward shape that would be difficult to get and keep a good grip on, "500 lb. weight from here, across the river," she pointed to the river separating the back gardens from the side of the floating mountain they were on, "Where you will then leave it as you run back here. After you return here, you will both do a series of sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, and pull-ups. 50 each. For the pull-ups, you will use that tree branch." She pointed to a low-hanging branch near where they stood. "After the exercises, you will then re-cross the river and retrieve the weight. You will then bring it back across the river, first one to do so, wins."

"Who are our spotters?"

"The Stolls can do it, Travis, you have Percy and Connor can spot Clarisse." Katie chimed in.

"Agreed. Now, Percy, no using your water powers, no weapons to delay the other person, the only diversionary tactics allowed will be taunting." Annabeth said, looking at both competitors sternly, she knew how the two of them could get and didn't want another incident like the last time they challenged each other. Both of them were in the infirmary for days, and everybody refused to tell Chiron what they had been up to. The special training the demigods put themselves through shortly after Luke deserted camp and tried to kill Percy with the scorpion was the best kept secret of Camp Half-Blood. The nature spirits in the woods only knew about it because they helped with the training.

Percy and Clarisse nodded quickly. They didn't want to have to deal with the awkward questions again.

"Hey, where's Nico?" Percy suddenly asked. He didn't see the kid, Nico usually tried to make it to their challenges or training sessions, whichever they happened to be doing that night.

"I think he's still talking to his dad with Hazel..." Rachel said.

"Ah. Ok." Percy said as he and Clarisse got into position.

"Ready?" Annabeth called, standing in front of and between the challengers with her arm in the air.

"Set!" She waited for a moment to make sure they were really settled.

"GO!" She yelled, dropping her arm and making herself as small as possible so she didn't get run over.

She turned to watch and cheer Percy on as he ran to grab his weight and start across the river with it.

"You are late." Zeus bellowed when Hades finally made his way into the throne room. He looked around, he was the last here, and he noticed that Hermes looked older and even more tired than he did when he asked his oldest to take a walk with him.

"I don't recall Persephone telling me a time I had to be here by, younger brother." Hades replied with an eyebrow raised. Beside him, Hades could see Poseidon trying, and failing, to contain his laughter.

"You had that thought earlier too?" Hades asked Poseidon mentally.

"Yup." The two brothers smirked at each other again. They actually missed the days when the youngest would come to his older brothers for advice. Now, the youngest was constantly trying to accuse them of trying to steal his power. While forgetting the fact that if they really wanted it, they wouldn't have to try. They could just take it.

Even Aphrodite could just take it. Her and Poseidon were the strongest here, after all. Perhaps even Hestia, but nobody really knew just how strong she was, she never showed it.

Zeus fumed at the reminder that he was the youngest, while everyone else stared at the three with raised eyebrows. It wasn't often that Hades or Poseidon pulled the older brother card. Usually only when they were really annoyed with him, but they also tended to avoid Zeus when they could.

"Let's get this meeting started." Zeus finally called. He had a bad feeling about this though... Hades and Poseidon looked like they were agreeing on something... He glared at his older brothers, who both smirked back.

"First off, why do you two have children?!" He yelled.

Hades and Poseidon each raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"First off, brother, have you forgotten the two children you currently have here? Just because one is Greek and the other Roman means nothing, they still exist despite the Oath. Which means YOU broke it twice." Poseidon started.

"Secondly, neither of us wanted to take that Oath in the first place." Hades continued.

"And thirdly, Hades did not break his Oath. He hid his children when YOU tried to kill them and their mother. Hazel is another story entirely, but she was also born before the Oath." Poseidon finished. Both brothers stared at Zeus.

"How did you know about Hazel? And what exactly do you know?" Hades asked Poseidon mentally.

"I know all of it, about her going to Alaska, and dying there. I'm not even going to ask how she is alive again. Congratulations on that, by the way."

"Thank you. But how do you know?"

"Simple, I keep track of my family. And that includes my brother's children"

"Thank you."

Zeus sat in his throne wondering what to do. It had been a few centuries since Hades and Poseidon teamed up against him like this. He never seemed to know what to do when it happened either. The two of them together were kind of like Hestia in that regard. But then she was the oldest sibling...

When he looked to Hera for help, she just raised her eyebrow, as if saying, 'what are you looking at me for? Your the one in trouble.'

Finally, he huffed, "Fine, whatever, then let's talk about how powerful your children are, what that means for the prophecy, and how your boy, Poseidon, seems to think Father will be coming back."

Poseidon narrowed his eyes. "Are you calling MY son a liar?" He asked dangerously.

Zeus floundered for a moment. He hadn't heard that tone of voice directed at him in a long time.

"And our children? Because they are all backing young Perseus in his claims." Demeter asked, her own voice promising danger.

"I... well... I mean... He can't be coming back!" Zeus burst out finally. He knew this meeting would not go well.

Poseidon narrowed his eyes at his brother and stood up, "Know this, and know this now, Zeus. My patience is growing thin with your constantly accusing us or constantly ignoring threats when they come until it is too late. If you dare bury your head in the sand and insist there is not a problem in these books, then I will consider declaring you unfit to rule for the duration of the emergency." He said with authority. With that he flashed out.

Apollo whistled lowly. "I never thought I would see him snap like that. He's usually so laid back."

"He has a point though. You do tend to ignore problems until it is too late and you can no longer say there is nothing wrong." Hestia said from her corner by the fire.

"Indeed. Get your act together Zeus. These kids are showing that we have grown too complacent and apathetic over the centuries. That could very well be our undoing." Hades said before he, too, flashed out.

Everyone was silent for a moment before they started to talk amongst themselves a bit before they all flashed out twenty minutes later.

The whole time, Zeus was sitting there in shock. He didn't move.

When he finally snapped out of it, he was the only one in the room except for Mrs. O'Leary and Gabe. Mrs. O'Leary shadow-traveled out as soon as his eyes landed on her. He was in a bad mood and she didn't want to be anywhere near that. When she left, he turned his gaze to Gabe, Gabe just stared back for a minute before he, too, tried to inch his way backwards as best he could while still being tied up.

Zeus's eyes narrowed before a lightning bolt appeared in his hand and went flying towards Gabe. It was a really good thing the Fates weren't letting him die while he was here.

For the next hour, all people could hear coming from the throne room was the sound of thunder rolling and shouts of outrage.

Poseidon raised an eyebrow and continued his conversation with Sally and Paul.

The Greeks out in the back gardens all paused in what they were doing to look towards the throne room before they all shrugged and went back to the race. Which Percy was currently winning. Depending on who you asked, it was no contest. If you were to ask Clarisse though, he was barely winning.

About an hour and a half after the failed council meeting, Hestia was very annoyed with herself. She meant to get dinner inside the kids before their parents talked to them and before they went off on their challenge.

So, here she was, calling all the council back together for dinner and having Poseidon blow a conch horn to call the demigods. Only the Greeks would automatically answer its call, although she hoped the Romans would put it together, having already read that part. If they didn't come, she would send the Grovers out to smell them out.

Surprisingly, the Future Greeks, except for Piper and Leo, and the MS were the last ones back. Clarisse and Percy were dirty, sweaty, and still breathing hard like they'd just run a marathon. Percy was also getting his shoulder checked out by Will.

"I won!" Percy called happily in between pants. When everybody who didn't come in with them asked what he won, all the futures put a finger to their lips in a 'I'm not telling' gesture. It was actually really creepy the way they all did it at the same time.

"Hold still! Man, you tore your shoulder again. You really need to stop doing that." Will complained as he kept working. "Aw man, I can't get it to go back together. Hey, Dad! Can you give me a hand with this? His shoulder muscles just won't go together."

"Have you tried just throwing some water on him?" Apollo asked as he came over.

"This injury was sustained in the river out back. By all rights, it should have healed as soon as he got it, but noooo. That just happens to be the one body of water in the world that doesn't heal him." Will complained. The whole time, Percy was sitting there on his bench, eating his pizza with his other hand, watching them with his head cocked.

"Well, have you tried water since he got out of the river?" Poseidon asked as he came over, concerned about why the river out back didn't heal his son.

"First thing I tried. Didn't work. It's like his healing abilities are blocked or something since he got out of that river." Will huffed, frustrated while Apollo took over with Percy's shoulder. By now, everyone was really wanting to know what on earth they had been up to.

Annabeth sighed. "And this is exactly why I said no weapons tonight. Although, you didn't have to throw the dumb thing."

"Hey! I got a little excited, ok? Sue me." Percy defended. Annabeth just sighed again and kissed him on the cheek before turning around and putting more pizza on his plate.

"Huh. I can't get it to heal either. That's odd. Uncle P? You want to see if you can do anything?" Apollo said, surprised.

Poseidon frowned before he summoned up some salt water and put it on Percy's shoulder, holding it there like someone would an ice-pack. Apollo ran some scans while it was on.

"Oh, yeah. Now it's healing. Slowly though. It should be healing much faster. Hm, at this rate, if we keep the, er- water-press on it overnight, it should be fine by morning." He told Percy, Will, and Poseidon. Poseidon nodded before he frowned and motioned for Triton to keep the water in place, then he walked out, saying he would be right back.

When he came back, he had a worried frown on his face. "How many of you went into that river?" He asked. Clarisse and Percy were the only ones that raised their hands. He nodded. "Alright, I want all of you to stay away from it from now on, something wasn't right about that water. The two of you should be fine, Percy, you should be back in full control of your power over water in a few hours, so your shoulder probably won't take until morning. I'll go out and take a more detailed look at it later. It should be nothing though." He said, smiling reassuringly at everyone.

Mentally, he was telling the other gods what he found, "I found trace amounts of Father's time-sand in that river. It won't hurt them, and it's only causing a slight interference with Percy's connection to the water, but all the same. I don't want them near it."

"Do you need help cleaning it out later?" Triton asked.

"If you would please."

The gods could all see Zeus practically biting his tongue so he didn't provoke Poseidon into carrying out his threat earlier. That, and, he was really disturbed with the fact that some of his father's time-sand would be in a river on Mt. Olympus.

"Hold on, what if that time-sand was put there by the Fates? As part of them freezing time in the palace for this reading?" Apollo asked.

"It is possible. But then if that is the boundary, then the children shouldn't have been able to cross it at all." Hestia said.

"I'll go out there to clean it out later on anyway. If the Fates put it there, then they will let me know somehow, or just keep putting it there until I get the hint and leave it be." Poseidon finally said.

Everyone else murmured in agreement before they turned their attention back to their meal and the children. Hermes smiled when he saw Luke start to herd the younger kids to bed when a few of them started yawning. Eventually, they were followed by the older kids, with Triton following Percy to make sure the water-press stayed on until Percy was able to control it again and keep it there himself. Apollo promised to check on it again in a few hours, whether Percy was awake or not.

The next morning, the future Greeks were all woke up much the same as the day before. With Sally waving a bag of blue chocolate-chip cookies through the air and yelling that she had cookies. Then, there was another chase through the palace between the older kids for the bag of cookies Percy snatched from his mother on his way past her.

Once they were gone, Sally once again pulled another bag out from seemingly nowhere to give everyone else who didn't go running off after Percy. Then she herded them to where Hestia had breakfast set up outside today. When asked where she got the cookies from, she just smiled mysteriously and refused to say anything.

When the older kids finally came out, followed by the MS, who were still kind of stumbling around like they were half-asleep, Hestia finally served the food.

"Hey, Apollo, you come in last night to check my shoulder? Because it feels good as new." Percy said, rolling said shoulder a bit.

Apollo nodded. "Yes, it was healed nicely." Percy just nodded.

After they were done eating, Hestia simply conjured up chairs around the area they were in, and then passed the book off to Will.

Chapter eight: We capture a flag