I want to say thank you to all of you for your patience- I'm still dealing with a lot at the moment but I hope that it'll start settling down soon. Anyway in this chapter there's a family meeting.
Replies:
Undeath9087: Especially since Camp thinks Annabeth is dead, yeah just imagine certain peoples reactions. And it's fine I didn't take it bad.
Ant-Death: Have some more friends being just friends and totally not being in love! People call their best friends adorable and cute all the time. And we think the names pretty good too lol.
Ryan Fowler: I mean, it suits her. Our little Sadie is a bundle of energy right now. Could probably give Sadie in the fic a run for her money.
Guest: You'll have to wait and see- but I do have their first meeting planned out. And it will be interesting to say the least. The only hint is that the gods will be in a spot of bother at the time.
Drizzle: Thank you! And it's not a bad idea but I probably won't use it. One of the best things about Annabeth is the fact that she has no outright powers other than her mind but she can still keep up with others with powers.
MKDemiGodzilla-Warriors: Yeah no Clarisse in this one. But uh- they will meet some people during their journey, which will be fun.
Zephyr0f8: Lol you made me laugh, and honestly they're ridiculous right?
Guest: You're going to have to wait and see for future stuff. But the Demigods and magicians stuff won't happen- though we will see Setne again. Which I look forward to.
Guest: I do my best- but I will admit it can be hard at times, still I'll take everything you've asked for on board and try my lovely. I do thing the interactions of characters with magic with Percy will be more interesting in my Percy Kane series.

Carter's expression was clearly a facade of being unimpressed. He had his arms crossed over his chest, his lips were twitching. "Do I even want to know?"

"Uh-" Percy hesitated, clearly considering the question. "No, no probably not. But in my defence I did nothing wrong-ouch!" Piper dug her elbow into Percy's side at that. At least Percy thought that it was Piper's elbow- she wasn't really sure, Piper and Annabeth were a tangle of limbs on top of her.

"You've always done something wrong." Carter chuckled, reaching down and helping Annabeth and Piper untangle themselves and get to their feet, Percy leaping up the second they were no longer on top of her, brushing herself down quickly. "How was the visit to Hades?"

"Enlightening." Piper remarked dryly. "Percy's still his favorite mortal."

"We need a family meeting. Code Trident."

That made Carter's expression shift, turning more serious in an instant. They had family meetings all the time- that wasn't unusual. But Code Trident was. They'd decided after the backpack debacle that they needed a code word for when something serious was going on that involved the Greeks- they didn't want to panic anyone- understandably, and it would cause some panic amongst the initiates- some of them knew that Percy wasn't normal, some even had a rough idea of what she, Piper and Annabeth were. But even so, knowing something was going on with the Greeks could cause panic. Code Trident was what they'd come up with. Short, to the point and it didn't give too much away.

"Something big?" and Percy loved her brother for not hesitating to take it seriously, and she knew that no matter what happened she'd have her brothers support, even if, as she knew, he wouldn't be able to come in person. She'd have her whole families support for that matter- the entire might of the House of Life behind her. Or at least the might of those loyal to the House of Life.

"Possibly very big." Percy glanced at Annabeth- after all she'd know better, and Annabeth nodded.

"My old home could be destroyed. If that happens- a lot of people will die." and from what Percy understood it would weaken the Greeks forces rather a lot. Not ideal when there was the looming threat of Kronos. Even if no one was willing to acknowledge the fact.

"Library." Carter gave a swift nod, "I'll go get the others. Full family or-"

"Full family." that meant Zia and Walt too- and Amos if he was able to come but that wouldn't be an option under the circumstances- and Percy watched Carter dart away, grabbing a couple of the younger initiates, undoubtedly giving them orders to find the others.

And Percy, Piper and Annabeth headed down into the library, and Percy glanced back at Annabeth, who was looking around in almost wide eyed awe- again. She always seemed to react that way when she visited the library, which admittedly wasn't as often as she'd like. Percy was pretty sure Annabeth still felt like she was imposing at times. Which was silly but feelings often were.

Cleo was down in the library- clearly in the middle of sorting some of the scrolls- she looked up when she heard footsteps- and she must have seen something in Percy's expression because she straightened almost instantly.

"Do I need to get out of here?"

"I know it's a pain and you're working but- family stuff."

"Of course." Cleo nodded, moving towards the stairs quickly, pausing when she drew level with Annabeth, "Oh, Annabeth I was hoping to see you. I managed to get a copy of that book you were interested in-"

"Thank you!" Annabeth started to gush before she stopped herself, "I- I mean- I'll look at it later if that's okay. We have stuff to do but I really appreciate it-"

"Not a problem." Cleo laughed, a fond smile flashing across her lips before she took the steps two at the time, and Percy moved over to the long table, and Percy sat down on it, swinging her legs.

"A book?" she tilted her head curious, and Annabeth gave a somewhat sheepish smile.

"Cleo and I were talking about the library of Alexandria and she said that some magicians saved several scrolls from the burning and she said she could get me some of the scrolls to look at- I mean- even just getting to see them- to touch them-" Annabeth looked breathless at the mere thought of it- and Piper laughed.

"That is actually adorable- is that not adorable Percy?"

"It really is." Percy agreed, "I mean, even Carter doesn't get that excited about books-" she paused, "Well, not any more. And only very very rarely-"

"Shut up." Annabeth's cheeks were red, but she was clearly struggling to force down her smile as she shook her head. "Both of you. Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's mean to tease a girl." she shook her head, "Besides. They're from the greatest Library in history. What happened was beyond tragic-"

"We should go to Alexandria some time." Percy remarked wryly- which earned her a look from Piper.

"Isn't Alexandria where you nearly caused a hurricane-"

"I remember." Annabeth piped up, "That was one of my favorite scenes in the books- Ariadne saved herself, her siblings, Zara and Bes before she almost lost control of her magic because of-" she paused at the look Percy was giving her, the red spreading further until her whole face was a bright shade of red. "Shut up. I still find it weird sometimes okay? I loved those books. I still do."

"It's flattering." Percy grinned, "Really." she brushed her hair out of her face. "I do so love my fans-"

"Ugh." Annabeth groaned, "Piper, can you hit her for me."

"Oh no, no not this time." Piper snickered, "I agree with her. You know most fangirls annoy me but you, you are really cute." she gently bumped her shoulder against Annabeth's.

"You know I have five years of training." Annabeth practically grumbled the words, "You should fear me. It's not my fault that I didn't know any of it was real when I first fell in love with the first book. You can't blame me-"

"Oh no." Percy grinned, "I'm not complaining. Fans are the reason I will never have to get a normal boring job."

"Speaking of jobs-" Piper grinned, "Have you got back to them about that movie they want you to do- the one with my dad?"

"Not yet." Percy shrugged, "I'm considering my options-"

"Is that the one about the teenage super spy?" Annabeth tilted her head, "Or the teen detective one?"

"Super spy." Percy laughed, "I mean, it could be fun to get away from the whole ancient history roles for a change. As long as my character's badass I'm willing to consider it."

"I think you'd make an awesome super spy."

"I would say detective but- you would rock playing a super spy." Annabeth admitted with a laugh, "Could you do both-"

"Maybe. I don't have to decide anything for at least a month." Percy swung her legs. "And it's not like-" she paused mid sentence- turning her head as she heard several sets of footsteps coming down the stairs.

A moment later Sally, Sadie, Walt, Zia and Carter were in sight, and Percy hopped off the table as Sally moved towards them quickly. "Percy, Piper, Annabeth. What's going on?" her voice was thick with worry. "Carter said you called a code Trident. Did something happen down with your uncle?"

"Not exactly." Percy pressed her lips together tightly, glancing at Annabeth, and she saw Piper automatically move to the other girls hand and slide her own hand into Annabeth's, squeezing tightly, "You guys know about Annabeth's dreams."

"Of course." Sally nodded. "It's something to do with them?"

"Yes." Percy took a deep breath, "Everyone here knows about the Greeks and the Demigod camp."

"Of course." Zia nodded, her brows furrowed. "Should we assume that is where the problem lies?"

"Yes." Percy nodded, "Unfortunately yes."

"I told you all there's a magical border." Annabeth's voice was tight as she said that- all traces of the earlier light-heartedness had vanished when the topic had shifted back to her old home. "What I never explained is that it's powered by-" She faltered, and Percy saw Piper squeezing her hand gently and whispering something into her ear- which made Annabeth's back straighten, and Percy was pretty sure it must have been Charmspeak. "The boundary is powered by a spirit. There was- there was a daughter of Zeus. She died on her way to camp, defending- she was my- I travelled with her. She stayed behind to hold back the monsters. To save me and Luke." Annabeth's voice caught. "She was killed but Zeus transformed her into a pine tree- and her spirit powers the magical boundary that protects camp. That's what I've been having nightmares about. But-" her tongue darted out to dampen dry lips, "But someone's poisoned- they've poisoned her tree and-"

And Percy could see that she was struggling- that she couldn't bring herself to say any more, which was why she spoke up. Drawing all eyes back onto her as Piper pulled Annabeth closer into her side. "The tree is dying. Which is bad enough. But the boundary is anchored to the tree."

"The final death will destroy the magical borders." Walt spoke up, his expression serious. "And you demigods are like magnets for monsters if you don't have magical protections."

"Oooh." Sadie winced, "Oh that would not be good right? I mean, that many demigods all in one place- it would be like a beacon."

"How many demigods?" Carter asked quickly, clearly already trying to come up with plans.

"Difficult to say." Annabeth had clearly managed to pull herself together somewhat, "In the height of summer- it depends on a lot of things, but I'd say up to 90 or so- there's a lot of us but I don't think there's more than 100. But the rest of the year there's less, thirty maybe fourth, maximum. Most of the demigods are summer campers not year rounders."

"That-" Carter frowned, "Is a lot."

"Even just thirty or forty demigods will draw hoards of monsters." Sally spoke up seriously, "When Percy was little, before- well. When she was very little there were an awful lot of monsters- and that was before she grew up and came into her power."

"It would be a massacre." Zia looked disturbed at the thought- which made sense. It wasn't the same exactly, but her entire village had been wiped out when she was little, the idea of anywhere being wiped out by monsters probably reminded her of that.

"Are we thinking we're going to open up Brooklyn House?" Sadie spoke up, expression uncharacteristically serious. "Because if so- I mean, we can probably fit everyone but- there won't be any hiding it from the other Nomes. Everything's going to come out. I'm not saying we don't do it but-"

"I can make more amulets." Walt offered, "But we'd have to tell the Greeks about us if I was to do that or they wouldn't take it seriously-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Carter held up his hands for quiet. "If it comes to it then we'll send a team to help defend and evacuate your camp-" he aimed that at Annabeth- and Percy could see the look of pure gratitude on her friends face. "We will have to formally meet at some point after all. But I'd rather we found some other way. Girls, is there any way to save this tree?"

"Yes." Percy nodded. "But I'm not sure if you'll like it."

Carter's eyes narrowed, "Percy I rarely like your ideas. What is it?"

"Uncle Hades told us that there is one thing that could save the tree. And he ever told us where to go. It would have to be Annabeth, Piper and I. If we want to save Camp Half-blood then we'll have to travel to the Sea of Monsters to find the Golden Fleece."