Hey guys! Enjoy this chapter! And please do review, I love your reviews they always mean the world to me. Anyway, update on how the Lost Hero is going- it's going pretty good, I am struggling a lil but but that's because I prefer writing Percy, but it's going okay.

It wasn't long before they were in Percy's room, the door shut behind them as Grover spoke the words- and after a moment Chiron and Annabeth were visible within the rainbow- Annabeth was in the middle of saying something to Chiron, though she cut herself off, "Grover!"

That made Chiron turn his head and he let out a relieved noise, "Grover my boy- it's good to see you again- and Percy, Rachel, it seems you managed to find him-"

"We can't waste time on pleasantries." Percy said, cutting him off, a worried look on her face, "Annabeth- there's a dude who can put everyone to sleep-"

"Morpheus-"

"That's him!" Grover yelped, "He's the one-"

"Wait-" Chiron's eyes widened, "Morpheus- you- by all the gods Grover you're lucky to be awake right now."

"I wasn't, for two months." Grover admitted quickly.

"This is very worrying-"

"They'll put the city to sleep." Percy stated quietly, "They'll put the city to sleep so that none of the mortals get in the way. Chiron- it's time. We need to start preparing and
we need to defend Olympus."

"What's your plan?" Chiron's voice was soft and serious as he met Percy's gaze.

"Bring everyone who's able and willing to fight with you, and come and meet me at the Empire State building. Leave everyone under the age of twelve in camp with Beckendorf and Castor- they can set up traps and stuff to defend camp. I don't blame people for being afraid to fight." Percy admitted, hand tapping nervously against her
leg, "So people who don't want to are to stay behind- that's fair enough-"

"It is." Annabeth said quickly, "I'll go organise everyone and tell them what's happening-"

"And I shall speak to Argus and arrange the transport." Chiron nodded, "It will take us a few hours though Percy- to get everyone there."

"We have a few hours." Percy reassured them, "Did Luke and Leo get back okay?"

"Yeah, they got back a while ago, Leo's been prepping- I don't even know what, he just said 'We'll understand soon'."

"Oh now that's scary." Percy let out a weak laugh, "I saw Nico by the way-"

"Yes, he mentioned that he'd check in with you before visiting his father." Chiron's expression was worried, "I don't like it-"

"Neither do I, but it's for the best- if he can get uncle Hades to help us-"

"Lord Hades will come if he can." Annabeth's voice was reassuring, "He loves Nico and you Percy- if he can help us he will. Especially with Nico there to push for it."

"Of course." Chiron nodded, "I just hope he doesn't need too much time to sort the situation out. Nico's skills will be very useful in the fight to come."

"I know." Percy admitted, "But- there's nothing we can do. He'll get here when he's here and he will come as soon as he can you know that."

"I do." Chiron nodded, "We'll go and prepare, we should be with you in a few hours."

"I'll call when we're close" Annabeth said quickly, "I- I'll see you soon Seaweed brain- Rache."

And Rachel offered their girlfriend a smile- she'd sat back quietly, since she knew she wouldn't actually be involved in the big fight, even if she was a decent fighter- she'd be with Sally and Paul acting as a guard for them- everyone knew that if Sally and Paul were captured it would be a big issue- and Percy trusted her girlfriends skills, but it
meant that she didn't have too much to add to the conversation until Annabeth spoke to her.

"I'll probably come and see you when you first get here but then I'll be going to look after Sally and Paul for Percy."

"Good." Annabeth nodded, "That's good." the blondes smile was shaky, "We'll- We'll see you soon." then Annabeth reached out and swiped her hand through the message,
disconnecting it, and Percy turned her gaze to look at Grover and Rachel.

"Grover-"

"What do you need me to do?"

"Gather as many of the nature spirits as you can to go to war."

"Where should I bring them?"

"Empire State building." Percy said firmly, "We can reconvene somewhere else if we need to- do you have your cell."

"It's not charge." Grover pulled a phone from his pocket, tossing it to Percy, who caught it easily and plugged it in quickly- all of their phones had the same chargers- after all Leo had built them all.

"It should charge up pretty quickly. Give it an hour and you can head off."

"What do we do until then?" Grover asked quietly.

"There's not much we can do until then." Percy admitted, "As much as I hate it and I want to be doing things- all we can do right now is wait."

"Well if we have to wait around- why don't we go downstairs and get a bite to eat?" Rachel suggested, a hopeful look on your face, "You mom pretty much always has a batch of cookies ready, right?"

And so the next hour was spent downstairs, Percy and Rachel perched on the same chair, munching on cookies and talking with Sally and Paul, while Grover munched on several cookies himself.

And the entire time there was an air of tension- they all knew that this was just a waiting game- that soon they'd be at war. It was a horrible sensation.

And an hour later Grover headed off to gather the nature spirits, and Percy and Rachel took Paul's Prius and drove to the Empire State building, pulling up outside, and Percy and Rachel perched on the hood of the car, Percy biting her lip as she stared down the road- and when Annabeth called, maybe ten minutes after they arrived she answered almost instantly.

"Wise girl-"

"Hey Seaweed brain, we're about ten minutes away. Are you there already?"

"Yep." Percy let out a relieved breath. "Grover's off getting as many nature spirits as he can just so you know- can you tell me numbers. "There's maybe fifty of us- and a few more are flying in with Leo, he's bringing Festus, he wouldn't tell us what he was doing but he said he was gathering supplies, Jake, Nyssa and Luke should be coming back with him. Clarisse and Michael are gonna be later than the others too, they're bringing the chariot."

"Perfect." Percy breathed out, "Right. Okay that's good. Really good."

"Percy what are you planning?"

"We need to all be here, we don't know when their attacks going to start, we also need to try and contact the gods, get their help."

"Percy you know they won't-"

"I know but we have to try." Percy pointed out, "They at least need to be informed that Kronos is going to mount an attack on Olympus even if they can't come and fight."

"Right, and how do we do that?"

"We'll go to Olympus- I'll explain everything when you get here and we start planning."

Percy hung up, turning her head to look at Rachel, who gave a small nod and pressed her lips against Percy's cheek.

"We're going to be okay."

And sure enough, maybe ten minutes later- late afternoon, three white vans pulled up to the curb. They said Delphi Strawberry Service, which was the cover name for Camp Half-Blood. Percy had never seen them all at the same place before, usually they were being used to transport their fresh produce that kept the money coming in. The first van was driven by Argus, the other two were driven by harpies.

The doors slid open. A bunch of campers climbed out, some of them looking a little green from the long drive.

Percy watched and as she did she was planning, they were all familiar faces Pollux, Silena Beauregard, the Stoll brothers, Katie Gardner, and Annabeth, Sherman, Will and Kayla, along with most of their siblings. Thalia and Chiron came out of the van last. His horse half was compacted into his magic wheelchair, so he used the handicap lift with Thalia's help

And then Annabeth was rushing up to them, tossing her arms around both of them, hugging them tightly. She was dressed in black camouflage with her Celestial bronze knife strapped to her arm and her laptop bag slung over her shoulder—ready for stabbing or surfing the Internet, whichever came first. Though honestly the laptop was more dangerous than the knife- the ideas it had given Leo were terrifying and Percy didn't know half of them.

"Ugh." Annabeth's voice was tight, "Gods you two, I know it's not been that long but I missed you both-" she turned her head to kiss Rachel's cheek, "Especially you Rache, I'm sorry I haven't seen you for so long."

"I get it." Rachel waved a hand dismissively, though she pressed her own lips to Annabeth's for a brief second, "I'll see you again when all of this is over right? I just wanted to wish you luck, I'm gonna go protect Sally and Paul."

"You'll do a great job." Annabeth declared, squeezing Rachel's arm before pulling back slightly.

Then Rachel was getting into the car and driving away and Annabeth's back straightened. Time to get started I guess."

"It is." Percy nodded and turned her head to look at everyone. "Thanks for coming, everybody. Chiron, after you."

But Chiron shook his head, a fond smile playing across his lips. "Oh I don't think I should be giving orders. I'm here to see everyone off and wish you all luck, but I make it a point to never visit Olympus unless I am summoned-"

"But you're our leader." Percy protested, her eyes going wide.

"Am I?" Chiron raised an eyebrow, looking very amused, "Who took control of camp when I was injured in the battle of the Labyrinth?" he asked calmly, "Who took it upon herself to make sure that we kept moving despite the shock of the battle, who arranged the recovery? Tell me Persephone, who stepped up and stopped what could have become a very messy feud in it's tracks single handedly?"

"I- but-"

"I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader. I will go gather what allies I can. It may not be too late to convince my brother centaurs to help.
Meanwhile, you called the campers here, Percy. You are the leader."

Percy felt Annabeth's hand squeezing her shoulder and she glanced at the other girl, "I'm-"

"Give us orders." Annabeth's voice was soft, "And we'll follow them. You're the only one who can do it. It's your place Percy."

Percy wanted to protest- to say it should be Annabeth or Luke or Thalia- but- she knew it shouldn't be. She was the child of the prophecy, she was one of the most powerful demigods in camp. And she was the one who had chosen this wasn't she? Chiron was right whenever someone needed to step up she was always the first to offer because she felt responsible.

Well. It seemed the time was here to really step up."

"Right." she took a deep breath, "Okay guys. We know that something big is coming. A trap, probably involving Morpheus. The gods are fighting Typhon, they've left Olympus undefended, if Kronos comes... he'd take it with ease without anyone here to defend it so we need to try and get an audience with Zeus to warn him- we know he probably won't be able to stop the fight against Typhon if we're being honest. But he needs to be aware of the situation, if he can send us support- if there's even a chance he can spare some of the other gods to help us we have to try."

There were several nods, and Percy's gaze was drawn to Chiron again when the centaur spoke. "You'll do well Percy, I have no doubt." his expression was one of fierce pride.

"You've proven yourself a true leader time and time again. Just remember your strengths and beware your weaknesses and you shall do fine."

"I will." Percy took a deep breath, "Thank you Chiron. For everything." she looked around, "Okay. Katie, Kayla, Sherman, you three stay here for when the others arrive. Let them know where we are and what we're doing. The rest of us let's go then." with that she was spinning around and marching into the tall building behind them.

Percy led the way, looking more confident than she felt as she strode towards the desk, Annabeth's hand sliding into hers- and she remembered the last time she'd done this- twelve years old, exhausted, aching and done with playing games. The man at the desk was the same man, and Percy glanced at Annabeth, who gave her a grin.

"I wish Grover was here-"

"Just like old times, huh?"

"You're gonna scare the shit into him again aren't you?"

"You know me so well my love."