Disclaimer: All characters, settings, or other story components taken from the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, or Trials of Apollo series belong to J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan, respectively. I do not own any of the aforementioned. I do not intend to use this story commercially.

A/N: Hi! I'm so sorry to be getting this chapter out so late. Thanks to vacation and other activities, I haven't had much time to work on it. However, I have gotten a lot done today, so I should be getting the next couple of chapters out really soon! Thank you so much for reading!

The dense, white fog ripples around us, clinging to our clothing and hair. Everything is quiet, save for the sound of our breathing. The silence is soothing. I let myself relax, taking a deep breath.

The air smells like the sea.

Luna lets go of my hand. "We're here."

Releasing Nico's sleeve, I open my eyes.

We're standing on the lawn in front of the Big House, facing the strawberry fields. The sun is almost directly above us. I shade my eyes with one hand, scanning our surroundings. With the exception of a few satyrs walking amongst the strawberries, the camp is empty. Everyone must still be inside the Big House. Luna touches my arm. "Sophy?"

I turn to her. "Yeah?"

She points behind me. "What's that?"

I glance over my shoulder. On the hills behind us sits a towering ivory statue of a goddess with a golden dress and an enormous shield In the bright sunlight, the statue is almost blinding. I turn back quickly.

"That's … that's, oh, the whatchamacallit. The Athena Parthenos."

Nico glances over his shoulder and back at me. "How did you know that?"

I absentmindedly scratch my arm. "Annabeth."

"Not the statue," Luna says, pointing again. "Look !"

I turn again, this time bringing up a hand to block the sun. After a moment, I start to laugh.

"What is it?" Nico has both hands shielding his eyes. In a second, he gasps. "Oh, they didn't!"

"Well," I say, "I did ask for a big net."

Huge coils of gold rope are piled by the foot of the statue. Several of them stretch up and over its shoulders and head. Campers, dwarfed against the towering figure, are climbing between and on the ropes, pulling them into a giant weave. As we watch, the end of one rope starts to rise into the air; Harry and Ron, wands raised, are perched on the statue's outstretched arm.

"What are they thinking?!" Nico bursts, waving his hands. "That - that's a powerful, symbolic statue! They - they can't just use it to make a giant net!"

"Why not?" Luna asks, tucking her hair behind her ears. "She is the goddess of weaving, isn't she? And the statue is the right size."

"That - that's not," Nico splutters, "there's-"

"There's not much we can do about it now," I finish. "And besides, I seriously doubt they would be up there if it wasn't okay. Some of them must have common sense, right?"

"You'd be surprised." With a sigh, he turns back toward the Big House. "Anyway, you're right. There isn't much we can do. C'mon."

I follow him. Luna lingers for a moment, watching the campers secure the new rope, before she turns to catch up.

"That rope they're using is far to shiny," she informs us as she falls into step beside me. "It'll attract Nargles."

Nico turns, looking confused, but we're saved from explaining when the door to the Big House opens ahead of us.

A trio of girls step out first, their arms full of scrolls of paper. They quickly disappear around one side of the house, followed by a pair of boys with even more scrolls. After them comes Neville, arms empty. He glances after the campers, and then turns the opposite way.

None of them notice us.

"Neville!" I call, waving an arm. He continues on his way; he didn't hear me. "Oi! NEVILLE!"

He stops, turning to scan the lawn behind him. I wave again, starting toward him. "Hey!"

This time he turns all the way around, spotting us on the front lawn. His eyes light up.

"Sophy!" He hurries around the side of the house. Stopping for a moment, he pulls open the door and calls inside, "They're back!" Letting the door bang shut, he starts down the front steps toward us.

"You're back!" He falls into step beside us. "Where were you?"

"What do you mean?" I frown, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. "We've only been in Russia."

"I know that. But you sent us that message thingie almost an hour ago. We were starting to worry that something had happened to you." He nods toward the Big House. "Annabeth and the others were about to message you again."

"We're fine," I say, taking my bag from Nico and swinging it over one shoulder. "We were going to come back sooner, but-" I smile- "we ran into some of my old friends."

"Really?" He turns back to me. "That's awesome! How are they?"

"They're doing well! Except … Alik … he isn't with them anymore. But everyone else is fine."

Neville looks confused for a moment, but then his eyes widen and his lips move in a silent oh.

"They were nice," Luna adds.

"Very friendly." Nico's eyebrows crease. "At least they seemed very friendly. They were very - um - Russian, I guess."

"Oh!" I turn to him and Luna, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry; I should've translated more-"

"It's fine," Luna says, waving a hand. "We didn't mind."

"We told them about everything," I say suddenly, turning back to Neville. "About Hogwarts, and camp, and all."

Neville shrugs. "I mean, I don't mind." He reaches for the door handle, and then turns back to me suddenly, frowning. "Hang on. Where's Liliya?"

A lump rises in my throat. I hunch my shoulders slightly. "Oh. She - she's in Russia."

His eyes widen. "You left her there?!"

"Not - not like that!" I hold up my hands. "She's with my friends. She's fine."

"But why did you leave here there?!" He reaches for the door handle.

I sigh. "It's complicated. It's-"

"It's part of your plan, isn't it?" Neville holds the door open. "You're going to have to explain that soon, you know. We've been waiting for you to get back so you could tell us what's going on." He follows me inside. "Some of the campers have been getting really impatient."

He lets the door close behind us. The front hall is cool and dim; I blink, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Luna sighs, stretching her arms above her head.

"Hey!"

We turn. Two girls are coming in the front door. One still has a scroll in her arms.

"You're back!" says the second girl, letting the door bang shut behind her. "I'm Holly, and this is Laurel. We're from Cabin 17."

"Nice to meet you," I say, adjusting the strap on my bag.

"We were just talking with Will." The first girl - Laurel - gestures over her shoulder toward the porch. "He was just telling us about what you told them in the Iris-message you sent." She pauses.

"And?" I prompt. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Neville mouth, I told you so!

The twins share a glance. After a moment, Holly blurts out, "And are you actually going to try to get taken so you can trap the Watchman in a giant net?"

I blink at her. "Er, yes," I say after a moment's pause. "I am. Why?"

They share a glance. Laurel actually looks fairly alarmed.

"It's just that there are so many things that could go wrong-" Holly starts.

"Are you sure that you've thought this out-" Laurel begins at the same time. They both stop and blink at each other.

"Ah, yes, actually." I brush my hair out of my face. "I have thought it all out. Which is why my plan is a tad more detailed than try to get taken so I can trap the Watchman in a giant net."

The twins look at each other again, and then back at me. "So?" Holly says expectantly.

"So, what?"

"So, what is your oh-so-detailed plan?" Laurel folds her arms over her chest.

I sigh, shifting my weight onto my other leg. "If I tell you now, you'll go off and tell your friends, and they'll tell theirs, and eventually I'll have everyone coming up to me and asking more questions. So." I tuck a stubborn strand of hair behind one ear. "Go spread the word to meet me in the assembly room. In, oh," I check my watch. "Fifteen minutes. Tell everyone that I'm going to explain what's going on then."

"Right." Holly tucks her scroll under her arm, reaching for the door. "See you in fifteen minutes!"

"Race you!"

The door bangs shut behind them.

"That was fast," Luna notes, watching the girls sprint across the lawn.

Nico shrugs. "They're daughters of Nike." He turns to me. "Fifteen minutes, right? I'll go spread the word." He disappears down one of the hallways. Luna gives me a smile and starts up the stairs, presumably to find Hermione.

"You were right." I turn to Neville, who puts an arm around my shoulders.

He laughs, giving my shoulders a squeeze. "I told you so."

I roll my eyes. "Don't you start." I point down one of the other hallways. "Shall we?"

We start down an unfamiliar hallway. After a few turns, I still don't recognize anything.

"The Big House can't possibly be this big," I say, turning to look down a new hallway.

"It might be larger on the inside." Neville opens the door to an empty room and shuts it again. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

I look both ways down the hallway. "Um. I think the kitchens are this way. Didn't you say Annabeth was going there to Iris-message me?"

"That's what she said."

"Right. Let's give it a shot." I start in the new direction. He walks faster to catch up to me.

"So, this plan of yours." He falls into step beside me. "You're confident it'll work?"

I take a deep breath. "I am." I think of the campers climbing on the statue, of the pictures in the box, of Liliya's whimpers as we disappeared. I set my jaw. "Trust me."