A/N: Hello everyone! This is the eighth chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Malcolm's POV

I stood in front of the ping pong table, near a map pinned up on the wall of the surrounding area. There was no one else in the room but me and Chiron. I stared at the map some more, grasping for any sort of plan.

I turned towards Chiron. "Do you think we can win this?" I asked him. He looked down, swishing his tail nervously.

"I cannot say exactly. I do know that we are capable of achieving victory, but the cost will not be welcome," He said. His voice was deep and tired. I wondered if he was imagining who might not make it to next summer. I might not be standing here in a week. There were campers out there, walking around, who might never see the light of day again.

I returned to the maps. It was my job to make sure that my friends and family could live to next week. Their lives depended on me, and I could not let anything slide when concerning their safety.

The future of our camp did not look very hopeful. After Clarisse had come back from the failure of a peace mission, she had told me about what weapons she had seen. They were apparently very mismatched. Like us, they seemed to have fallen on hard times concerning weapons. Unfortunately for them, however, we had a forge and the ability to make more weapons. That did not mean that they were unable to set up forges of their own. Romans were incredibly fast builders, and I was positive that they had sons of Vulcan in their army as well.

Then there was the fact that our campers could simply be more skilled than the romans. Due to the fact that we did not have such a large force, the weigh upon each individual camper was higher. The camper would have trained longer, and with a much more intense regimen. Although I couldn't be exactly sure on what their training regimen was either, so I would have to assume that their skill level was greater. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

I searched through my mind for any tactic that might fit our situation. Perhaps guerrilla warfare would be best suited. But we could not run far enough for that to be effective. They were right outside our borders. Not to say that we couldn't use it, but they could overrun us with sheer numbers. And we needed as many people alive as we could. We didn't have an unlimited population

But it seemed like sabotage and quick attacks would be our best bet. That way we could inflict damage upon the romans and still protect some of the valuable life here.

Would we be killing the romans? I was against it, and I knew many of the other campers would be against it as well, but would the romans be killing us? After what Clarisse had said where they had attempted to kill them, I had very little doubt that Romans would be aiming to knock out.

They would be going for the throat.

That put us at a disadvantage. It was harder to aim to knockout rather than to aim to kill.

I glanced at the map again. The Romans were near where most demigods would enter camp, on the side facing the road, with Thalia's Pine Tree. It was the best place to attack from, regarding land battle. The camp immediately opened up into wide open flat plain, where battle would be most successful for a large army. The forest was further behind, and the water even more so. If we had Percy maybe… But we didn't. There was no use on focusing on what might be. I had to concentrate on something else. If we stayed in the woods to attack, we would have the advantage. I doubted the Romans knew the location of Bunker Nine, and even though only Leo could close it, he had left it open. We could use that as a base of operations.

But that would let the Romans completely destroy our camp to get to us. I supposed it might be worth it to save camper lives, and the woods would give us the best opportunity for survival, but it wouldn't allow us to restock on any medical supplies or weapons. I supposed if necessary we could sneak back for any necessary equipment, but i was unsure.

I groaned in frustration. Chiron came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "You can do this, Malcolm," He said. "I am unable to provide wisdom for the strategies or fight in this battle, but I will be here to see what I can through."

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Chiron glanced up warily. "I cannot say much beyond that you have the opportunity to win this with few deaths. You must find it.'

I glanced back at the maps.

The ocean would be our escape route if we had to flee camp entirely. We had canoes, and although we didn't have Percy, we would still be able to manage in escaping. I was sure that I could get some of the Hephaestus children to make motors for them or something. If it came down to it though, we had the advantage in water. Romans tended to avoid the ocean.

We had pegasi as well, although Clarisse mentioned that they might have the creatures as well. Something about their leader having one. I didn't know if that meant there were a great number of pegasi in their ranks. Most likely not, but we could still use the Pegasi in battle.

But the romans had catapults. We didn't. That would impact the effectiveness of the pegasi, but we had maneuverability on our side. I could get the Hermes cabin and the Hecate cabin to work on something to drop over the troops. There had to be something they could do to make the Romans struggle a bit. Anything would help.

Perhaps the Hephaestus Cabin could work on traps as well. It would be good to line the border with several kinds of traps, as well as the open field where the romans would be planning to fight us. How necessary was this? The Hephaestus cabin might already be stretched thin. There were only a few campers in that cabin, and they would have to make sure weapons were in good shape as well.

Did every camper have armor or a weapon of some sort? This was a fight where we would need every camper, and they should be able to defend themselves decently. If there was any shortage, we needed to get the Hephaestus cabin on it right away. I mumbled quietly, mentally dividing up possible workloads on the Hephaestus Cabin members. I didn't know if I could put any more work on them, but they might be able to handle what I had thought of so far.

And that brought me to medical supplies. How was the Apollo cabin holding up? They were our archers and our hospital at the same time. They played an incredibly crucial role. We had to make sure that they could do their thing effectively. I wondered if those with light shifting abilities could do something to our advantage. Perhaps fighting in the morning with our back to the ocean? Then the sun would be in their eyes, but they could possible do the same thing at evening.

Could the Demeter Cabin influence the border as well? Perhaps they could grow those vines that grabbed people's feet. Grover had used that trick many times. Maybe it was time to use it again. I also wondered if they could partner up with the Apollo camp to grow herbal remedies. The satyrs were quite skilled in that area as well.

I brought out a notepad and jotted down some notes.

The Ares Cabin would be soldiers and strategists, along with my cabinmates. Clarisse was still in the infirmary after the arrow she took. I was still impressed that she had remained conscious for so long. I didn't know if she had seen the true extent of the wound. I was queasy even thinking about it, but she had toughed it out. Chiron had said that she would be back up to normal strength in a couple of days. I wondered if we had that much time. I would need to discuss strategy with her.

And what about all the younger campers? Those who didn't know how to fight well enough? Should we risk trying to train them in a few days worth of time, or should we send them away to safety? If we let them fight, they could die. If we sent them away, we wouldn't lose as many people, but we would be low in numbers in case of a strategy simply needing more people. I was leaning towards sending them away, but where would they even go? Perhaps, if we ended up in the woods, we could let them stay there with a few of the Apollo Cabin healers to help. Even then, I believed that we should give them a couple of days to train and work on self defense. It couldn't hurt, especially if they were remaining in the camp. Who would teach them? I suspected perhaps someone from my cabin and someone from the Ares Cabin. Perhaps they might join the archers? Where would the archers be shooting from.

Maybe the Climbing wall? It we could build a stable platform on top, that would be best. It had the best view of the entire camp, and would be difficult for opposing forces to scale. However, if we were located in the woods, than the archers would be isolated.

What if we left the healers in Bunker Nine, where they could defend easily, and station the rest of us throughout the camp in the best locations for particular divisions? I didn't like the idea of splitting the main group up, but this might be our best bet here.

I stuck a yellow thumbtack onto the climbing wall, and a white one onto Bunker Nine. The Hephaestus cabin would prefer to be by the forge, but that wasn't a very well protected area. They were close the the strawberry fields, but not any defenses. Did Bunker Nine have a forge?

A thought came to me and I smacked my head. Bunker Nine could only be opened by fire. That was one of its main defenses. Could only the mark of a fire wielder open it, or simply fire. If it was just fire, than the Hephaestus kids or the Ares kids most likely had a flamethrower of some sort. That should work if the door only required fire. I think it did, but I would have to check in with the Hephaestus kids.

I wrote the thought down in the notebook.

What about the nymphs and satyrs? This was their home as well, and I had no doubt that they would help us, but what could I safely ask them to risk? The satyrs could help with the haling in Bunker Nine, although I hoped that we wouldn't have as many casualties as I was preparing for. The nymphs might be able to use their respective powers of nature to help our side, whether it be on land or from water. I would have to ask Grover. He might be able to speak with the Council of Cloven Elders and receive some sort of assistance. I didn't know how much help he could gather with such limited time, but it was worth a shot, and it couldn't hurt to try.

I had no idea when the Romans would attack. There had already been signs of aggression between our two sides, and I knew that the Ares Cabin would be bloodthirsty after what had happened to Clarisse. They would want revenge, and would be glad to attack the Roman forces. I had to assume that they would be attacking tonight. I turned towards Chiron.

"I think it's time for a war meeting," I said. He glanced at the map and my open notebook, before turning to look at me with eyes that had aged another thousand years in seconds.

"I would agree," He said quietly, before exiting the room. I turned to follow, glancing at the map for a final time before stepping out the door.

I really didn't want this war.

Once outside, I headed towards the infirmary. Clarisse was closest, and I was sure Chris was by her side. I hadn't seen him anywhere else but there since last night.

Like I predicted, Chris was seated in a chair next to Clarisse, awkwardly dozing upright in what looked to be an incredibly uncomfortable position. Clarisse was sitting upright, and smiled at me when I entered. They were a pretty happy couple.

"We're having a War Council meeting upstairs in a few minutes," I said. The smile slipped off her face and determination took its place.

"We'll be there," She replied. She tapped Chris on the forehead, and he opened his eyes. "Let's go," She said.

I stepped out of the room before them, holding the door open as Clarisse and Chris exited.

"I'll be back soon," I promised. "I have to grab everyone else."

Clarisse nodded, and headed upstairs, Chris at her side.

The air seemed to slow down and grow heavier as I came out to the Big House's front porch. I could see the entire camp from here, and anxiety rose up inside of me. I was holding the campers' lives inside of my hands. What if I failed them all? What if my plans weren't good enough?

I shook my head. I couldn't dwell on these thoughts. I had to find the counselors. Then we could discuss our options. These decisions were not made by just me. I had to lay them out in front of the counselors so we could come up with a plan from there. I provided ideas, just like every other counselor. Then we moved on from there. Just because I was the leader of the meeting did not mean that these decision were only my fault and any consequences were mine to bear. We were a group. We would fight as a group. And we would win.

I wandered throughout the camp, finding the counselors at their schedules and telling them to get to the Big House. It had been a long time since I had memorized their schedules, yet the memory remained as clear as a bright sunny day. Occasionally, there would be a counselor not where they were supposed to be, and I would have track them down. Eventually though, we managed to get everyone to arrive at the Big House's ping pong room.

I flipped open my notebook at the front of the room and read through my notes once more. The general noise in the room was quieter than I usually remembered it being, but that was to be expected. We did have a large threat right on our doorstep. I glanced around the room observing everybody's face.

I had done the same thing before the final battle with Kronos, and there were definitely faces that i never saw again. I hoped that it wouldn't be the same case this time, but I still did it anyway. Some of the counselors were staring off into space thinking, others were having quiet conversations with each other. Clarisse and Chris were discussing something quietly in the corner.

She spoke up first. "What's first on the list?" She asked.

I stood up from my seat and glanced down at the notebook. "Okay, everybody," I waited for a second as the room quieted down. "First off, I think that we should be assuming that we need to be mostly prepared for everything tonight. Does that seem reasonable?" There were a couple of nods, so I continued.

"Based off of the location of the Roman forces at this minute, I have reason to believe that they want to attack about here, where there is a wide open flat field." I pointed to the map. "This would give them the advantage, due to the fact that their numbers are a lot larger than ours. We need to adjust our forces to avoid conflict on that field. If we meet there, they will almost certainly win. We simply do not have the numbers to attack straight on."

Clarisse nodded in agreement. "We would do better fighting from the woods," She said. "If we can hide, attack, and then run as quickly as possible, we could inflict the most damage on their troops."

I nodded. "But if we are all based in the woods, that gives them complete permission to completely destroy the camp and loot any supplies left behind. That could make the conflict much more difficult for us." I said. Clarisse's brow furrowed in concentration.

I turned to Nyssa. "Hey Nyssa," I said. She turned her attention away from one of the maps she had been looking at. "I've got a couple of questions about Bunker Nine. Would you be able to open it without Leo here? And would it be possible for you to forge anything there?"

She thought for a moment. "We can open the door without Leo, it just requires the use of a large amount of flame to open the doors. That isn't the only entrance however. There's a more hidden one near the top, assuming that you're able to climb up there.. We can get in from there if the fire thing doesn't work. I doubt the Romans would be able to find us there. As for the forge, I don't think so. We won't be able to make new weapons in Bunker Nine, but we can sharpen or fix them there."

"Okay," I said. "That should work."

I took a deep breath. "I propose that we split up our divisions. The archers on the Climbing Wall, where they have the best advantage, the healers divided up between our main force and Bunker Nine. Drew, can you help with the pegasi? I think they should be their own individual group, although it wouldn't hurt to have some with the main group as well."

Drew looked up. "You want the Aphrodite Cabin to actually fight? I figured that we would be in Bunker Nine with the healers."

I shook my head. "We need every person we can, and besides Percy, you guys have the best control over the Pegasi. We need you guys for that."

She smiled softly. "We'll need to get them ready. That'll take a couple of hours."

I nodded. "As long as we are prepared for war by tonight, it's alright. They may not attack this evening, but we should be ready just in case."

I turned towards Nyssa. "Nyssa, can you do a weapons check? If any are broken or unsharpened, we need them fixed and Bunker Nine set up by tonight. Do you think you could do that?"

She nodded.

I glanced at my notebook again.
"Stolls," I said. "Can you and Lou Ellen figure out if there's anything that we could do that would slow the roman forces. Your combined minds should be enough to come up with something. Maybe if we could drop it from the air, Drew could take charge of that. I'm saying you two are free to let loose on the pranks. Anything you can do, do it."

They smiled and nodded, pulling Lou Ellen over to whisper in her ear some things. Chris leaned in as well to give a suggestion.

"Nyssa," I said again. "This isn't as big a priority compared to what else I've asked of you, but if you could spare any campers to work on creating any sort of traps for the border, that would be fantastic. Don't sacrifice any time for checking over the weapons and getting situated, but if you can, it would be incredibly helpful for us. Also, when you finish what you can do, I advise you to shut down the forge. Anything the romans can use, either destroy it or take it to the Bunker. Please."

I didn't want to have to ask her that second part, but I knew it was necessary. If there were any half done weapons, or still usable forging stations, and the romans took over, it would make fighting that much more difficult. She already looked stressed enough, so I didn't mention the engines for an escape root. If all else failed, I could ask grover to convince the naiads to be on our side there. Though naiads tended to forget most things very quickly anyway. Hopefully it wouldn't come to us having to flee.

I glanced down at my notebook again. Plant traps.

"Miranda," I said. "Would you be able to do anything to the ground where the Romans might attack from. Anything? Like vines or sleeping plants or something. It also might be best if you guys work with the Apollo Cabin when concerning plant remedies. You might want to try and figure something out with Lou Ellen as well."

She looked down in thought. "We'll see what we can do," She said, her voice quiet.

That was about it. It was up to them now. We had discussed the ideas from the Athena Cabin. The other guys had to make our plans work.

"Okay, guys," I said. "To recap, the camp needs you to do anything you possible can to give our side the advantage. To those I've given some tasks to, please complete them by tonight. Everyone else, I need to to assess the skills of your cabin and figure out as soon as possible ways to work them to our advantage. If this includes working with another cabin to make it a reality, go ahead. Just please come by at sometime and tell me what you plan on doing. We need to focus on moving people around and setting up. Let's get started." I said.

Mentally, I frowned. I wasn't as good a motivational speaker as Percy or as quick witted as Annabeth, but I would do my best. I had to.

The other camp counselors stood up and headed towards the door, some speaking with each other. Clarisse appeared in front of me.

"We should focus on getting the smaller ones and the newer campers to Bunker Nine as quick as possible. It might take a while to move them, and once all the preparations start happening at once, the Romans might grow suspicious and attack. They need to be out first thing."

I nodded. "What limits are you considering? I'd say anyone under twelve for too young, and anyone newer than six months."

She nodded. "Something along those lines, but I think it should be thirteen, not twelve. The kids have to be claimed by at least thirteen, Percy made the gods promise that. They will still be able to fight, but it would be better if we waited. Plus," She said, her voice getting quieter. "I've got a younger cabin mate that age, and I know you do too. Twelve is still way too young. At least give them a chance to make it to teenage years."

I nodded. "We're all too young to be fighting in a war, but I understand your point. We need as many fighters as we can take, but we should still have enough by extending it a year."

She smiled sadly. "I agree with the six months requirement though. I'll gather the kids from the even cabins. You go through the odd ones."

I nodded in agreement and followed Clarisse out the door.

It was nerve wracking to say the least, when I knocked on each cabin door. I asked for those who fit the limits, but even then, everyone left in the cabin still looked much too young and much too terrified. I almost wished that this was taking place in the winter, when we would have less campers, just so some of these kids might not even have to be here. But I knew that we needed to protect the camp so they could be trained to live through high school. I closed each door behind me and the ever growing line of small kids with a feeling of regret and worry that I wouldn't see some of those kids alive again. I could see the strain in some of the older campers as well. We had already done this once with Kronos. Now we were doing it again, with someone who could have been on our side, against other demigods who most likely believed that they were doing the best for their camp as well.

I could imagine their younger campers back at their camp on the other side of the world. They were safe. We had to do the best for our younger campers, but we couldn't put an entire continent between them and the battle. The best we could do was hide them out of sight and hope for the best. I glanced back at the group of kids behind me, and the list of names. I had jotted down. Across the circle of cabins, I could see Clarisse and the children she had gathered. They had looked generally the same size until I had visited the Hermes Cabin. Then my group had doubled due to the number of unclaimed.

I sighed shakily. This was going to be an incredibly close call, but I had to put on a brave front for the younger ones. Some of them looked to be about Annabeth's age when she had first arrived here. I forced a smile on my face and kept going. It calmed the younger kids, but I knew that the older campers could most likely see right through it.

Most of the cabin counselors had told their cabin members to stay at their cabin after the meeting, and were now giving brief explanations of the situation to everyone. I did the explanation for the Ares kids, and hoped that Clarisse had done the same for mine.

I ran my fingers through my hair, glancing at the suns position in the sky. Time was running short.

Clarisse and I met up near the end of the cabins. Her face was set in a frown, tapping her foot impatiently. She looked up at the sky as well.

I spoke up, pointing at one of the smaller kids in the group. "Harley brought his flamethrower. And he knows how to get in the other way." Harley nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's go," He said, pushing forward to lead the way. I glanced at Clarisse, and she lifted the corners of her mouth in a small smile. He seemed smarter than one would assume his age to be. I knew the feeling.

Harley seemed to almost dance his way through the forest. Clarisse had gone to the back of our little procession to make sure that no one was left behind. Thankfully, she had also listed everyone's name. There weren't as many young campers as I had expected, but I wasn't sure to be glad or worried about that. It meant that we had a larger fighting force, but that also meant that there might be more deaths that we could have prevented by raising it one year higher.

I looked back at Clarisse, just to make sure that we still had everyone. She nodded, as if reading my mind, and turned back towards the front. Harley made an abrupt right turn, heading straight for the cliff side of a mountain. I recognized the place, and stepped forward a little quicker.

We gathered at the base, and Harley opened fire on the rock. The heat blasted over us, even though we were not directly in the center of the flame. I idly wondered how he had built such a powerful device, before banishing the thought to focus on the more important matter at hand.

The door opened slowly, and Harley stopped the flame. Once the door was open, he spun around to face me with a bright smile.

I smiled back, before stepping into the large open room. This would do nicely. Leo had mentioned something about there being a great deal of extra rooms and supplies.

"Harley," I said. "Do you know where all the extra rooms are? Do you think you guys could stay there for some time?" At his enthusiastic nod, I turned towards one of the few thirteen year olds in the group, pulling them aside.

"You guys are in charge for right now. Do you think you could get everyone situated? You guys have equal power among you, so make smart decisions, okay? You can do this, but I need you to be responsible. There will be other campers in this area, but I need you to generally stay out of their way for now. If there is a serious problem, go ahead and ask one of them for help. Got it?" They nodded seriously, and I smiled. "Good."

They all went inside. Clarisse came up to me.

"Do you really think they'll be alright by themselves?" She asked.

"They'll be fine," I said, although I was a bit unsure. "The older ones know the gravity of the situation, and I'm pretty sure several of the younger ones do as well. They understand, and they should manage fine. I told them what to do in case of an emergency. Maybe once we get situated, we can have an older camper stay with them. For now, let's get back. There's still way too much to do." She nodded slightly, and we jogged back in the direction of camp.

Everything was a mess when we got back. Well, not quite a mess. More like incredibly busy. I could see the several campers along the border, doing something. Several loud clanging noises echoed throughout the camp from the forges. There was a bright light coming from the Hecate Cabin. A note was stuck to the door, telling everyone to leave them alone for the time being. Several people stayed clear of the cabin by several people. We all knew what would happen if something went wrong with their magic, and it was something almost never good.

Clarisse was the first to shake herself out of her thoughts. "I have to go check up on my cabin. I told all of them to try and help anywhere they could. We'll talk later."

I headed towards my cabin, pulling out my notebook once more. My dad had given a similar one to me years ago. He had told me it was 'to organize all the thoughts in my head'. Even now, it was still something I continued to do. I needed it now more than ever.

My arrival at my cabin door pulled me out of my musings. I pushed in the door, heading straight to my desk. On top, there was a paper with all the different things the cabins were attempting. I checked them over once, finding no problem with any of them, before grabbing the list and a map before heading outside.

I speed walked through the camp, checking things off, and discussing with several campers. The Apollo Cabin had looted the Big House of all medical supplies and were moving those to the Bunker, and had set up base on top of the climbing wall. Below, a few Ares kids were digging a trench and setting up barbed wire. Their biggest threat from up there would be the catapults, and even then, it would be an incredibly different spot. They had made several arrows, and collected as many as they could find from the archery range.

I walked along the border, meeting up with some of the Demeter kid talking to the satyrs and the nymphs. They had agreed to be with us, and some of them had created another barrier of sorts out of tree branches. At this, i nearly laughed, as some of my nerves disappeared. That was more than I had ever expected. The Demeter's kids had also hidden a great deal of traps from the Hephaestus and Hermes cabins in the tall grass.

We might be able to do this. I could feel the shaking of my hands slow, and the temperature returned to them. Despite the hot summer weather, they had been freezing. My palms were also sweaty, and I rubbed them furiously against my jeans. I hadn't realized how the nerves had affected me so much, and after seeing the success of our preparations so far, I couldn't help but feel slightly relieved.

I checked in on the forges next. Nyssa came up to me, face flushed from the intense heat.

"We managed to fix all of the broken weapons. The tools have been moved to Bunker Nine. We're just finishing up on a few of the traps the Hermes Cabin helped us design. In maybe a couple of hours, we'll begin to stop the forges. We might have to break a couple of the things here though, if we don't want anything to fall into their hands."

I nodded. "We can fix it later. Do what you have to."

She smiled. "Good luck," She said.

"You too," I replied, before stepping out.

In the stables, the Aphrodite Cabin had set several of the horses armour out, and were preparing saddlebags.

Drew approached, her face serious. I hadn't remembered seeing her like this. I was sure she would protest involvement in this, yet she had taken everything seriously. There was a smudge of dirt smeared across her face, but if she knew about, she didn't let it show.

"The Hecate Cabin came up with something for us to throw at the romans. It should knock them out. The armour is ready for use, but not currently on the horses. We'll put that on when it gets closer to the time of battle," she said.

"How long does it take you to fasten all the armour?" I asked.

"Not more than a few minutes. We'd be good to go almost immediately."

I nodded. "Okay. Good."

The sun was getting lower in the sky. It looked like we would still be making our deadline, but I could feel the butterflies inside of me.

I walked through the rows of cabins for a final time, speaking with everyone who had questions or concerns, and settling issues. It all eventually seemed to start to blur together, and eventually, before I knew it, the sun was setting.

I took a deep breath and let it out. Everything was in place. We were ready. The younger campers were spending the night in Bunker Nine, and others were ready where they needed to be.

As darkness set over the cabins, a strange feeling washed over me. It took me a few moments to recognize what it was, but I eventually got it.

It was a feeling of longing. Homesickness for the past. A feeling of hope that this coming battle didn't have to happen, and a desire for tomorrow to never arrive.

I turned back to the camp. We still had a few things to do before morning came.

A/N: Thank you for reading, and please review!

Updated: December 29th, 2017

Edited: January 4th, 2019