The group had gathered together in a cheap, rundown motel on Manhattan.
"Why are we here?" Clarisse practically growled at Annabeth.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Percy snapped at Clarisse, annoyed at her attitude. It had been difficult for him to sneak away to go to this, and he didn't really want to push how long Tyson could cover for him.
"Calm down guys, let Annabeth talk," Beckendorf stepped in before it could become to big of a fight.
"Well, yesterday I was looking through this book. I found a section that was pretty interesting," she paused for a moment, as if she was afraid to say it.
"So?" Nico said, bringing up what they all wanted to to know, what was so important about a passage from some book?
"It's what the passage contained that was important," she said, giving a patented "stop being stupid," glare.
"If it's so important, then get on with it," Luke said. Hermes had barley let him come, not fully trusting him not to pull some stunt. The only reason that he had let him out was that he thought that we would be a "good influence" on him. That's what everyone heard.
"I was reading one of my mother's books on the ancient," she started, still not completely sure if it was a good idea to share the information. "It said that seven votes are needed to pass something by the Olympian council. If less than seven make a big decision, they can be kicked out by seven others."
"Are you saying what I think your saying?" Thalia exclaimed.
"Yeah." Thalia hugged Annabeth, excited at her discovery. Her father and step-mother hadn't necessarily been treating her poorly, but the restrictiveness had been treading heavily on her soul.
"We wouldn't stand a chance against the gods," Luke said, raining on everybody's parade.
"Why not?" Percy asked him.
"Well, Jackson, I stormed Olympus with an army of hundreds consisting demigods, titans, monsters, and minor gods. It failed to hold up against a few dozen kids and centaurs. Is that enough of an answer for you?" he barked.
"This time will be different," Annabeth barged in, "This time we'll be going against only one god. We can do that, in fact Percy took on Ares when he was only twelve. Zeus won't have the support of the major gods this time either, and he's the one we want out. If we hadn't been around to guard Olympus, it would have fallen."
"How do you expect us to take him down? What's your plan?" Percy asked.
"Beckendorf, how well and how soon can you have us armed?" Annabeth asked.
"I can have swords and spears for us in a week. Armor and shields will take longer. I can be done sooner depending on what supplies you guys managed to keep and if Percy doesn't mind going out with just the Curse of Achilles," he said.
"I don't mind, dude. And I still have Riptide," Percy said.
Everyone started jamming on to Beckendorf how well armed they were. Annabeth still had her knife, Nico his sword. Thalia still had her bracelet that turned into a shield, and Clarisse reported on how much she thought she could get away with sneaking out of her father's armory.
"How about you, Luke?" Thalia asked.
"They, uh, don't trust me with weapons yet. I don't have anything," Luke replied, looking slightly embarrassed.
"We need to fix that," Beckendorf told Luke with a smile.
Annabeth continued "While waiting for Beckendorf to get the rest of the armor and weapons, we'll be gathering what else we need for the attack. Thalia will spy on her father, getting to know anything and everything she can on what makes him weak or vulnerable. Nico will be gathering undead soldiers and will try to get Hades to join the fight with us. I'll use what info is gathered to plan an attack. Luke will join his father's messenger's corps and serve as a messenger between us if Zeus gets suspicious."
"I might be able to get my father to tell me directly about any of Zeus' weaknesses. Even though he participated in the battle, he's still angry about being forced into the Underworld," Nico said.
"What'll I do?" Clarisse and Percy said at the same time.
"Clarisse, your good at fighting. You'll cover our backs on the attack," Clarisse groaned at the practically useless job, "Percy, you lead us in the battle of Manhattan. I was thinking that you would lead the assault when the day comes." He sighed at the short-term job.
"We need swear and oath to not betray anyone in this room before we leave," Clarisse said, her eyes shifting suspiciously to Luke.
"Really?" Thalia put in.
"I agree," Annabeth said, "People are little less likely to fall to temptation with a feeling of commitment brought by an oath. I have one, repeat after me."
After the oath had been taken and everyone was getting ready to leave, Nico really spoke up for the first time. "What'll we call ourselves?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked back at him.
"What do I mean is what will we call ourselves? On TV, a group like us would give itself a name."
"How about Galatea? Like in the myth, we were sculpted by man, and given life by the gods," Annabeth put in, more interested in keeping Nico from getting upset than the actual subject at hand.
"Not a sissy name like Galatea. We need a strong name," Clarisse put in vehemently.
"Do you have a better name?" Annabeth retorted, a spark had gone off in her eyes with the challenge.
Clarisse thought for a moment. "How about 'The Youth of Liberty.'"
"To long," Nico said quickly.
"'Soldiers of Paradise?'"
"Too idealist."
"And the other names aren't?"
"Good point."
"'Fight Club?'"
"That's a movie."
"Dammit. All right, it can be Galatea," Clarisse gave in.
"What about code names?" Annabeth's eye twitched.
"Why do we need code names?"
"So no one knows who we're talking to."
"You know, we will be talking, for the most part, in person."
"Yeah, but can we please have code names? Pretty please?"
Annabeth sighed. "What where you thinking?"
"Maybe we could use letters from the Greek alphabet, like 'alpha,' 'beta,' 'gamma.'"
"Dead boy, are you really holding us up for this!" Clarisse snarled in impatience.
"Forget about it," Nico said disappointedly.
oO0Oo
Everyone was pilling out of the hotel room, and Annabeth was going to check out. That's when Percy pulled Nico aside.
"Disappointed?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Tell you what, how about we create code names ourselves? I think they'll be a good idea too."
Nico's face lifted. "I wanna be Gamma."
"Why Gamma?"
"I just like it."
"I think Annabeth should be Delta, because of the Daedalus thing," the younger boy said.
"Good choice. I'm thinking Omega for Luke, I don't trust him."
"'Kay, Thalia should be Alpha. She used to be Artemis's lieutenant and though I hate him, her father is king," Percy said. "Not for long though," he quickly added in a whisper.
"Nah, you strike me as more of an Alpha. I think she should be Beta."
"What should Beckendorf and Clarisse be?"
"Sigma. It looks just like a shield and spear."
"You know, your right."
"Beckendorf should be Zeta."
"Why Zeta?"
"It's underused. I also just like the name of it."
When their conversation ended, Nico slunked back into the shadows.
"Thanks Percy," he said as his form melted away, and Percy turned away and headed towards his mother's apartment.