So, Thursday = new chapter for you guys. Last time: the Order made it's first move, now it's time for camp to strike back. But Percy and the gang are still in D.C., right? Will they even survive? And what about that pesky hole in the Underworld? Will they even get a chance to plug it at all? Stop reading my mindless questions if you wanna find out, and look down.

9/

Percy's POV

"Whoo!" Tony yelled, drumming his hands on the dashboard. "That was awesome!"

"You don't look 145 pounds," I told Annabeth again, but her gray eyes flashed at me, letting me know not to go there.

"Percy."

I yelped at the sound of my name, coming literally out of nowhere. Nico di Angelo looked at me sleepily, having slid out of the shadows seconds before. "What?" he yawned.

"Nothing," I said quickly. "What's up?"

Even through his sleepy expression, Nico's face was deathly grim. "It's started."

Before I could ask him what the hell he was talking about, he grabbed our arms and we were sucked through the shadows.

Man, I hated shadow-traveling. Not as much as Thalia—I heard she once punched Nico in the face when he did it to her as a prank—but still. I guess water and the dark don't mix or something.

Nico collapsed on the floor of the Big House basement, snoring loud enough to make the Hypnos cabin proud. Tony, Annabeth, and I were standing on the Ping Pong table. I had a foot in Clarisse's battle map, which…was now covered in hot chocolate. Whoops.

"We're back," I said.

I was used to shadow-traveling, but I guess Annabeth and Tony weren't. Annabeth fell off the table in dizziness, and Tony threw up on Elizabeth Bentley's shoes.

Clarisse growled at me over her map. Will Solace caught Annabeth. Elizabeth gave Tony a glare that clearly meant he would be paying for her shoes. Connor Stoll had to practically jump on Clarisse's back to keep her from ripping my head off. She clenched her teeth, throwing Connor off her, but before she could do anything—

"Good, Percy, you're here," Alice's voice said from behind me.

I turned and jumped off the table. "What's going on?"

"The Order attacked," Katie Gardner's face was stained with tears.

"Connor, Travis," Alice ordered, looking weary. The Hermes twins called the meeting to order, not that they needed to.

We took our seats. "What about the Order?" I said finally.

"They killed two of our own," Will said, his face darkening.

"Who?" Annabeth demanded.

"It doesn't matter right now," Clarisse interrupted. "We have to make plans." There was a unanimous nod in the room.

"Okay," Annabeth began twenty minutes later, "judging from what everyone's said, the entire Order is here with their entire army. Now, there are thirteen Order members, each one with a special significance. Anastasia Chaldean is the head, excluding Hecate. She of course inherited some magical properties, which is going to set us back a few steps, but we have Tatiana to counter her, so hopefully we'll be good.

"After Anastasia is her second-in-command, Damien Morneau, son of Phobos. Just by looking in his eyes, he can make you see your worst fears, and the next thing you know your head'll be rolling on the ground.

"Then there's Karapet Nychta and Julius Night, daughter of Erebus and son of Nyx, who basically serve the same purpose. They can pull you into oblivion and abandon you there if they wanted. Thankfully, Nico can probably take them both.

"Megan and Michael Morgan are twin sons of Ichnaea, the spirit of tracking. Which means they could find you anywhere on earth if they needed to. Ryan Marshall's next on the food chain, son of Harpocrates, spirit of silence. Ryan is mute, but that won't stop him from chopping your arms off. He hasn't displayed much power to prove it, but he could probably make you mute as well—or even deaf.

"Carissa Johnson is the daughter of Mnemosyne, goddess of memory. Carissa has a photographic memory herself, which means she can memorize your fighting style and beat you at your own game. Sofia Foss is Hyperion's daughter, which makes her almost as bad as an Ares kid.

"After them is Hanna Gonzales, daughter of Morpheus, god of dreams. She can see into your dreams and make you see them whenever she wants. Watch out for her. Then there's Johnny Nickels, son of Glaucus. That gives him a small amount of power over water, but Percy can outmatch him."

I shifted nervously, but nobody noticed.

"Finally there's Eliana Monterey, daughter of Eris, and Jessica Marina, daughter of Khione. Eliana is a cold stone bitch, so she won't hesitate to torture you to death for fun. Luckily we managed to get something she needs, but we'll discuss that later. Jessica obtained the powers of her mom, so she can turn you into an ice block without a second glance. Everyone got it?"

Everyone in the room nodded. Annabeth stepped aside, and Clarisse took her place. "Okay, wimps, here's the game plan: we have twenty-something cabins and roughly a hundred campers. You'll all be split up into teams. Jackson's team has the beach, Alice's has the west border, Chase gets the east, I get the south. The lists are printed on the wall over there." She pointed briefly.

I was a little surprised that I had a team. But then again, I guess since I was positioned at the beach, it wasn't so surprising.

Alice stood up next to Clarisse. "Everyone who can't fight needs to lock themselves down here and barricade the door. And don't for the love of the gods, let anyone in or out, no matter what you hear." There was a moment of dramatic silence as everyone pondered that. "Split up into your teams," Alice called. "Now."

There was a flurry of movement; she and the Hunters trooped to Cabin Eight, Clarisse's team went to Cabin Five, Annabeth's to Cabin Six.

Now all that was left was my team. Already attempting a plan in my mind, I led my own team back to Cabin Three. I looked at each one of them. I had about twenty.

Lily and Brian from Demeter, Sunny, Emily, and Brandon from Apollo, Elijah from Hephaestus, Dolores from Atë, Tony with his siblings Tyler and Alison, Victor from Nike, Juliet, Owen, and Ashley from Athena, Marian Wood from Morpheus, Nico, Natasha and James from Aphrodite, Elle from Hebe, and Natalia Romani from Nemesis.

A pretty good crew. Juliet and Ashley came up to me. Ashley rolled out a map of the beach. "You don't have a plan, do you?" Juliet asked.

I shrugged. "I was working on it."

She sighed. Ashley rolled her eyes. Owen shook his head. "Okay," Juliet said. "Thankfully Elijah has a ship we can use; he found it somewhere in the woods and repaired it, but that's not the point. You, Luna, and Wendy can control the water around the boat to move it, and archers—the Apollo kids and Natasha—can shoot from the prow. Everyone else can fight them off from the beach."

Ashley pointed at the map. "The Order's split up into pairs. We think Johnny Nickels and Jessica Marina were assigned this part of camp."

"Juliet, I got the ship!" Elijah yelled from somewhere I couldn't see.

Ashley rolled up the maps, stuffing them in her pocket. Juliet got up. "Come on. We need a head start if we're going to win this."

Annabeth's POV

"Will, Shawn, Maggie, and Madyson, you're positioned at the top of the hills to shoot. Aaron, I want you to make it hail like hell. Marpessa, Gus, Diana, Leena, Eric, make it tangled for them. Everyone else, you're the cavalry. Got it?"

I looked up into the terrified faces of my team. I knew they were scared. They didn't know how to fight a war, except for Will and me, maybe. We'd been in the Battle of Manhattan. I grimaced at the memory.

"We make our advance at daybreak," I decided. "Go back to your cabins and get some sleep. I want you in your armor at the east border by 3:00 am."

Everyone trooped out. I sighed, rubbing my head. "Annabeth?" I looked up. Percy was standing at the door.

"Hi," I said softly. I threw a cautious glance toward my brother Owen, who had his head bent over some papers, but I knew he would be listening if we stayed. I rested a hand on Percy's arm and led him outside, closing the door softly behind me.

When I turned around, I was surprised to have Percy kiss me. I kissed back, but I could tell there was something wrong. "What?" I asked after we pulled away. His eyebrows got all scrunched together. He didn't answer. I shrugged. "Walk with me, then."

I tucked the bundle securely under my arm and walked down the steps of my cabin with Percy closely behind me.

"What is that?" he asked, gesturing to my jacket.

I felt the urge to roll my eyes, but I controlled it. "Eris's apple. I stole it from her, remember?"

"She won't like that."

"Duh," I said, smiling a little.

"…why'd you wrap it up?"

Now I rolled my eyes. "Gods, Seaweed Brain."

"What?" he protested. "You expect me to know?"

"If anyone looks at Eris's apple, they have to have it," I explained. "It's magical. This—" I held up the bundle "—is the reason the Trojan war started. I'm taking it to the Big House. Eris can get it back after the war, if she wants." That's not what I was thinking, though.

The theory is, if you put Eris's apple between friends, they'd kill each other to get it. Between enemies, there would be a war. Thankfully, the magic on the apple had worn off a tiny bit over the thousands of years, so that would only happen if you touched it…or, increased the magic a little bit.

My theory was if I could get the apple into the enemy camp, there'd be massive chaos. They'd be weakened. The apple was the key. Now, if I could convince Tatiana to strengthen it—

"Ow!" I reeled back from the doorframe, rubbing my forehead.

Percy doubled over in laughter. "Did you seriously just walk into the doorway?"

I kicked at him, scowling, as I snatched up the bundle I'd dropped. "Shut up." I flicked on the lights. The hall was silent—even with Percy trailing behind me—as I went toward the trapdoor.

I could still hear him shaking with laughter when I reached up for the cord; I elbowed him in the chest as hard as I could, then yanked the cord hard, bringing the fold-out staircase to the ground. "Shut up," I growled, heeling him in the shin to get him to stop. I went up the ladder—to find Summer waiting for us.

"Whoa," Percy said. "Summer, what are you—I mean, your clothes."

Our friend was sheathed in a pearly-white, Greek-style chiton, with gold bangles on her wrist, and a heavy gold necklace around her throat. Her hair was caught up with even more gold; a thin band that glittered in the light.

The Oracle rolled her eyes. "Apollo thinks I should dress traditionally now. It 'preserves my youth'." Her expression clearly stated Bullshit.

I peered at her necklace. "Don't tell me that's—"

"Harmonia's necklace?" Summer finished. "Yes. It keeps me young. Its curse is on hiatus or something." But it was clear she didn't believe that.

"Okay, then," I said. "I need a jar."

"Sure," she got up gracefully from her purple chaise, moving to one of the shelves off to the side. A snake-shaped armband caught the light as she moved; its emerald eyes made it seem alive.

She turned around, holding a jar labeled Apple of the Goddess Eris in her hands. She raised an eyebrow at my expression. "I was expecting you."

Percy was going around the room, gaping at all the stuff in the attic. "Gods, is that—I mean, that's Ariadne's string."

"Yes," Summer said.

"It's just sitting up here," Percy said in amazement.

Summer shrugged. ""Everything is up here, if you dig it up." She pointed at a rich, silver-and-gold piece of jewelry hanging on a nail. "Helen of Troy's cuff bracelet—don't touch it, magical properties—Achilles' armor, a twig from the original Daphne, Theseus' sword, Jason's sandals—or, sandal."

"Wow," he said.

"And now, Eris's apple," I said, placing the jar on the shelf.

"Mm-hm," Summer smiled. "I think even Heracles' club is somewhere in here."

"Cool," Percy grinned.

"You're okay, up here," I said questioningly, looking at Summer.

She rolled her eyes again. "Just peachy. Simon's not allowed in the border, and everyone else is in their cabins. Perfectly…perfectly…" Her eyes suddenly went out of focus, glazing over fast.

I frowned. "Summer?" I snapped my fingers under her nose. "Summer, you okay?"

But when she spoke, her voice was different. Lower. Older.

"Merci, je vous remercie, la fille d'Athene—Whoa," Summer shook her head. "Whoops."

Percy looked confused. "Um…Summer…"

"Stay out of my head," she muttered. "Sorry. Joan of Arc's been worming her way into my thoughts lately."

"Joan of who?" Percy asked. "I mean—godsdammit."

"Percy, it's okay," Summer laughed. "Just because you ask me a question doesn't mean I always answer in a prophecy. Only if you ask a meaningful question, like What is my destiny? or something."

"Oh," he replied, clearly feeling like an idiot.

"You were just speaking in French," I said. "Why is Joan of Arc trying to talk through you?"

Summer shrugged. "All my past lives are bugging me. Joan, Cassandra, Georgia, Anna, they're pushing to speak out of my mouth."

"Why?"

"Dozvolete mi da izleze! Argh! Dammit! Shut up, Genevra!"

"Um, should we go?" I asked.

Summer looked up in surprise, as if just realizing we were there. "Um, only if you want to—Puella gravida!"

"What?" Percy asked.

Summer rubbed her forehead. "Nothing. Yeah, guys should probably leave. You don't want to be around when Julia and Bryn fight for control."

We left her massaging her temples, calling out behind us, "Percy, you'll want to keep a five-foot radius from Annabeth for the next five minutes!"

"What was that about?" Percy wondered as the trapdoor closed behind us.

"I wonder what's happening," I murmured, "if her past selves are fighting for control over her."

"I thought they were dead," he said.

"They are," I answered. "The Oracle's past stays with her until she dies, and even when she does, her voice sticks with whoever the new Oracle is, whispering in her ear."

"Creepy," he remarked.

"Hm." I blinked, suddenly taken over by a wave of nausea. I felt dizzy, but Percy didn't notice. My stomach was churning. What the hell…?

Percy was still asking questions. "What did she mean 'keep a five-foot radius from you'?"

I threw up on his shoes.

Percy's POV

"Ugh, sick!" I yelled, reeling back. I forced myself to look away from my feet. I could feel it in my socks…Blech.

She wiped her mouth. "Sorry."

"What was that?"

She shook her head as I put an arm around her. She was clammy. "Nothing," she assured me. "Flu, maybe."

"Then you should be in the basement tomorrow," I suggested, feeling worried. I didn't want her struck down on the field in the morning.

"Percy, just because I might be sick doesn't mean I need to be locked in the Big House like I can't fight," she said, sounding a little sharp. "I'm fine." Somehow I knew that was a lie. She pulled back. "I'm going back to my cabin."

I watched as she stalked away from me, her blonde curls shivering in the breeze. What could be wrong with her? Couldn't be the flu. You don't just throw up out of the blue. Hm…

I went back to Cabin Three. It felt empty, even with Alice there. She turned over once when I opened the door, and I knew she was awake. She didn't say anything. I climbed in my own bunk, sighing quietly.

It was going to be a long day.

Hm...Annabeth, throwing up? Since when does she get sick? Could it be...poisoning? Duh-duh-duhhh! Or, I could be making that up. You never know. And Summer's past lives arguing over her? Weird, but kind of understandable. I mean, how would you feel if you were just a voice of advice in the back of some fifteen-year-old girl's brain?

Anyway, I'm hyper, hungry, and bored. Worst combination for me EVER, but great for you, because that might actually mean you get two chapters in one day. (Yay!) I've got a lot saved up for you, you know... (I'm grinning mischievously, you just can't see it.)