Chapter 6

PERCY

Percy woke up only to find he was snuggling a dolphin.

He let out a yelp, scrambling up only to kick the muddy ocean floor. Sand billowed up in twirling plumes before settling back down. The dolphin looked at Percy with glaring, angry eyes. She seemed to be saying, "Here I was, so comfortable, and then you have to go scrambling like a manic porpoise."

He gave her an apologetic look before she swam away haughtily. He shouted, not caring how muffled it was because of the water, for Annabeth.

"She's right next to you," A deep, majestic voice bellowed.

Percy looked around, and the voice let out a booming laughter. "Son, son, don't you get it? You're in bed, and she's or she is next to you."

Slowly, the truth dawned on him. "So…this is a…dream?"

Again, bellowing laughter filled the sea. "A vision might be a better word, dear boy. Perchance this is the most important dream you'll have for a while. Better stay attentive."

Poseidon—for Percy soon realized who was addressing him—appeared at last. His form was different than usual. Dark hair with gray roots fully covered his head, combed up then back. He had the slightest hint of sideburns, and the old-fashioned 'do reminded Percy of Mr. Darcy—only slightly older. Perhaps more like the aged Colin Firth. Not that Percy'd been keeping up with the actor… he had just picked up on things due to being married to Annabeth.

However, his middle-aged face didn't seem to match his bronze, muscular, bare chest. His pants appeared to be the bottom half of a diver's suit, complete with flippers.

Percy's lack of style suddenly made much more sense.

"Now, Percy, how are you enjoying Asulon?"

Asulon. The name seemed strange, foreign. "Uh…excuse me?"

Again, the laugh. Then, the ocean vanished, and was replaced by open sky. For a moment, he expected to plummet towards his death, but instead he stayed floating in air.

Below him was the ocean, sunlight glinting off the crystal waves. Three mounds of golden sand poked out, splattered with green. Islands; at least several miles apart, forming a triangle if they were connected.

Poseidon tossed Percy a compass. "The uppermost island, the one in the North, is Ogygia. To the East is Elysium, and to the West is Asulon. In the center of it all lays your world, the Underworld, and Tartarus.

Percy involuntarily shuddered at the last one. He looked again. "All I see is ocean…what do you mean?"

Poseidon chuckled. "Let me try to explain. From your world, you can reach Ogygia and the Underworld. You can't reach Elysium, Tartarus or Asulon from Earth, no matter how hard you tried. Each place is in a different dimension, Percy. You can only travel to other dimensions in select cases where there are rifts that allow for it.

"As I already stated, you can reach Ogygia and the Underworld from Earth.

"You can reach Elysium and Tartarus from the Underworld.

"And you can reach Asulon and Earth from Tartarus. But this system is very complicated. A person cannot leave Ogygia, Elysium, or Asulon."

"Wait, hold up!" Percy interjected, mind reeling. "Yeah, you can! I was in Ogygia and I left! I saw Jason in Elysium, and then he disappeared!"

"In Jason Grace's case, dark magic was used. It is not a force to trifle with, and can have serious repercussions."

"Dark magic? What do you mean?"

"Of course, you wouldn't know. Donovan Pierce, the man who tried to kill the Seven, has the magical capability to reanimate a dead person's body, but control their mind and soul. The Jason you know is still lost."

Even in this dream state, those words sent a painful stab through Percy.

"And in the case of you leaving Ogygia, there is a special raft that can somehow cause inter-dimensional travel to occur. It was the same raft that brought you out of Tartarus.

"But back to my main point. You cannot see nor reach your world without the raft. And even though you can see the other islands, reaching it would be near impossible."

"So, basically, you're entering my dreams to tell me we're doomed to rot on this island you call Asulon forever?"

"Yes and no. You have noticed the island is not the most…tame, I assume?"

Percy laughed at that understatement.

"Well, Percy, that's because you have to prove yourself. Asulon is a refuge for a weary demigod. It is a gift for only the most daring of heroes."

Suddenly, Percy found himself angry. "Oh really? Refuge? I almost died today! A gift—well, you really need to rethink your gift-giving strategies! All this island has given us is strife and pain, and I'm sick of it all! Refuge—if we want refuge we'd be better off both killing ourselves and spending eternity together in Elysium!"

"Let me finish, son." Poseidon nestled into a cloud—making it obvious this was a dream. Poseidon usually steered clear of his brother's territory. "Not one of the heroes that were sent here lived to tell the tale—don't you give me that 'you just said it was a refuge' face, boy—because they didn't earn the island. Asulon, at its full potential, is safe from all outside dangers and provides all survival needs."

"So, how am I supposed to earn this…Asulon?" Percy asked.

"I'll leave that to you, Perseus."

And then Percy was falling, fast, air rushing past him and taking his breath away. And suddenly there was pain. Searing, stabbing, unbearable pain consumed him as he plummeted. His vision blackened at the edges. He was going to pass out, but the sea, the sea would heal him.

He woke up screaming in agony.

PIPER

Piper drew her arm back, poised and ready, every muscle in her body just as taut as the bowstring she had cocked the second before. Taking a deep breath, she aimed and released, watching as her arrow flew through the air and lodged itself solidly in the center of the target forty yards away. She turned to see the other campers, all with their eyes trained on her, waiting for their next orders. It was still somewhat awkward for Piper to be the center of attention, but she'd gotten used to it over the last two months, which had been full of nonstop training that she'd been overseeing.

"Alright! Split into four groups; each group gets six targets. Three shots per person, retrieve your arrows and then let the next person shoot. I want to see everyone hustling—nobody should be walking when you're getting your arrows." This was accompanied by a pointed look at the Aphrodite kids, who were still looking with horror at the prospect of having to shoot an arrow ten yards farther than they were accustomed to.

The row of archers stepped up, raising their bows after notching their arrows into place, aimed, and fired. Piper nodded with satisfaction as all twenty-four of the arrows hit the inner circle of the target—then again; twenty of the young archers had been from the Apollo Cabin.

Looking across the campgrounds, Piper realized how much had happened in only a few short months, and how much she had changed. Her dad had always told her that she was a natural-born leader, but this had been the first time Piper had actually stepped up to the plate and embraced her leadership role. And it wasn't an easy job. Everything had been happening at once; Leo leaving unexpectedly, Lynn disappearing to who knows where, having to prepare for a battle that everyone knew was coming…and on top of all her duties, Piper had to learn to cope with all the personal hurt and stress she was going through. She was still heartbroken over Jason. She always seemed to lose him whenever she needed him most.

Tearing her thoughts back to the present, Piper focused once again on the training taking place in front of her. But as the campers prepared to take their second shots, Camp's alarms suddenly blared through the air. Many campers around Piper started, and she wondered if maybe the Romans were taking this training to the extremes. Of course they needed to be prepared, and these drills were definitely necessary, but this was the second time the alarms had gone off in the last forty-eight hours.

She shrugged the thought away, and called out, "Gear up! Get into Defensive Position Three and wait for further orders." Grabbing the shield that lay at her feet and double-checking that her dagger and quiver of arrows were both in place, she jogged up Half-Blood Hill towards Thalia's Pine. Peleus was nowhere in sight. When she reached the crest of the hill, she stopped, stunned.

This was not a drill.

The sound of the campers running about getting ready for what they thought was a drill fell on deaf ears. Piper's attention was completely locked on what lay before her in the valley. Legions upon legions of monsters were gathered on the valley floor. Everyone at Camp had known that Donovan had the ability to produce monsters, but no one had imagined that he could create this many in only two short months; there were at least three gruesome monsters for every camper Piper had trained. She shuddered to think what the odds would've been had the Romans failed to join forces with them.

Forcing back the fear that was welling up inside her, Piper turned away from the sight of Donovan's army to face the campers who were still scrambling around trying to get organized. She knew that most of them had no idea that this was not a drill, and she knew that the news would, without a doubt, frighten them. Somebody had to do something to settle them all down, and Piper didn't see anyone around volunteering for that job.

Clearing her throat and putting as much force into her voice as possible, Piper yelled over the heads of all the disordered campers, "EVERYBODY LISTEN!"

The charmspeak flooded over the crowd, silencing everyone. All eyes were again on Piper. The teenagers shook their heads, trying to shrug off the magic.

"This is not a drill! Repeat, Camp Half-Blood is compromised! Arm yourselves and be prepared for a heavy attack. Whatever you do. Do. Not. Panic." Enunciating each word as carefully as she could, Piper looked into the terrified eyes of the campers.

"Look," she said, not bothering to yell anymore, knowing that everyone was already listening to her. "This is the real thing. This is war, and it's not going to be easy. But this is why we've been training for the last two months. We actually stand a chance to these guys, and I truly believe that we can win. Remember, this camp's faced worse enemies than a power-hungry demigod. You've withstood the armies of Kronos, and defeated the giants, sons of Gaea, who very nearly defeated the gods themselves. I know we can beat Donovan Peirce; he's nothing compared to what we've already faced. This war has gone too far: it's time we ended it, right here, right now."

Cheers erupted from the campers; some even brandished their weapons. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Piper might've smiled. If there was one thing she was good at, it was motivational speaking.

"Okay, everyone to their battle stations, the ones that we've been practicing. No one should have a reason for not knowing where they're supposed to be. Commanding officers, get your troops into place, then I want to see all of you in the center of the volleyball courts in five minutes."

Piper walked towards the courts, trying to sort out her thoughts. She needed a plan, and fast. Donovan's army was bigger and stronger than theirs, and he had pretty much cornered them in the Camp. Elanna had already proved that the protective shield circling the camp was no longer of any protection, and Piper knew that if they lost their footing and ran, it would be a massacre. All they could hope to do was hold their ground, and last Donavan out, if that was even possible. Maybe his monsters would turn on each other…hmm. That was an idea. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Now all they had to do was figure out how to divide Donovan's house…