Gwen and Nathan were arguing in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
"You disobeyed me. I never ordered you to go to Camp Half Blood." Nathan said.
"I couldn't just stand around and do nothing." Gwen retorted. "You're not the leader of Camp Jupiter."
"You ruined my chance to restore Camp Jupiter! You evil witch!" he exclaimed.
"Poor Calypso... She's all alone..." Leo said.
"So what? She was totally lame." Nathan stated.
"You're lame!" Gwen shouted.
"Do we have to get Frank and Hazel over here?" Piper asked.
"No!" they answered in unison.
"Then shut up." she said. "I swear I'm losing my mind. Gwen, come with me. We're going elsewhere."
Gwen walked out of the temple and away from Nathan. She followed Piper. Then Leo walked away and got out a picture of him and Calypso.
"Will anything ever be alright?" he asked himself.
Then the scene switched. Nathan was alone in the Temple.
"How will I become the leader like this?" he asked.
I woke up. We were in the woods, Percy and Jason had set up camp. A fire was going and Jason was roasting marshmallows for us. "How long was I unconscious?"
"Not long. About 20 minutes." Percy answered.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You fainted without any warning." he answered. "Is this a pregnancy symptom?"
"Unfortunately." I answered. "Did you tell Pollux?"
"Yes, but he swore he wouldn't mention it to anyone." Percy answered.
"Speaking of that, isn't there someone you need to talk to?" Jason asked. "You said it yourself that you were keeping several of your family members in the dark."
I sighed and answered, "There are many people that I could, or even should talk to, but we have so little time, and no leads at all."
"If you could choose just one family member to talk to, who would you choose?" he asked, while preparing s'mores for us.
I thought about the family members I had on my mother's side, which basically includes all of my half-siblings. Around the time I meet Percy, there were 12 residents in the Athena Cabin. Now there's only five. Malcolm Pace, the oldest one who I'm closest with, as well as four other half-siblings. In order of seniority, they are Eric, Albert, Henrietta, and Alyssa. Malcolm's 19 years old, so he'd be able to understand everything more than anyone else would. He already knew about the duel between Percy and Athena. I had no idea if my mother had told my half-siblings anything that happened in the last three days. I certainly hoped not. I felt so distant from them, as if they wouldn't even want me there.
Then I thought about my dad's side of the family; my father, two half-brothers, my step-mom and my cousin. My father, Fredrick Chase, would just view of my pregnancy as an inconvenience. He wouldn't understand. So scratch that. My half brothers are both 15, a seven year gap, they wouldn't understand and I don't even like Mathew or his twin brother Bobby. My step-mother, Erica Chase, she might understand and she might be able to help me. Although she would insist that I get pregnancy care appointments (which I couldn't afford). Then there's Magnus Chase. I wouldn't just be able to tell him I'm expecting a child, I'd be able to tell him everything. Since Magnus Chase is a Norse demigod, he's very familiar with the strange and abnormal lifestyle. I honestly felt like I had a better relationship with him then my immediate family members.
"Well, who will you tell?" Jason asked, biting into his s'more.
"I don't know. I'm torn between my half-brother Malcolm, and my cousin Magnus." I answered.
"Magnus?" Percy asked, finishing his s'more.
"You remember him, right?" I asked, eating my treat.
"Oh yeah right. I remember Magnus, his friend Sam and his other friend Jack who just wouldn't shut up." Percy answered.
"Malcolm's probably wondering where I am, or where I've been." I said. "I want to tell him the truth. But... I feel like Athena may have already spoken with him and my other half-siblings. What if she's poisoned their minds with lies? What if he doesn't understand?"
"Annabeth, I think you're overthinking this." Percy said.
I thought of Malcolm. He had no idea what was going on. Neither did Magnus. I sighed.
"There will come a day when I tell Magnus the truth. Today is not that day however." I said. I formed a rainbow and tossed in a golden drachma. "Oh, Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Accept this offering. Show me Malcolm Pace."
The rainbow showed Malcolm Pace wide awake in the Athena cabin. Everyone else was asleep.
"Annabeth?" he whispered. "Where have you been?"
"Long story." I answered, whispering. "What time is it for you guys?"
"It's 1:50 in the morning." Malcolm answered. "Hold on while I go outside."
"Won't the harpies come after you?" Percy asked.
"They did away with the harpies years ago." we answered in unison.
Malcolm went outside, but unfortunately, his cabin mates were woken up in the process.
"You were saying?" he asked.
"Malcolm, what gives?" Albert asked.
"Sorry guys. Annabeth called." he answered.
"Annabeth?" Alyssa asked. "We haven't seen you in days!"
"My brothers and sisters," I said, addressing my cabin mates, "I know I've been gone for a while. Part of this is my fault. I thought Athena may have spoken to you and told you terribly false rumors."
"Spoken to us? We haven't spoken to Athena any time within the last few days." Eric said.
"All that we know is that Athena challenged Percy to a duel for some strange reason." Henrietta said. "Malcolm told us that, and he doesn't know everything."
"Annabeth, please... Tell us what's going on." Malcolm said.
"Our mother, Athena, has lost her mind. She blames Percy for a crime that never happened. She challenged him to a duel, and ultimately, it was a draw. I stepped in to stop the fight before Percy was killed, and I saw a golden flash in her eyes as I dueled her. Shortly after, Ares, who had been watching the duel with us in person, subdued Athena and dragged her to who knows where." I answered.
"You don't know?" Alyssa asked.
"Don't know what?" I asked.
"What happened to our mother after the duel." Henrietta answered.
"We all had dreams about Athena's whereabouts on the night that the duel occurred." Malcolm answered.
"No. What happened?! Please tell me." I begged.
"After Ares subdued Athena, he dragged her to Olympus. He ordered Hephaestus to create a cage for her to keep her from escaping. The latter charged Ares with 100 golden drachmas to have it built. The war god was broke after this, but he knew that if Athena was not imprisoned, that she would eventually target Percy again. He also thought that she could go after Percy's friends as well. Athena currently stands in that cage above the Throne Room." Albert answered.
"So, why did mother want Percy killed?" Alyssa asked.
I sighed and asked, "I was getting to that. Can you keep a couple of secrets?"
"Certainly." Malcolm answered for all of them.
"Well... Percy was falsely accused of raping me." I answered. They gasped. Alyssa scratched her head in confusion. "This isn't true, but the fact that I'm pregnant with his child doesn't help the situation." Everyone but Alyssa gasped again.
"Am I the only one who's confused?" Alyssa asked.
"Pretty much." Henrietta answered.
"How old is she?" Percy asked.
"She's 11 years old." Albert answered. "She's not dumb, but she's just uninformed what all those terms mean."
"Annabeth. Did you presume that Athena told us everything she knew about this so called crime?" Malcolm asked.
"I thought so. I thought I wouldn't be welcome in the Athena Cabin, so I stayed in the Poseidon Cabin for two nights." I answered.
"Has your Yankees Cap lost its power?" Eric asked.
"Let me check." I said. I got out my cap, and I turned invisible. Then I took it off. "Guess not."
I told them about searching for and battling Khione, as well as Reyna's condition. I didn't leave anything out.
"Where are you guys?" Henrietta asked.
"Phoenix, Arizona." I answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Unfortunately, monsters are attacking Camp Half-Blood even more than we had anticipated. Rachael Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Camp Half-Blood, predicted at least one monster invasion per day. Unfortunately, there have been three invasions per day since the theft of the Golden Fleece. Several people have been injured, and Jason Harrison has been killed. We're running of fighters too quickly. What do we do?" Albert asked.
"Is everyone doing their part?" I asked.
"Well, there's one daughter of Hecate who isn't fighting, but she claims that she is attempting to find a way to recreate the border around Camp Half-Blood." Malcolm answered.
"Do you think that can even be done?" Alyssa asked.
"I doubt it." Albert said.
"If it works though, we won't have to patrol for monsters." Eric said.
"At least humans can't find the camp thanks to the Hecate cabin manipulating the Mist." Henrietta said.
"Well, I wish you guys good luck in defending the camp. It sounds like you will need it." I said. "And by the way, could you... not tell any of this information to the other campers?"
"We won't say a word." Malcolm said.
"But what if we get another half-sibling?" Albert asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." he answered. "Good night, Annabeth, and good luck."
Malcolm cut off the connection, and we stood there in silence.