First of all, thanks to The QAS, happygoluckyfull, pjoperson, and Ijoan for reviewing! Those reviews make my day :)

Secondly, I'm really sorry for the long delay :P Next update will come faster, in fact, because I've already written the next chapter :) This chapter, by the way, isn't Rose's plan... Sorry. It's kind of a behind-the-scenes thing in Rose, Albus, and Scorpius' story, featuring characters from PJO (finally!) and two other familiar characters...

Thirdly, I hadn't started reading The Son of Neptune when I began writing this character, so it might be a bit AU. I still haven't finished, actually :P

Finally, if you've still stuck with me for all this time, you can (finally!) get on to reading the actual chapter and not a mega-long author's note and then look for the explanations on the bottom. Thank you :)

Measures for War

Athena's grey eyes surveyed Camp Half-Blood... Or what was left of it, anyway. It wasn't much; even a helplessly optimistic person, who the goddess wasn't, could say as much. The smouldering remains of what seemed to be the Big House lay at the base of the hill pitifully. There was nothing left from the volleyball court, except for a small, charred heap.

Over at the cabins, she could see a large group of Romans, holding torches to illuminate the darkness of the evening. The days, of course, were already shortening, even in mid-September; Athena shook her head sadly at the younger Greek demigods, who were restrained, bound, and thrown into flying chariots by rough-looking Romans.

Of course, Athena wasn't heartless – but she was clever, after all, and there were some things that were simply above her power. The poor demigods would have to find their own way; it was the work of the Fates. She had learnt long ago that it was useless to intervene there, even if she was an Olympic goddess.

However, she did have to do something, anything to prevent other unfortunate events such as these to happen – even if it went against Zeus's word.

The sounds of padding footsteps made her whip round instinctively, always invisible – she then cursed her impetuousness. If she had been incognito before, it was because she had been standing perfectly still. Now, the intruder had certainly seen the air shimmer – Athena's cover was blown.

"Who are you?" snarled a familiar voice. Athena recognized it – Lupa, the she-wolf. "Show yourself!"

The Greek goddess laughed softly and lowered her hood, effectively rendering herself visible. "Hello, Lupa," she said quietly, her grey eyes boring into the she-wolf's pale eyes. For a moment, they stared at each other. "I offer my congratulations for your success in your plans. They have taken much effort, I see."

Lupa's silvery eyes, much paler than Athena's darker grey, narrowed. She prowled closer, circling the goddess; Lupa the she-wolf bared her teeth. "I know that you resent me, my troops and I," Lupa murmured, her eyes glinting, "but you Greeks will be grateful of this, come a time."

"Destruction does not bring flourishing," Athena said.

"Maybe not to you Greeks." Lupa gifted the goddess with a curve of her mouth. "But to us Romans, it does, of course – when Aenaes escaped the destruction and the suffering of the burning city of Troy, he arrived to what would become the Roman Empire. It is proof that from destruction comes flourishing." She stretched and looked at Athena in the eye. "I know you Greeks think of I as a savage. But that, I am not. And so: I offer you a pact."

Athena tilted her head, considering. "A pact?"

"You have powerful demigods at your reach, do you not?" Lupa studied a pile of nearby boulders intently. "I am building an army, as you are well aware, Athena. The Roman gods, they, of course, most approve. We are in for the greater good, after all." She frowned. "I have ridden this camp of the weak. But from the wars – well, the veterans are still alive. They are certainly not weak. They are strong. Jackson is strong too, yes, but his loyalty stays with Chiron."

"Chiron is getting old, Athena," the she-wolf continued. "His judgment is affected by his softened heart. In the ideals of Rome, it is a most disturbing disadvantage. My heart is hard. I do what I have to do – even if I must kill to do it. Soon, the storm brewing in Great Britain by the Helm of Darkness, Cassiopeia Lestrange, will reach America. And I will be there to face it."

She stared at the Greek goddess. "So, here is my pact: I give you peace. In return, you will recruit every powerful Greek demigod within your reach, and submit them to me. If you apply the terms of our pact, I will not unleash any more monsters on your half-bloods. I will not burn any more of their homes."

Athena was clever. She was shrewd, wise, and combative. Athena knew one thing for sure: this pact was practically perfect, in terms of war.

The only problem was that she would have to work alone to comply with the pact's terms: she would have to work alone to convince the so-called powerful demigods to join Lupa.

No matter – Athena was Athena, and she would find her way.

"I accept," the Greek goddess told Lupa the she-wolf.

Lupa bared her teeth into a wolf-grin. "That is good," she said simply. "You will see me at my usual headquarters next week to discuss of your progress."

Without further words, she sauntered off and disappeared, the darkness closing around her burly form.

Nico di Angelo was not used to fixing cups of hot chocolate for a Greek goddess – to be precise, he had never gotten a visit from a Greek goddess in his freaking apartment, for Hades' sake. "Tell me again," he repeated, his tone disbelieving. "You're expecting me to believe that Camp Half-Blood fell when me and Rachel were eating dinner at Percy and Annabeth's?"

"Disrespect to a goddess will not earn you points for the Fields of Elysium," Athena said drily.

"Whatever," Nico replied, shrugging. "Dad's going to pass me there, anyway." He smirked at her. "You know he loves me."

"Oh, yes," said a young woman's voice, "I've seen you and your dad. You two really have the ideal father-son relationship, all right."

Both Nico and Athena twisted their heads to see Rachel Dare entering the door and shutting the kitchen door behind her. She slid into the chair beside Nico and pointed to the extra mug her boyfriend had filled. "Mind if I have it?"

Nico shook his head and spread out his hands. "Rach," he said slowly, "Do you believe what Athena's saying? She says that-"

"Athena's here – oh, hello, my Lady!" Rachel exclaimed, bestowing her elder with a small, embarrassed smile.

The Greek goddess merely raised an eyebrow. "Good evening, Miss Dare."

"I said," Nico said loudly, as if he were afraid that the two of them would begin gossiping, "that Athena said that Camp Half-Blood got invaded by freaking Romans in our absence." He waited, expecting his girlfriend to bristle and shout at Athena that she was bonkers for thinking so.

Needless to say, he was quite disappointed when Rachel shrugged and said, "I kind of suspected something."

"I love you, Rach – what?" Nico had begun grinning at her, only to realise what she had just said.

"Why else would Percy just randomly disappear after dinner, even when Lea was clearly demanding him and his attention?" Rachel rolled his eyes, referencing Annabeth and Percy's youngest of three children. Lea Jackson was, most clearly, a daddy's girl. "Being the noble jerk he's always been, I naturally suspected something."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you tell me?"

Rachel shrugged.

"The point is," Athena interrupted, before Nico and Rachel could have a chance to go at each other, "Lupa made a pact with me." She briefly went through the conversation she had had with the leader of the Roman party. "Would you accept, Mr di Angelo?"

He threw up his hands and stared at her. "You want me to work for a crazy Roman wolf that killed my friends?"

"Nico," Rachel warned.

But Nico was, most unfortunately for the two women, on a roll. He stood up, looming over the goddess. Nico crossed his arms, glaring at Athena, whose face remained conveniently cool. "But of course you gods wouldn't care, would you?" he spat at her spitefully. "No, all you want is power! I bet that Lupa is a fraud-"

"Mr di Angelo," Athena interrupted coolly, "I am the goddess of wisdom. Surely, I am sufficiently intelligent to judge?"

Nico took a breath. "I'm not," he breathed heavily, "working for a murderer, Athena. Never."

Athena leaned across the table, her grey eyes piercing his black. "What if I tell you this, Mr di Angelo? Your half-sister is back. She has already begun killing innocent bystanders in her home country. Soon, she will come here... And be told that she bears a grudge against Camp Half-Blood. The destruction will be horrible. The mortals will even become aware-"

"They already are," Nico snapped. "Because of your so-called ally, the wonderful Lupa."

With that, he stomped off, slamming the door in the process.

Rachel turned to Athena, her face apologetic. "I'm sorry," she said. "Nico's kind of-"

"Good at holding grudges? I thought so," Athena lifted an eyebrow. She got up and looked at the young woman – no, really, the mortal Rachel Dare still resembled a girl. "Thank you for the hot chocolate. I will visit a few of my other children next, to try to convince them to join Lupa's cause."

Rachel stared at her elder with her bright green eyes. "It really is serious, isn't it? If you're with the Romans, now?"

"I do what I have to do," Athena told her impassively, echoing Lupa's earlier words. "Goodbye, Miss Dare."

She was about to disappear, when she heard the girl's cry of, "Wait!"

Rachel Dare shifted uncomfortably, her eyes downcast. "I want to help."

"I thought so," Athena smiled to herself. She had always known that the girl possessed superior brains than her boyfriend, that Hades spawn.

Narcissa laid her head on Lucius' chest, her eyes half-closed. "Draco told me about Scorpius," she murmured. "He got detention from Longbottom again, this time for attempting to break into the Restricted Section at the library with the Potter and Weasley brats-"

Her husband shook his head, an expression of disdain on his scarred face. His hand reached down to gently rake through Narcissa's mane of cornsilk-coloured hair. "I have abandoned all hope of drilling into the boy's thick skull the foundations of blood purity, daffodil," he drawled, smirking, "but I suppose Draco can always hope. Scorpius is his heir, after all."

"What I don't understand," Narcissa replied, "is how Longbottom is still Head of House when he's Headmaster."

Lucius shrugged. "Those damn war heroes have the Governors under their spell. I don't see why Longbottom would be any different."

"Not all the damn war heroes," Narcissa corrected. She pouted at him. "What about me?"

He smirked and twisted round to kiss her. "You're a different species, darling. To them, you are merely a Slytherin-bitch-Malfoy, which is quite rude, comparing to what you did – save Saint Potter's life." Lucius tilted his head, considering. "But I still think you're rather brave."

"How utterly romantic of you," Narcissa said sarcastically, though she moved her head from his chest and curled up a bit closer to him. She yawned, stretching. "I suppose I should be going to bed now; remember Andromeda's letter from last week?"

"Oh, yes," Lucius murmured. She'd read it to him; apparently, Andromeda was inviting his wife to have a brunch with her and her grandson, Teddy, at their house – well, Lucius wasn't going to stop her seeing the blood traitor. The only time she'd actually listened to something he had said was during the height of the First War, when he'd suggested that she lay low in order to not attract attention from the Dark Lord; and again, it had been for her wellbeing, and Narcissa was nothing if not Slytherin.

To be frank, he found her entire I-don't-give-a-shit-about-your-opinion demeanour quite... well, if it hadn't sounded so atrociously plebeian, he'd have said it made Narcissa 'hot'.

Narcissa interrupted his musings – quite impolite of her, really, but it was Narcissa – with a jab of her pointy elbow. "Well, goodnight to you too, Lucius," she said a little too sweetly for his taste, while Lucius held his side and huffed. One hand patted his head. "Sweet dreams."

"Mm, you too, Cissa," he grunted. Did he mention that pointy elbows to the side hurt? Argh.

Lucius rolled over on his side, listening to his wife's breathing eventually even in sleep. He had long gotten used to the darkness – it'd been eleven, almost twelve years since Greyback had mauled him, back in the Ministry of Magic, and ridden him of his sight – but it did get tedious and annoying at times. He sometimes wondered what his wife looked like now... What his grandchildren resembled. Hell, the last time he'd seen Megara, she'd been six – and now, she had already graduated from Hogwarts with honours, off at the Ministry as an Unspeakable, along with the honourable job Max had bestowed her with... But that was an entirely different matter.

He sighed, yawning. Perhaps it'd be time to let sleep claim him...

BANG!

In the doorway, Rachel watched Malfoy sit up straight, tense, and wake up his wife. She'd tried to find the light switches for the room, but it turned out there weren't any at all... Those damn wizards and their über-bizarre technology – if it could be called technology in the first place, Rachel thought, smirking.

Athena had convinced her to call it a day, back in America, and had come back for her in the next day, where she'd told Nico that she was going to visit her parents. That always worked... and it wasn't exactly bad, lying to Nico, if the outcome turned out better in the end, right?

"Who is it?" Malfoy called, his voice as hoarse and as lazy as she remembered from eleven years ago.

"Hello, Dude-Who-Hates-People," she shot, watching his wife light her wand. Huh – the wooden sticks had always fascinated her, as much as the immortal world still did. Much more interesting than her world, the boring, everyday world. "Hello, Mrs Malfoy."

Contrarily to her rude husband, Narcissa Malfoy had been perfectly decent to her, and so she hadn't attributed the woman a derogatory nickname.

Lucius' shoulders tensed. It was that busybody Yank Muggle, Dare! How dare – no, don't you snicker at the pun, he chided himself – she burst into his manor again? She had appeared about a year and a half after Di Angelo; needless to say, their first encounter hadn't gone well.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snarled, quickly pulling his covers up to his chest. No, he mustn't be seen in his nightwear, even if it was a lowly Muggle – especially if it was one! "I remember clearly telling you that my manor was off your limits, Muggle!"

Rachel shrugged. The old wizard didn't scare her at all – bonus, the damn goddess of wisdom and battle herself was invisible, behind her. "You haven't changed, Malfoy," she snickered, smirking. "Pleasure's all mine, yaddayada, but I need to tell you something."

"I don't-" Malfoy was interrupted by a whack from his wife. She turned to Rachel, apologetic. "I am sorry for my husband's behaviour, Miss Dare. What news do you bear, might I ask?"

The young woman quickly explained, and then finished with, "Would you care to help us, ma'am?"

Narcissa inclined her head, frowning. A war between demigods in America did not concern her and Lucius at all... However, Cassiopeia did – she was Bellatrix's daughter, after all, and their niece. And after what Cassiopeia had done to her family... Narcissa closed her eyes; she didn't want to put her family in danger now, of all times. She had gone through a war with Lucius and Draco before; look at what had happened. Scorpius, in turn, was so young; how could you tell an innocent child that his life was in danger?

However, Narcissa was a better person than that – she couldn't let innocent people die, not after what she had seen in the wars. And by innocent people, Narcissa did not just mean the Muggles and the Mudbloods – she also thought of her Rosier side of the family, who had been assassinated by Aurors after her cousin Evan had been caught and exposed as a Death Eater. Only Evan's younger brother Jasper had managed to survive the ordeal, and even today, Narcissa did not know where he was; he had changed his identity, she supposed, to keep from being hunted down by the blasted Ministry.

"I will," she said, her blue eyes boring into the other's vivid green. Lucius' head swivelled to face her, his face wearing an indignant look. Before he could complain, the Dare Muggle interjected, "Shall we get going to the base, Mrs Malfoy?"

Lucius let out an exasperated sigh. "It's midnight, Narcissa," he complained.

"There are more important things than sleep, darling," Narcissa reminded him with a playful nudge that would hopefully melt his heart, and then she looked at Rachel. "Please give the two of us a minute, Miss Dare. We will join you in the hallway shortly."

Rachel Dare nodded once to the woman, closed the door behind her, and beamed at Athena.

"Phase one almost complete," the redheaded former Oracle commented. "Now on to the base – where we'll see Max again, of course."

The grey-eyed goddess bowed her head. "Where I look forward to seeing my child again, too. Good work, Miss Dare."

Um, yeah :P That was probably kinda confusing and/or crappy...

To recap: The relationship between the Romans and the Greeks has deteriorated since the whole Gaea ordeal. Right now, Camp Half-Blood is being taken over by Romans; kids are being kidnapped. Athena, who's watching, goes to Lupa and they make a pact.

Athena then seeks out Nico and Rachel, who are together. Nico gets angry, while Rachel accepts.

The next day, Lucius and Narcissa are about to go to bed when Rachel appears and asks for their help. Ignoring her husband, Narcissa agrees and tells Rachel that they will come with her and Athena to the base.

Next chapter: How well does Rose Weasley really plan? How annoying can two eleven-year-old boys really be? Is Al Potter a hypocrite? And what's up with Rachel now?

Oh, yeah. I also put up a collection of one-shots with characters that have appeared or will appear in this story called Snapshots. You can take a look at them, if you like :)

Lastly, please read and review, especially if you favourited/alerted!