I'm back! And thank you for all the praise and CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms in you reviews. I was so glad to have no flames in my story, and it made me want to update!

Anyway, if you still haven't read the notice in the summary, I reposted Chapter 7 since most of you hated that part. Sad to say, the outcome was the same, but I made the fight a little fairer.

Percy

"What do you mean you can't find them?" Percy demanded.

"I am sorry, Percy. But their cloaking magic must have been very strong to block even Lady Hecate's magic. The most we can tell you is that there are approximately 360 Egyptian safe houses around the globe, and all are protected with the highest and most powerful layers of magic." Chiron explained. His tail was swishing back and forth, a clear sign that he was nervous.

"That's not good enough!" Percy slammed his hand on the table. "We need their exact location, Chiron!"

Percy had called for an emergency war council at the Big House right after he had finished making sure that everybody was alright and accounted for. So far, the Romans had lost 37 legionaries and 68 of New Rome's citizens. That was, at least, the tentative report.

"I'm afraid, my child that you would have to wait for a bit longer…" Chiron trailed off.

"We need it now! Who knows when they're going to attack us again? We need to retaliate, at least get some revenge!"

Chiron shook his head. "Revenge is never the answer, Perseus."

But revenge is the answer, thought Percy. "Still, their next target will be Camp Half-Blood."

"We can prepare our defenses." Chiron argued. "And then there are the magical borders that they'd have to worry about."

"They can, and will, get past that. I am sure of it." Percy said firmly.

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "And if this does happen, what do you suggest we do about it?"

Percy thought for a moment. Chiron had him there. He had seen what happened as soon as New Rome's wall was torn down. If these Egyptians find a way around the magical borders, then there was nothing they can do. Nothing but run.

"Then we don't let them get past the border. In fact, we won't even let them get to the border. We take them down before they attack." He suggested.

"A dangerous tactic, my boy." Chiron commented. "And there are several flaws to your plan. First and foremost, we don't know where the Egyptians are stationed. Second, if we attack even one of their safe houses, the rest are sure the strike back. Third, our numbers are at a dangerously low rate. I doubt that we would even be able to attack. Even with the Romans' help, attacking the Egyptians directly would be suicidal."

Percy knew Chiron was right. Attacking head-on would be like asking for their death warrants.

Then, something clicked in Percy's head. "Sadie Kane."

"What about her?" Nico said all of a sudden.

Nico

"Sadie Kane."

Nico was surprised to hear Percy say Sadie's name. As far as he knew, the two hadn't even met. He had planned to introduce her to him slowly, since his first meetings with the Egyptians turned out…badly.

"What about her?" He asked defensively. He was silently hoping that Percy wasn't thinking anything drastic.

"We…"

"You are not holding her hostage!" Nico blurted out without thinking.

"Huh?" Percy asked, puzzled.

"She may be Egyptian, but that doesn't give you the right to treat her like some kind of…of….slave!" Nico was on fire now. He didn't know why, but he felt strangely protective of Sadie. He stubbornly rose from his chair, and leaned across the table, giving Percy an evil glare.

"What?" Percy asked again. "Since when did I even say that? I was going to propose that we give her to the Egyptians and end this problem where it began."

"Oh." Nico sunk back into his chair. He mentally slapped himself in the face. He should have known better than to make wild accusations about Percy. He should've known that Percy would never endanger Sadie, much less hold her hostage. "Carry on then." He murmured.

"Okay…" Percy took a deep breath. "Now that that's over with, what about it? We give her back, the Egyptians stop attacking. Problem solved."

"Bad idea, Seaweed brain." Annabeth interjected. "We give her back, and the Egyptians may attack, just for good measure. And add to that the fact that once we give her back, nothing will stop them from attacking full force on camp Half-Blood."

"So, what in Zeus's name do we do?" Percy said. "We can't attack, and we can't give her back…I'm tired of waiting!" he shouted, making Nico cringe.

"Stop shouting, Percy." Chiron ordered sternly.

"Sorry, Chiron." Percy said in a more controlled voice, though Nico could still sense anger hidden within his voice.

"So what now, punk? We're gonna get pulverized, again, by some stick-wielding weirdos all because you can't decide what to do." Clarisse said.

"Don't forget that those sticks pack a punch." Piper added.

"And the weirdos nearly crushed us to the ground." Thalia added even more.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Rachel stumbled inside, mist spewing out of her mouth. Spasms were overtaking her body, and her. The mere sight made Nico stand up so fast out of his chair, it toppled over. He immediately rushed over to her side, and caught her just before she made a faceplant into the ground.

"Death…" Nico heard her mutter over and over again.

"What's wrong with her?" Travis demanded. "Connor, ambrosia and nectar, now!"

Connor rushed over to the emergency cabinet, and grabbed a bag of ambrosia squares and a canteen of nectar. He handed them to Travis, who dribbled a bit of the nectar onto Rachel's mouth, and forced her to chew on a square.

Chiron pointed to an empty table on the far said of the room. "Put her there."

Travis and Connor carried her to a table, where she lied, moaning.

"Damn, she was heavy." Travis complained, rubbing his muscles.

"And you call yourself a man…" Connor mumbled, but was heard by Travis. Nico chuckled at his words.

"What was that about?" Annabeth asked.

"Nothing of importance." Chiron said, a little too quickly. "Now Percy, please continue. I have some…important business to attend to." He clip-clopped out of the room, ignoring the puzzled looks from the campers.

Percy cleared his throat. "Now, as I was saying, we cannot give Sadie back, nor can we hold her hostage." He took a glancing look at Nico. "But we can make her tell us their location."

"How?" Nico asked him worriedly.

"By any means necessary."

Chiron

Chiron let out a breath that he'd been holding back as soon as he got out of the Big House.

"They musn't know…"