HAPPY BIRTHDAY PERCY! May your day be filled with blue cake, cookies, and Annabeth kisses.

Let it commence.

Percy

My eyelids felt like they had been sewn shut. Every part of my body ached and hurt. With all the strength I could muster, I managed to slowly open my eyes.

Annabeth was sitting next to me on the ground, her curly hair pulled into a messy ponytail, with dark circles under her eyes. She held her hand slack in mine, and her head was lolling on her shoulders. She was asleep.

I blinked a few times at the ceiling, and with great effort brushed the hair out of my eyes. I looked around. I was in some sort of makeshift infirmary. We didn't have any beds, so several people were only able lie on the stone floor. Most of them were asleep, recovering from their wounds from the ambush a few days ago.

I groaned and tried to sit up. Annabeth stirred and then opened her eyes, rubbing them with her free hand.

"Perce?"

She looked around, slightly confused, and then her eyes fell on me. "You drool in your sleep," she said, smirking.

I glared at her and gave up trying to sit up, falling down on the ground. "I'm back from my coma. How long was I out?"

"About a day," Annabeth said, scooting closer to me.

"Ugh. What happened?"

Her expression was half awe and half disbelief. "You don't remember? Anything?"

"I remember fighting, and Gaea. We were rescuing you, and..." I squeezed my eyes shut. "And then you fell through the ground."

"Percy," she said quietly. "I've never seen anything like it. You...you practically caved in the whole chamber. We barely managed to get out without getting crushed. Jason had to carry you out over his shoulder because you were out cold. You controlled the earth. You caused at least a 6.0 magnitude earthquake—or higher. Even the mortals felt it. I'm sure it's all over the news."

I sat bolt upright.

"I did?" I whispered.

"You saved us. If it wasn't for you..."

I didn't say anything. I remembered everything now. Annabeth had been sucked away by Gaea, and a fury that I had never felt before had coursed through me. I had reacted instinctively.

"I'm sorry," I said, suddenly feeling guilty.

Annabeth looked bewildered. "Sorry? For what? Percy, you saved our lives!"

"I guess," I said slowly, a smile now creeping on my face. "Does this mean that I could take you down in a fight now?"

She shoved my head away. "Don't let it get to that brain of yours. It's already filled with seaweed."

I laughed.

She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "So what are we going to do?" Annabeth asked softly.

That wiped the smile off my face. I frowned at my hands, chewing on my lip.

"How is everyone feeling?" I finally asked. "They need to be ready."

"For what?"

"We need to fight."

"I knew you were going to say that," she said, nodding. "Everyone seems fine."

She paused and then scowled. "I mean, as fine as we can be."

I pressed my lips tightly together and looked around at everyone lying on the stone ground.

"We need to end this. We can't keep living in fear, wondering what Octavian is going to do next to New Rome. I'm tired of hiding in the shadows, knowing that we might be found out at any minute."

"I know." Annabeth sighed. "But are we ready?"

"If we keep pushing it off, we're always going to find an excuse not to fight. It has to be soon."

"We should talk to the other leaders," Annabeth said. "Jason, Reyna, Leo, Frank..."

"You're right," I said, nodding.

Annabeth stood up, cracked her back, and turned to look at me still sitting on the ground.

"Help me up?" I asked, sticking my hand in the air.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I'm still recovering," I said, sticking my bottom lip out.

She rolled her eyes. "Uh huh, sure." But she still took my hand and yanked me to my feet—maybe a little harder than necessary.

We left the corner that served as the infirmary and started looking for the others. Jason and Piper were sitting together with Hazel and Frank, who were tentatively holding hands. For Hazel, they might have been kissing. She looked a little faint.

The six of us then found Leo and Reyna together in a corner. Leo was talking animatedly to her, gesturing wildly with his hands, and she had a small smile on her face while she listened, her fingers playing with the end of her braid.

"...And then I managed to get him out of the trap, and when I finally calmed him down, he and I were both covered in oil and—Oh! What's up?"

Reyna looked at all of us calculatingly. It was very similar to the look Annabeth always gave me. "You are planning something."

It wasn't a question. The small smile that was on her lips was now gone, replaced instead by a harsh line of her mouth.

"Yeah," I said casually, sticking my hands in my pockets. "It's finally time that we kick Octavian's podex and take back New Rome. You in?"

Leo jumped to his feet. "Where is he? He has a date with my hammer." He pulled out his lethal hammer from his toolbelt and twirled it in his hands.

Reyna, however, remained sitting, her hands clasped.

"Are you sure this is wise?" she said finally, staring up at me.

"Reyna, if we sit around, he's just going to make things even worse," I said, slightly confused. "I thought you would be the first one to jump on this."

"Yes," she said simply. "But the question is, are we ready. His numbers are four hundred strong."

"That's not true," Piper said suddenly. Reyna stiffened slightly; Piper ignored this. "When we were going to get Annabeth and Bethany, we ran into two guards. They let us go and showed allegiance to Jason. They even told us that not everyone was loyal to Octavian. I'm sure that as soon as we fight, they'll change sides—even if it takes a little...persuasion." She grimaced on the word persuasion.

"Four hundred?" Annabeth said a little weakly. "That's a lot."

"I'm sure he sent in recruits for other demigods in the city, and I'm positive that there are more of those dirt-men on his side," I assured her. Four hundred was a scary number. That was hundreds more than Camp Half-Blood, even with the gods claiming their children earlier. What I said to Annabeth hadn't really comforted me that much; I could tell it didn't help her either.

"Will it help us with people joining our side?" Hazel piped up.

"It has to," I said firmly. "It's our only chance."

"Well...now what?" Leo asked.

"We organize," said a new voice. We looked over to see Nate limping over to us, arms folded. He was looking better from the nectar and ambrosia he'd been given, but his hair still had some blood in it and his side was healing from a nasty gash.

"Where's Bethany?" Annabeth asked.

"Resting," he replied. "She was fussing over me, so I told her to get some sleep. She needed it."

I was suddenly hit with a memory. Bethany and the pithos. "Good," I said. "We can discuss this without her. She can't know."

Everyone stared.

"And why not?" Nate asked, a bit of an edge to his voice. "She's one of the best fighters we have."

I sighed. "Can you guys keep a secret?"

They all nodded, and I told them about the dream that I had about Bethany and the pithos. I left out the part about Annabeth and the ketchup packets. It still freaked me out a little, and it seemed even more ridiculous the more I thought about it. Once I finished, Annabeth explained what would happen if we released Elips, or Hope.

"And you saw this happen?" Reyna finally asked.

"In my dream," I confirmed.

"She can't know this," Jason said. "If she releases Hope..." He shuddered.

"How are we going to keep her here?" Frank asked. "She'll want to fight...and I'm sure no one wants to stay behind with her."

Everyone glanced at each other. No one said anything.

"We can put her in charge of the infirmary?" Leo suggested.

Nate smirked. "Bethany can't heal anything to save her life. That's why she has all the scars. I'll be in charge of the infirmary; I'm son of Apollo, remember? I could keep her as an...assistant or something. I can't fight like this anyway." He gestured to his side.

"Well, glad we got that solved. Please, do your best to keep her away from the Field of Mars," I said.

"I'm sure I can keep her distracted," Nate said, smirking again.

"Good," I said. "Now, what we'll need to do next is—ah!"

Octavian's head was floating in front of me, an insane smile on his face.

AHOY. LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE BE AHEAD. YE HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Just a shorty short chapter. More of a filler. Eh.

First thing: I know I normally don't ask for reviews (i find it annoying) but we are SO close to 400! And if we make it to 400, it means that it's an Octavian chapter! And kids, this chapter ended with Octavian. We need to know what this dude is up to. So if you want or feel the need, please drop a review. I'm not forcing to. If you don't want to, don't. If you want to, do. Simple as that.

Second thing: This story is almost over :( I'm hoping that I'll make it to 50 chapters, but I don't know. I think I will. I should. We'll see. Anyway, I'm just giving you a little warning a few chapters before this story ends. I'll be incredibly sad when it does.

Third thing: Alright kids. I just need to get this off my chest.

I have a new favorite movie: North & South

Can I just...? The feels... I have honestly lost the ability to can.

My friends have been begging me to watch it (I even own it, for heaven's sake) and they finally convinced me to watch it yesterday.

And I... ?

It's a four part BBC Drama, and it has Richard Armitage in it (Thorin Oakenshield!) and it is honestly one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's a beautiful romance that could honestly end all other romances. Asdf;lkadjga;lsdkfha;lkdghf

I don't really like Period Dramas, but this movie has changed it all. Please, if you own this movie or you have Netflix, watch it.

Just do it.

okkay, i'm d one.

Sorry for the insanely long A/N. I'll see you on the next chapter!

~littlebitclever