Act II Chapter XX: "But, where are the demigods?"

It had been one week since they returned with Iris. It had been one week since they sent out the messages to demigods that trained with them before. And, no one had arrived yet. Annabeth waited every day, but no one showed up. She didn't understand it.

Chiron didn't give them exact details, but he did say that some of the old demigods agreed to come to the camp. So, where were they? Why wouldn't they already be there? A deep breath left the demigod as she looked down. She just didn't understand. With a safe place to go, demigods should be flocking to them.

Had Chiron lied to them? Were there no demigods that had replied, and he didn't want to let them down? Had something happened to the demigods? Did the man downstairs not want them to come? Annabeth closed her eyes. There was a logical reason behind all of this. She just needed to calm down and think.

Annabeth stepped out of the cabin that had been built for them. Despite the tormenting thoughts echoing in her head, a small smile came to her face. A lot of progress has been made in the last week. According to Chiron, it didn't look like how the old camp used to. Not yet at least.

Twelve cabins had been made, all in the shape of a U. They were getting beds for each of the cabins within the next day or two, and they could probably fit ten demigods into each cabin. The cabins were sorted by godly parents, like it was before Camp Half-Blood was destroyed.

Annabeth wasn't sure what cabin the others would stay in without knowing one hundred percent who their godly parent was. Or where Percy would stay. They couldn't just have him stay in the Poseidon cabin because that would give away Percy's secret.

Or Reyna with her mother being a Roman goddess. They would figure it out, though. Annabeth took a deep breath as she took in the fresh air. Her eyes looked at the overcast skies. It was going to rain that day, so they wouldn't be able to build. She also didn't want to be trapped inside a cabin.

Annabeth looked around the camp with a smile still on her face. The Dryads and Satyrs were not there at the moment. They were probably given the day off because of the weather and because they had been working so hard. The only repayment they said they wanted was the chance to admire and bask in the greatness of Dionysus. The god looked absolutely repulsed by it.

There was one Satyr still there. Grover was talking to Will, and the demigod said something that made both of them laugh. Not far from the two of them was the god Dionysus. He sat in a rocking chair and- wait… Where did he get a rocking chair?

Unperturbed by the rocking chair, Chiron stood next to Dionysus. He was looking down at something in his hands, but he was too far for Annabeth to make it out. Sweeping her gaze across the camp, Annabeth saw Percy and Luke sparring with each other. The boys moved so quickly that Annabeth had to focus to track their movements.

Luke seemed to still have the upper hand. He was the best swordsman that they had, and quite frankly, Annabeth thought he was the best sword fighter ever. Annabeth watched the boys for another minute as they attacked, countered, and deflected each other. Then, she moved her gaze away.

The wolf goddess stood near Drew as she practiced with a sword against a makeshift dummy. Anytime that Drew let the sword droop, Lupa's face twisted like she was growling. Drew immediately lifted her sword and went back to attacking the training dummy. She would need to learn how to fight. Even if she didn't want to.

A little further than that were Clarisse and Reyna. Both of them were doing pull-ups, assisted by a huge tree that hadn't been there when they first arrived. The forest looked so much better with the arrival of Dryads seemingly breathing life back into nature. And maybe, Dionysus helped with that, too.

Annabeth turned and made her way to Chiron and Dionysus. The god paid no attention to her, still rocking back and forth. His gaze focused on each of the demigods, but he seemed to keep looking back at Percy and Luke. Chiron looked up at Annabeth and lowered the item in his hand: a notebook.

"Annabeth, how are you this morning?" Chiron questioned.

"I'm good, Chiron. But, where are the demigods? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Annabeth questioned.

"Not coming," Dionysus chimed in, looking more and more like a noisy neighbor.

"Some of them are coming," Chiron promised. "They cannot just drop everything and come here. Some have responsibilities like school or work. Others must convince their parents."

"And not everyone buys into your mission," Dionysus added. Annabeth wanted to glare at him but knew better, so she focused that glare on a nearby weed.

"Lord Dionysus," Chiron began.

"Not every demigod wants to leave the relative safety of their home and come here," Dionysus began. "With all of these brats, we're just telling monsters where to find a delicious snack."

"That is why we have a border god, sir," Annabeth cut in.

"Everything will be fine, dear. Do not worry," Chiron muttered.

"I'll try not to," Annabeth decided as she looked at Chiron.

"Did you come over here for a reason?" Dionysus questioned. "Or, was it just to pollute the air?"

Annabeth was starting to wish they left the god at the arcade. Instead of responding, she turned on her heel and walked away. Annabeth started to make her way toward Clarisse and Reyna. Both of them were still doing those pull-ups. They seemed to be keeping pace with each other, and Clarisse's mouth was moving just as fast as her arms as she probably was talking trash. As Reyna started to slow down, it caused a smirk to come to Clarisse's face.

As Annabeth made it closer, she saw Reyna's hand slip from the branch, and she dropped from the tree. Clarisse made a noise like a cheer, "Ha! Loser!"

Clarisse jumped down from the tree and put her hands on her hips. The only sign of the effort she expended was her heavy breathing. On the other hand, Reyna was on her hands and knees trying to catch her breath. Clarisse offered a hand, and when Reyna took it, she was pulled to her feet.

"I told you I could do a hundred pull-ups," Clarisse bragged. Reyna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Admit it!"

"That wasn't a hundred," Reyna argued. "I still think you're a liar."

Clarisse grinned and moved her attention to Annabeth, "Morning, Princess!"

"Morning, Annabeth. Sleep well?" Reyna questioned. She was wearing a full set of armor as was Clarisse. Both of them had grime on their hands and arms, though it was more prominent on Reyna. Annabeth knew that Clarisse had slept that night, if all the snoring was to go by. But, she hadn't seen Reyna. What was the Roman doing?

"I did," Annabeth answered. How could Reyna lie so easily? It seemed like she had a lie for every occasion. She couldn't get it out of head how Reyna pretended to know what she was doing when she lied to Kinzie. But, Reyna knew exactly what she was doing. "Did you sleep well?"

Reyna acted like she didn't have much of a plan, but she did. Her plan was ruled by chaos, and only a genius could harvest the power of chaos. Reyna shook her head and wiped some of the sweat from her forehead with her arm, leaving a smudge of dirt.

A smirk came to Clarisse's face, and she licked her thumb before wiping it on Reyna's forehead. A cringe left the Roman. Reyna gave Clarisse a look before focusing on Annabeth, "I haven't slept yet. I was patrolling the camp."

"How did it go?" Annabeth asked. She studied Reyna. While the Roman did look tired, why was she training with Clarisse this early in the morning? Shouldn't she be sleeping? Annabeth bit the inside of her cheek. She wasn't trying to be suspicious of Reyna, but she couldn't help it.

For so long, Annabeth wanted a safe place like this. She wanted a place that demigods could live in without fear of monsters. Bringing back Camp Half-Blood had been a goal for so long, and they had finally done it. Now, she couldn't let anything ruin it.

With the camp in the middle of being rebuilt, they were at their most vulnerable. And if they were attacked and couldn't defend themselves, Annabeth was worried that would be the end. There would be no bringing the camp back. Which meant no chance to bring back the gods.

Annabeth could not allow that to happen.

"I thought I saw a monster or two, but they didn't get close. I still told Terminus, though," Reyna said. Her gaze moved to Clarisse. "They were on the south side. Near that weird looking stump. I told Terminus about it, but if you want, we can scope it out after we eat breakfast."

"Yeah. Good idea," Clarisse agreed. "We'll send a message to those monsters."

"Will you be able to sleep when they start up the construction again?" Annabeth asked.

"I'll try," Reyna shrugged. Clarisse hit her back again, and a wince left Reyna. "Ow!"

"Can you start with not beating me up?" Reyna complained. Annabeth studied her and took a deep, internal breath. Reyna wanted to bring the gods back just like Annabeth did. Just because she was a Roman didn't mean that she would be like the monsters of the past.

"How else am I going to wear you out?" Clarisse asked as she wrapped an arm around Reyna's shoulder. It looked like she was only an inch from turning it into a headlock. Reyna gave Annabeth a look that asked for help. Annabeth couldn't offer anything besides an apologetic look.

A bit of guilt touched Annabeth for how she acted toward Reyna. The two had the same goal, and they needed to work together to get it. Annabeth finally spoke, "Quit trying to choke her, Clarisse. We should start making some food."

"You should start making food," Clarisse bit back as she released Reyna from her grasp.

"I'll help," Reyna offered as she looked at Annabeth. She took a moment to fix her armor. "If you want."

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed. A smile touched her face. She was going to do better. "I would love that."