Since the portals weren't working, Amos flew into LaGuardia to attend the meeting at Brooklyn House. The flight had been booked last minute when Amos realized he couldn't ready his reedlike boat to take him to Brooklyn. He took an Uber to Brooklyn House, making sure to move the location a few blocks away from Brooklyn House in the app. He knocked on the rarely used door of the sprawling warehouse mansion.

Bast answered. "Hey," she said. "Most of the kids aren't here because they're in school."

"I'm not trying to judge your parenting of these kids, Bast." Amos bestowed a smile on her.

Bast shrugged. "I know. I was just offering an explanation why there's not crazy chaos going around. We have a room for you if you want to stay. Dionysus and Chiron are staying a few days."

"I appreciate it. I think I might take you up on your offer." Bast led Amos to his room.

Amos looked around and relaxed in his accommodations. He took off his turncoat. Bast had scheduled the meeting in an hour, and she said they were still waiting upon Odin, although his birds, Geri and Freki, had shown up. Her catlike eyes glittered as she said it. Amos had the odd sensation of imagining Bast licking her lips, as if she couldn't wait to get her hands on some delicious birds.

At the top of the hour, Amos headed to the terrace. He knew the directions, of course, having been there several times. Dionysus was already there, swirling Diet Coke in a wine glass. Apparently the god's restrictions extended beyond Camp Half-Blood. He was wearing a purple Hawaiian-print shirt.

"Chiron got delayed because he's using the wheelchair lift," Bast explained. "We're still waiting on Odin." Odin's birds, Geri and Freki, squawked. Bast's catlike eyes twitched. It was only from years of working alongside Bast that Amos knew Bast was displeased with Odin. Why, he was not sure.

Odin swept into the terrace. He was wearing a fur-lined leather bomber jacket with a green T-shirt underneath in addition to green leather pants. They looked like real alligator skin, but Amos hoped not on the behalf of Philip of Macedonia.

Chiron rolled in shortly after, wearing khaki pants and a Camp Half-Blood orange shirt.

"Want wine, Dionysus?" Odin asked. It almost sounded like a taunt.

"I want wine!" Dionysus slammed his fist on the table, making it rattle. "Curse Zeus, I must have Diet Coke!"

"You can try wine," Bast said timidly. "You are outside the limits of Camp Half-Blood." She summoned a shabti and ordered wine.

The shabti brought wine. Dionysus tasted it. "I can drink wine!" He closed his eyes. "Dom Perignon, 2002. Perfect." He pronounced.

Bast smiled nervously and bowed her head. "I'm glad you're pleased, my lord. Now that's settled, we can go to the task at hand. The gods, besides present company included, are not answering our prayers."

"We don't often answer puny mortals' prayers," Odin interrupted.

"Be that as it may, there has frequently been some communication between mortals and gods," Bast said, glaring at Odin. "It is not a problem with the Egyptian gods, as Carter and Sadie have regular dinners with Julius as Osiris and Ruby. The closing of Olympus two years ago seems to have resolved the issues with hosting gods." While the Greek and Roman gods and goddesses were increasingly schizophrenic, the reverse occurred with the Egyptian gods and their magician hosts. They melded together.

"The quest of seven just resolved the schizophrenia between the Greek and Roman gods." Chiron picked up where Bast left off. "The gods still rarely come down to see their children, although we do see Hermes delivering packages."

"How is he?" Amos asked curiously. "You said he wasn't doing well."

"No, he's not," Dionysus confirmed. "He's suffering from some depression and hearing voices."

"Like the - what do you call it? - schizophrenia with the Greek and Roman gods?" Amos asked sharply.

"No, he's been hearing the voice of his son, Luke." Luke Castellan died four years ago in the battle of Olympus during the Titan War. More troublingly, he was the body of Kronos.

"That's a problem." Bast's eyebrows furrowed.

"We need a quest to fix the communication problems," Odin proclaimed. Geri and Freki squawked in support. Bast's eyes twitched. Amos wondered if Bast's problem with Odin was because she was disturbed by the birds, and possibly, couldn't eat them. "We should send a group of nine, three from each pantheons."

Dionysus drummed his fingers on the table. "We don't know who to send," he said. "The most logical answer would be Percy and Annabeth, the most experienced questers. But we don't know who the specialties are."

"Let's put a pin in that," Bast said importantly. Amos pictured Bast, even though her hair was in a sleek ponytail, wearing a bun, maybe with a pencil in it. "Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, until we know what specialties we need. I'm going to suggest Carter and Sadie Kane from the Twenty-First Nome and Zia Rashid from the First Nome."

Amos raised his eyebrow. He didn't expect Bast to suggest Zia, but he supposed it made sense. "You didn't let me finish." Dionysus glared at Bast. "The most logical answer would be Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, but I'm going to suggest Meg McCaffrey and Hazel Levesque from the Twelfth Legion Fulminata. For the third member, I'm going to suggest Nico di Angelo. I've been teaching him some tricks of the trade to manage his depression and anxiety, and I think that will be helpful in gaining access to Hermes."

Amos cleared his throat. "That sounds reasonable," he said. "I support sending Zia." It sounded immensely inadequate compared to Hermes' speech. "Who do you suggest from Hotel Valhalla?"

"It sounds like a task for Samirah al-Abbas, definitely. Samirah is a Valkyrie who specializes in secret missions." Odin leaned back in thought. "I'm not familiar with all of Hotel Valhalla's residents, but I know Magnus Chase, cousin of Annabeth Chase lives there, and he was Samirah's supplicant. Samirah has traveled Midgard with Alex Fierro and Magnus Chase, and they have gone on a quest with the rest of Floor Nineteen to prevent Ragnorak."

"We can send a summons to each of them," Bast said.

"No need," Amos stood up. "I'll talk to Zia when I return to the First Nome. Carter and Sadie live here, so Bast can talk to them."

"I can," Bast confirmed. "The others will have to be informed by mail."

"Snail mail," Amos said, smiling to himself.

Chiron clucked. "That will not do! Hermes will deliver the mail."

Dionysus snapped his fingers. A scroll appeared. In cursive that would be murder on the demigods' dyslexic eyes, it said You have been called to participate in this quest. Will you take up the mantle? You don't have a choice.

"I will ensure this scroll will be delivered to Hermes," Dionysus said. "I believe that concludes our meeting."