Nico scowled at the floor, not daring to look up. He didn't want to even look at Octavian's scarecrow face. He was already at them. Reyna, on the other hand, held her head high, wanting to look Octavian right in the eye. Reyna was seated in a fold up chair in front of Octavian's table while Nico stood against one of the main support beams to the tent.

“So,” Octavian said, fingering his dagger. “Where are your comrades?”

“I wouldn’t call them that,” Reyna said carefully.

“Fine.” Octavian's nostrils seemed to flare in frustration. “Where are the seven?

“Defeating Gaea,” Reyna replied. “I thought you would know that by now.” Octavian smiled, then slammed his fist on the table.

“Liar!” He shouted. “Want to know how I know?” he asked coldly. Reyna’s eyebrows furrowed, but didn’t answer. Octavian, his eyes still focus on Reyna, snapped his fingers. From outside the tent, two soldiers came in with a cage. Growling noises came from inside. Reyna’s face turned sad.

“You treat them poorly.”

"Poorly?" Octavian spat. "They're animals! They need to be caged up." One soldier opened up the cage's door. Two dogs jumped out, one gold, the other silver.

Nico still didn't look up. He was studying a picture by his feet. It was of a girl- pretty, with dark black hair and a knowing smile. For some reason, the picture was torn.

Or more like stabbed.

Her regal face was obscured because of a cut in the paper, like on a pirates map. Nico recognized her. She was the leader of the Aphrodite cabin until Piper came along.

Drew Tanaka.

"You have do keep interesting company," Nico muttered quietly.  Octavian overheard and scowled at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Argum and Argentum stepped closer, sniffing the air, as if they smelled a liar.

"Drew," Nico said, looking up from the floor. "She's on your side isn't she?" Octavian's eye twitched. "Or," Nico speculated. "Was." He bent down and picked up the picture. He held it up as if he were showing a full hand of aces.

"It's none of your business," Octavian snarled.

"Oh, but it is." Nico flicked his wrist and the picture flew onto the table. "What is she doing working for Romans?"

"I would ask you the same thing..." Octavian narrowed his eyes at Reyna. He slammed his fist on the table again. "You abandoned your duty of praetor! You are a traitor of Rome!" Reyna stood calmly and leaned against the table, getting in Octavian's face.

"You never followed my orders, therefore, you are the traitor, Augor." Octavian's face went purple with rage.

"Guards! Send these two to the dungeons!" Soldiers by the cage came flooding forward. Nico turned to face them and stomped his foot. The air turned ice cold and heavy, like death was in the room itself. (Not the actual Death with the capital 'D'). The roman soldiers stopped out of fear.

"Nico," Reyna snapped. She turned to Octavian. "Octavian, we want to make peace, not violence."

"Liar!" The auger argued.

"Are the dogs growling?" Nico asked coldly. They weren't. Octavian's nostrils flared. Then, his eyes turned pure black, like new garden soil.

"Puny demigods!" Gaea/Octavian snarled. Reyna's face paled and she fell back in shock.

"Gaea," Nico hissed. Octavian blinked several times and his eyes returned to normal.

"Guards," Octavian said, gesturing to the two demigods. "Take them to their cells. I will-" before he could finish, Romans from outside were screaming.

"Sir! Octavian!" A roman stuck his head into the tent. His face was made up of pure shock. "The Greek's ship, the Argo II, it's approaching with its missiles ready to fire! What do we do?" Octavian sneered.

"Prepare for war, idiot!" Reyna face him, her expression hard.

"His name is Harry, Octavian. You might as well use it." Harry gave her a small smile, just enough for her to see.

"I don't care!" The auger snapped. "Guard! Prepare our troops!" Harry nodded, haven Reyna a sympathetic look, then ran off.

"You will fail," Nico said coldly. "We have the gods and the Athena Parthenos."

"Just watch us," Octavian fiercely replied. He pointed a boney finger at the son of Hades. "I don't care who you have. We have stronger numbers. And unlimited resources. Thanks to our patron." His eyes morphed into black once more. "Nothing can stop us." Octavian/Gaea flipped the table over and caused it's contents to spill onto the ground. A book skittered in front of Nico's feet. He bent down and picked it up.

"The House of Hades," he read. His eyes narrowed. "What the..." He flipped through it. His eyes turned to fear and disbelief. It wasn't a face he had on very often. Reyna took this as a sign.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's..." He gulped then looked up at her. "It's a book about us..."

"Morons!" Octavian spat, his eyes back to normal. He snatched it back from Nico. "Clover has messed up this book and I intend to fix that." He gripped his dagger and held up the book. Reyna understood.

"Octavian, no!" She shouted, but it was too late.

SLASH!

Octavian brought the dagger down on the book and ripped it right through the middle. He jerked the knife toward him and the papers split into two different pieces. Octavian dropped it and kicked it with his foot. Pieces of words floated in the air before they fluttered to the ground. Octavian looked down at the book and his expression softened.

"Sorry Drew..." He muttered, then his face turned hard again. He pointed a finger at Nico (and it almost went up the son of Hades's nose). "I'm warning you: get out of my way and stay out of my way." Octavian slappe Nico across the face then went out into the commotion filled Roman camp. Before he left, however, he gave one last order:

"Guards, take them to the dungeon." The soldiers nodded fearfully but before they could capture the two demigods, a sound shot through the valley:

CRACK!!!

----------

Nobody POV

Once Clover passed out, Penelope stared at the note. Her handwriting was beautiful, even if they were her dying words.

"Who do we take this to?" She asked sadly, looking up at Will. He shook his head. His face was painful, as if he were blaming himself.

"I don't know, but we need to hook her up. She'll die without support." Penelope nodded and she and Arthur carried Clover back into the operation room.

After a few more minutes, they had her hooked up and the monitors were saying she was normal. Penelope took a seat next to Clover's bed and Arthur say next to her. Will leaned against the wall. For fifteen or so minutes, it was completely silent except for the constant beep of the machines.

"Will she survive?" Arthur asked, his voice sounding hoarse. Will shook his head and pushed away from the wall.

"Not if she is cured fast." Penelope glanced over at Clover's movementless body. Her arms glowed bright orange.

"Why is she glowing?" Penelope asked. Will growled and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I don't know!" He snapped at her. "I don't know anything about what is going on! I wish my father could help me..." His anger melted and he sat down hard in a chair, his hands covering his face. Penelope stood and walked over to Will. She sat next to him and put a hand on his back.

"Will," she comforted quietly. "I don't expect you to have all the answers. You have helped Clover so much over the past few hours. We couldn't ask for more. Your father would be proud." Will looked up, holding back a sob.

"You believe that?"

"I know that." Penelope enveloped Will in a hug. He cried into her shoulder and she just held him. Penelope noticed Arthur looking away, either out of jealousy or respect. She hoped respect.

CRACK!

The sound echoed across the valley like a gunshot. All three of the group's heads snapped up at once.

"What was that?" Penelope asked nervously. Arthur stood.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good." He rushed to the door and down the hall. Penelope stood, told Will to stay with Clover, then followed.

When Penelope caught up to Arthur, he was staring up at the sky outside.

"What is it?" She asked, but she looked up to find her answer.

The sky was cracking.

Arthur threaded his hand through Penelope's. The act would have been awkward in another situation, but Penelope could tell he needed some support.

"This isn't good..." He muttered.

"I know," Penelope whispered in reply. The two of them stared up at the cracking sky, wondering if they were in a bubble.

-----------

Leo POV

CRACK!

The sky thundered and crackled. I looked up from the controls and stared. The sky was completely blue, but there was one problem about that.

You could see the cracks clearly.

"Annabeth..." Piper asked slowly. "What's happening...?" All of us were staring at the cracks. In between them, rain began to fall through.

"I-I dunno..." She stuttered. "I've never seen anything like it before..."

"What do we do?" Hazel asked nervously. She turned her eyes away from the sky and looked at the ground. "The camp is surrounded completely by soldiers..." Her face was grim. Frank decided she needed a bit of support. He walked over to her and put a hand on hers. Hazel gave him a small smile, then looked back down. "Wait!" She exclaimed, her eyes filling with hope. "There!" She pointed down below. I looked away from the sky and followed her pointing finger.

Off in the distance, someone was waving frantically. I couldn't see details from here, but I could see the glint of a camp half blood t-shirt.

"I see 'em," I said, turning the ship toward that way. "Hold on guys! Short cut!" I pushed a button on the Archimedes sphere and the boat erupted in burst of speed. In less than minute, we were above the waving person. It was a boy, blonde hair and blue eyes, but he looked frantic.

"Leo!" He called. I exchanged looks with Jason then walked over to the edge.

"Uh, hi," I called, waving. "Wassup?"

"Clover needs you!" He called. "She's dying!" My face paled and I looked frantically at my friends. nd I faced the others.

“Guys-” I started, but Jason held up a hand to cut me off.

“Don’t worry man. Go help her. She needs you.” I gave him a grateful smile, then looked at the others.

“I will meet you at the cabins. This shouldn’t take too long.”

“But Leo,” Piper piped up. “The cabins are demolished.”

“Except the Hephaestus cabin. I have an idea of how they are using it, but for now..” I poked a thumb behind me. “I’ve got to help her.”

“Good luck,” Hazel said. I smiled at her.

“Thanks. I think I’ll need it.” I turned and jumped off the edge of the ship. I gripped the rope that I had thrown down and slid down. When I hit the ground, I rolled and came to my feet. Behind me, Festus creaked a goodbye. I hoped it wasn’t the last time I would ever see him.

“I call the wheel!” Piper called out, causing the others to laugh. I smiled as the Argo II floated away. The kid behind me tapped my shoulder.

“We really need to go,” He said, his voice on edge. Now that I as closer, I could see his face in more detail. His eyes were red. His hair had small twigs sticking out, as if he had gotten in a fight with a wood nymph. He looked exhausted, as if he had run the whole distance of the camp twice. (And by judging his shoes, it was probably true).  

“Yeah, I like your idea, but before we go, what’s your name?” The young man’s eyes filled with determination, which was surprising since they had been sending the message of despair.

“Tyler,” He said confidently. He held out his hand to shake. “Nice to meet you Leo Valdez.” I shook it hesitantly.

“How do you know me?” Tyler laughed, but it was harsh.

“Dude, you’re one of the seven. And Clover’s talked about you. I know who you are.” I nodded slowly.

“Yeah… okay then.” I switched subjects. “Where is she?” Tyler grimaced.

“Sorry man, but she is in the burned down Bunker nine.” It took me a minute to process his words.

“B-burned down?” I stuttered. He nodded, his face grim. I was in a state of shock. “W-w-what…?” I stared at the ground and remembered a snip of a memory. A ring. Clover. The bunker. The future… “Oh my…” I put a hand on my head.

“What is it?” Tyler asked.

“This is the future she came from… Oh my hades gosh…” I looked down at the grass, then up at the tree tops.

"Well, we don't really have to to dwell on that. We have to go," Tyler urged.

"Yeah... Yeah..." I said slowly, still in amazement. Tyler started off at a jog.

"I know someone who could help us, so lets to there first." I followed up behind him.

"Who?" Tyler gave me a knowing smile.

"Her name is Aspen."