Annabeth's POV

Nico returned with the news. Needless to say it was almost a unanimous yes amongst the councilors to attend the Senate meeting. Nico then delivered our agreement and the list of attendees. Getting all of the way there wouldn't be easy or fast but our best and quickest bet was to have Argus drive. A few campers elected to ride on the pegasi and follow the shuttle bus. So not to soon after receiving Reyna's information Annabeth had started packing.

"Malcolm, you're in charge while I'm gone." Annabeth stated giving her brother a look that meant 'I mean business'. Malcolm smiled down at her and Annabeth's serious face whithered. Malcolm had that effect. For an Athena kid he was pretty easy going and ever since he had started hanging out more and more with Leo and Percy he had become quite the jokester.

"Hey, I've kept this place in tact before." Malcolm reassured her. As Annabeth shoved a notebook, a few books and charts, along with some other useful items into her bag she couldn't help but worry. As she turned to leave Malcolm tugged lightly on her pony tail.

"Have a little fun, don't worry so much." He noted, this time giving her a serious expression. One of Annabeth's younger siblings hugged her good bye as she left her cabin mates. Percy was waiting for her outside the cabin and for once didn't look slightly irritated. She pecked him quickly on the lips much to his dismay, he had been hoping for something that maybe lasted a little longer. Her brain was racing a million miles an hour. What on earth could be so bad that Reyna required them to visit? The possibilities floated around in her head like pesky nats. Argus was waiting patiently by the van, the Stolls had claimed the back two seats. Piper and Jason were in the middle, Leo was sitting shotgun, Drew was taking Clarrise's spot (Clarrise would rather do chores than sit through a stupid meeting), Thalia was for some reason laying in the middle of the floor, so Percy and Annabeth took the last two seats.

Argus began the trip, Annabeth had brought multiple sketching utensils so that she could draft. Percy sighed leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes for a much needed nap. The first half hour of the ride went by smoothly until Drew decided to be difficult. Annabeth wasn't sure what had happened exactly until she tasted the Iron in the air and Drew yelped. Glancing back Annabeth saw an irritated expression on Thalia's face while Drew looked incredulous.

"Don't touch me Lipstick." Thalia warned, and with an angry grumble settled back on the floor and curled up in a ball. Silence enveloped the car again until Drew cried out again. Annabeth sighed trying to quell her frustrations. Glancing back again Annabeth watched as Drew nudged Thalia with her foot. Immediately Thalia's arm shot out catching Drew painfully in the leg. It happened three more times before Annabeth snapped.

"Drew! Switch seats now!" Drew rolled her eyes but wisely obeyed Annabeth's wishes. Percy gave Annabeth a pleading look clearly not liking the idea that Drew would be with him the rest of the ride. After settling in Drew's seat Annabeth set back to work on her sketches, and for once it was quiet, except for the soft sound of music playing from the speakers. When they finally arrived it was later than expected. The Senate meeting would most likely have started already, that or it was close to starting. It was late afternoon bordering on night time and Annabeth was worried maybe they had missed it. Pulling up to a stop Annabeth hurriedly un-clicked her seat belt and paused only to shake Thalia awake.

"Are we there?" Thalia grumbled running a hand down her face. Her hair was even more wild than usual and it was almost comical, yet Annabeth knew things were getting worse. Jason and Thalia had both paled drastically, dark circles lined their eyes, their cheeks were flushed a feverish red, and both were massaging their temples.

"Yeah, we should hurry though, I'm not sure if we missed it." With that Annabeth turned hopping out of the vehicle, collecting her bags, she made her way to Percy's side. He hooked his arm around her waist and the two walked to the camp entrance. The others followed and soon the world around them was replaced with New Rome. It was beautiful in a haunting way. Just from stepping two feet inside Annabeth could see the twinkling lights burried underneath mountains of snow. Thankfully Annabeth noticed a few straggling campers making their way to the Senate building. "Good we'll be right on time."

With that Annabeth lead the group along through the ankle deep snow. Even now snowflakes were slowly trickling out of the sky. "I have to admit it's pretty amazing."

Percy held out his hand where a snowflake fell on his finger. With a quick motion he shifted the snowflake onto his other finger, the delicate thing was still perfect. With a wink he placed it on Annabeth's nose. Crossing her eyes Annabeth looked down at it. Percy chuckled and pressed his frozen lips to her cheek. The snowy trek was short and soon the group was shuffling up the steps to the Senate building. With a reluctant sigh Annabeth pulled the door open. The room was chaotic. Demigods were arguing, things were being thrown, voices were shouting. At the front of it all rested a long table where three people sat, all of which wore different expressions. Hazel was resting her head in her hand glumly tracing imaginary figures with her fingers on the table. Frank was looking panicked and trying to follow what was happening with wide eyes. Reyna looked angry though she flashed a slight smile at her group of friends.

"Everyone sit down now!" Reyna yelled over the noise. Percy flinched next to Annabeth startled by the sudden increase in volume.

"What, do you want to sit down Percy?" Annabeth teased. He averted his eyes to the floor his cheeks brightening with blush.

"No." He stated weakly giving a bashful grin. The room gradually quieted and all previous antics had stopped. The room was filled with a tense silence.

"Thank you. Now many of you have assumed why I have called this meeting. Almost all of you are right, but before we begin I want to welcome our friends." Reyna gestured at Annabeth and the others. Annabeth taking the initiative walked down the center aisle towards the table. The others followed suit with quick hellos exchanged with Hazel and Frank.

"That's not fair! It's against protocol, they aren't part of the Senate!" A camper shouted followed by a few voices in agreement. Annabeth watched Reyna's eyes darken.

"They are our friends and are welcome here. If you do not like that and dare to speak out of line again I will have you shovel the elephant stall for a month. And may I inform you Mr. Reynolds that you have yet to leave probatio." Snickers filled the empty space as Annabeth took her seat. With a sigh Reyna continued. " I have brought the Senate here to discuss our recent problem. Any information is vital and will help us decide how to act. So if Mr. Reynolds is prepared I think it's time we begin."

Reyna strode around the table and took up her place next to Annabeth. Up close Annabeth noted that Reyna looked almost as bad as Jason and Thalia. Not a single person in the room dared open their mouth, so Annabeth yet again, took the reigns. She stood the sound of her chair scraping the floor echoing through the building.

"Alright. First off it's nice to see some familiar faces." Annabeth waved at a camper or two trying to break the ice. "Second of all, I understand that you and your camp have had difficulties. So has ours. It seems the common thing here has been strange weather, and the ever present cold. It started for us on Thursday. The creek that is our main water supply was frozen solid and frost was creeping up the creek banks at an incredible speed. Percy and Leo have been working around the clock to keep it at bay but it seems to come back just as fast as we get rid of it. Not to long ago our lake froze over as well. The Hecate campers have determined that no magic has been used to produce this feet."

"Perhaps it is a prank?" One of the Senate members inquired hesitantly getting to their feet. Percy stood up this time.

"I can assure you that is not the case at all. Even the Stolls wouldn't take it this far. However we have further evidence to back up our claim that this is something involving the Gods." Percy gestured to Jason and Thalia both of which looked like they didn't want to be in the meeting at all. Annabeth sat down along with Percy.

"It's hitting Jason pretty hard too." Reyna noted.

"Yeah, they've been struggling a lot lately." Annabeth whispered back as Jason took control of the situation.

"As you can easily tell I don't really look like myself." Jason noted earning a few mumbles of agreement. "With the help of my friends and Will Solace back at Camp we've determined my state of being, as well as my sister's, is connected to the weather."

"Ever since things have started getting wierd I've had terrible headaches, I've felt sluggish, and tired. I recently had a discussion with Artemis. She was unable to give further information than this. I asked if my father Zeus...er Jupiter...was upset. She told me that " Zeus is upset, it is another who is angry." Murmurs of panic filled the room and chaos broke out again. "As I was saying! It leads us to conclude that whatever is happening it has to do with Olympus." Thalia spoke her voice wavering slightly. She was tired.

"You're basing this off of what information?" A boy asked hottily. Annabeth watched as Thalia's eyes sparked dangerously.

"Maybe you didn't hear me, the void in your head is probably to big. I said that Artemis, mind you she's a goddess, stated that Zeus is upset." Laughter burst out from the crowd. The boy's mouth opened and shut multiple times before he sat back down.

"May I?" A young girl asked. Reyna nodded and the girl smiled kindly. "Perhaps we should focus less on why this is happening and more on how? Or at least who?"

"Uhm... The whole point of this stupid meeting is to figure out why it's happening." Drew quipped with a roll of the eyes.

"I think she has a brilliant point and I'm sure Annabeth agrees." Piper argued in defense of the girl.

"Of course." Annabeth nodded interested in what the girl had to say. She seemed to be the only one with any sense in the room.

"Are we actually going to get to the point here?" An angry voice protested.

"Yeah, you sit up there like you know what you're doing!" Another camper accused.

"All that's been discussed is the obvious." A group of people were shouting in agreement. Jason tried to quiet the crowd but they weren't having it. Neither was Thalia.

"You sit down! You, close your mouth, it's obvious to everyone here you're just scared! And you, don't curse at my brother!" The room fell silent and now Annabeth along with everyone else was trying to keep from laughing. Jason grabbed Thalia by the arm before she could say anything else and guided her back to her designated spot.

"Please everyone stay calm. It's understandable to be upset but we're all trying to figure this out." Frank talked in a soothing tone trying to calm the room. Thalia was still grumbling about idiots insulting her brother.

"We need to look at all of the facts. Assess the situation strategically and without bias. Cassey has a good point and it was beyond rude for any of you to interrupt let alone shoot her idea down. If I recall I've sat through dozens of meetings where I've tolerated some of the most painfully stupid remarks and I expect you to be tolerant as well. That goes for Senate members and the council." Reyna looked pointedly at Drew and then at Thalia. "Why is a good question but without understanding how something is happening we cannot determine why."

Reyna had taken full command of the situation. The Senate had calmed and people were watching her intently. She was a leader that commanded attention. Annabeth could relate she had the same effect on people. It was a sign of a good leader. Annabeth reached into a bag and pulled out a blank notebook. She grabbed a pen and moved to the edge of the crowd and handed it off to a Senate member. "Try writing down if you've seen any peculiar things happening recently or any information you feel is helpful. We can assess it as a group and see if we come to any conclusions."

The notebook was passed at a slow pace through the building until it finally reached the front of the room again. Annabeth reclaimed it and sat in her chair pondering the differ scrawled writings. Reyna peered intently over her shoulder. Annabeth waved Piper over to glance at the notes asking her if she recognized anything important. Piper's multicolored eyes scanned the paper intently. Annabeth could see the wheels turning in her head. The entries Annabeth had underlined seemed to be the main focus.

Entry 13: Well it never snows here and if it does it usually melts before reaching the ground. Maybe it's a wind god or something. When the sky gets cold water molecules freeze right?

Entry 7: Think about ice. Snow and ice kind of go hand in hand.

Entry 20: What if it's not a God? Could it be a group of nymphs or nature spirits?

Entry 11: Is it somebody who would have a friend against you? Or someone with a grudge against the gods? Think about someone's motivation and how they would act on that motivation.

Entry 2: Think outside of the box. Maybe it's a stunt for recognition. Maybe it has nothing to do with a major god? Or if it does why?

Annabeth noted that there were at least five people who were actually using their brains. What caught her attention the most was an entry that was listed different than the others.

Entry;

Note:

Monster attacks less common
More demigods than usual have shown no signs of adversity on the streets
Things are chaotic but quiet
Distraction

Annabeth swallowed hard. An idea was starting to swirl in her head and she didn't like where her thoughts were going because if she was right...well she didn't want to think about that. Annabeth glanced back at Piper. Her friend looked like she had seen a ghost. Her skin was covered in goose bumps and her breath seemed to cloud in front of her. "Piper?"

"Yeah?" Piper asked.

"Are you okay?" Reyna asked shooting a worried glance at the crowd that was starting to become restless.

"Just a little c-cold." Piper shivered and Annabeth knew the meeting needed to be called off.

"Reyna I think it's time we call the meeting." Annabeth whispered. She had noticed Jason's hands shaking slightly and Percy looking at him funny. If the Senate saw the way Piper and Jason were freaking out panic would strike.

"I think you're right." Reyna stood and declared the meeting over. They would meet again tomorrow and in the meantime she would look over the entries carefully. The room erupted into suspicious whispers but everyone obeyed and left the group of demigods alone.

"Wise Girl?" Percy asked steadying Jason who looked like he was about to faint. "Please tell me voice figured something out."

"I have but you're not going to like it." Annabeth's gaze settled on Piper who was rubbing her arms and trying to get warm before adding in her head especially not you Piper.