Percy arrived at the Big House just after everyone else had gotten settled. Council meetings moved to the pavilion with how many counselors they had. Chiron stood in his usual spot on one end of the pavilion, a few of the older counselors sat closer to him, and the closest tables were filled with representatives from each cabin. Reyna, Frank, and Hazel were there as well, seeing as they were the leadership for Camp Jupiter. Rachel had made it just in time.

"Percy," Hazel saw him first, choosing to run up to him and wrap her skinny arms around him. Her body shook with suppressed sobs and she burried her face in his chest. "Oh, Percy, I'm so so sorry."

"Hey, man. " Frank had followed his girlfriend once he saw who she was running for. He stood awkwardly a few feet away, shifting from foot to foot. "How are you holding up?"

There were a lot of things Percy would have loved to say about that. He could say that there was no way that he could be able to get through what was coming with out her. He could also say that he blamed himself for what had happened. However, he opted to say none of that and instead said, "I'm fine."

Hazel let loose a small dark laugh. "No, you're not, Percy."

Percy looked over Frank's shoulder to see the rest of the Seven and Chiron giving him sympathetic looks. The muscles in his face tightened, his teeth clenched and he had to look away. He was not going to break down in front of his friends. They had no idea how much they needed him focused right now.

"We can deal with that later. Right now, we need to talk about Pontus." Percy settled into his seat. The one next to it remained empty. He refused to look at it. Instead, he focused on the 20ish demigod counselors in front of him.

Styx.

Looking at them was hardly any better. They all looked to him for answers when he could barely get ready that morning without her.

---

"Annabeth, where are my shoes?" Percy called from the otherside of his cabin. He was ruffling through his closet, trying to find the aforementioned items. "And my hoodies?"

The blonde demigod rolled her eyes, though still unable to completely hide her amusement. She strolled a few steps from the door way, and kicked aside some dirty laundry, revealing his shoes. "What are you going to do without me, Seaweed Brain?" she teased.

"We don't talk about that, remember?" Percy grumbled, walking over to pull his sneakers on.

"Sorry," she said quietly looking outside the window thoughtfully.

"What about my hoodies?" Percy asked, looking around his piles of clothes cluelessly.

"Your hoodies, I'm afraid, are all in my cabin." Annabeth said sheepishly. "You'll get them back when they don't smell like you anymore."

"You can't keep steeling my hoodies, Wise Girl," Percy said, shaking his head. "I'll need them eventually."

"But not right now." Annabeth said smugly.

"No, right now we don't need to worry about anything," Percy grinned mischievously. He stalked closer to her, causing her eyes to narrow suspiciously.

"Percy," she warned.

With out any inclination as to what he was trying to do, he suddenly snatched her around the waist and ran out of the cabin, heading straight for the lake.

"Percy!" Annabeth's shriek could be heard from the other side of camp. It was a testament to how often this happened that no one even turned their heads to see.

---

Percy shook himself out of his memories. He can't be thinking about her right now, it will only make moving forward harder.

"Chiron what did the gods say?" He asked, hopefully starting the meeting without anymore focus on himself.

"Since we have already changed the password to the portal and I have changed the schedule for patrol, they had little else to add," Chiron stated. "They would like us to prepare as well as we can until we know more."

"How can we when she was our best strategist?" Clarisse growled.

It grew silent at that and Percy closed his eyes to avoid all the stares.

"She wasn't the only one that lived in cabin 6," Malcolm, son of Athena said coldly.

"And how do we know nobody else here is a traitor?" Mike, a son of Nemesis spoke up angrily. He rose from his chair and glared at everyone around him. "If the enemy got to her, who's to say he didn't get to any of you?"

The answering angry shouting came from all sides. Percy opened his eyes at that and stared sadly at him.

Mike and a few other demigods were shouting directly at each other. It seemed to be concentrated on him and a daughter of Nike named Lucy. She was no more than 9 but she seemed to be yelling at him the most.

Of everyone there only Percy and Chiron seemed to be staying out of any arguing. They watched tiredly as heated conversations went on around them until finally, Percy had enough.

"Enough," he said calmly, standing up for the first time since sitting down. "It does us no good if we turn on each other now. That's what Pontus would want. It's what she would be counting—" he paused to take a deep breath. "Let's just get this over with."

He sat down heavily back in his seat and the meeting continued.

"Do we have a prophecy?" Clarisse asked the group, breaking the silence.

"Rachel?" Percy turned to the red headed Oracle.

Said girl was covered in paint and tapping the blue paint brush at her hip. "I have not received anything." She stated.

Percy nodded. "You'll let us know if anything comes up?" He asked.

Rachel nodded.

"Good," Percy stood up again. "Then there is nothing else we need to talk about. Unless someone else has something?"

No one answered.

"Chiron, distribute the patrol schedule," Percy started walking out. "Don't bother giving me mine. I already know it."

No one dared asked how he knew that already.

- -     - -     - -     - -     - -

"Percy, how long have you been out here?"

The dark haired demigod didn't move. "Hi Thals."

A girl who looked almost 16 years old walked up to Percy's side at the top of Half Blood Hill. She had walked silently all the way up. Any sound she made blending in with the sounds of the night. She was startled to see that Percy hardly flinched when she spoke.

"When did you get here?" He asked.

"Just 5 minutes ago," she answered.

The light from the moon bounced off the silver circlet on Thalia's head. Percy wasn't sure how long ago the sun went down but he was sure the campers had all gone to bed already. Faint sounds of the campfire singalong made it to where he was keeping watch.

"How long are you here?" Percy said almost too faintly for Thalia to hear.

"As long as you need us," she said firmly.

"Your huntresses aren't going to like that." Any traces of amusement that would have been there were missing.

"They will have to deal with it or I'm taking leave while they go." Thalia grunted. "Right now you need your cousin."

Now Percy's lips twitched. The only sign he gave that he appreciated her efforts.

"How are you holding up?" Thalia asked gently. She turned to watch him carefully.

"I'm fine." He said in a tone that he hoped would mean she should leave it there even if she didn't believe him.

But of course she didn't listen.

"That's a lie." She moved to stand in front of him, arms propped on her hips. "I'm here for you Percy."

"How are you dealing with it?"

Thalia pursed her lips. She saw what he did there. He turned it back onto her, hoping she would drop it. Well, she didn't join a groups of girls with traumatic backgrounds for nothing.

"I feel like crap." She said flatly. Percy glanced over in surprise. "I keep wondering if it was something I did that made her do this. Or something I could have done. Like somehow this is all my fault."

"It's not your fault." Percy whispered brokenly.

"And it's not yours." Thalia whispered back. "But saying it and knowing it are completely different things."

Neither said anything to that the rest of the night. Eventually, Thalia went to bed, leaving Percy on patrol, staring off into the night.

"I need you here, Wise Girl."