Previously:
"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."

"So show me how this works, Leo."

"The portal? Why?" The son of Hephaestus looked up from the base of the control panel to the portal between the camps. He was on his back, trying to work on something on the inside of the wire working.

It was one of the few brilliant ideas that Percy had recently.

Oh, who was Annabeth kidding? He's had several. Especially when it came to creating camp unity between the Romans and Greeks.

"Are you really going to ask us that?" Percy asked, a laugh just barely hidden in his tone.

Annabeth just rose her eyebrow at the grease covered demigod.

"Ok, yeah, that was stupid," Leo admitted. "You need to know so you can go over for regular and emergency meetings." He sighed and got up from the ground.

"And so we can teach Hazel and Frank." Annabeth added as she walked over to the control center. "Eventually everyone should know how to use it."

"Right," Leo rubbed his eyes. "Anyways, come over here, Percy. Don't touch anything."

Percy had wondered over to Leo's work desk. He quickly hid his hands behind his back and made it over to where the others were standing.

"It's pretty simple," Leo started. "I had to make sure it was easy to use for people like Percy, who tend to break anything they touch."

"That was an accident!"

"We need to put the portal outside camp boarders for it to work properly." Leo ignored the indignant noises Percy was making and continued to explain the portal. "Otherwise the energy from the magical boarder made by the Golden Fleece will warp the energy in the portal and you might end up in China or something."

"Do you have a spot in mind?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, it will have to be on solid ground," Leo said. "The beach—though the most protected part of our boarders—won't be ideal simply because it has sand. That will also warp the energy."

"So at the edge of the forest and the boarder?" Percy suggested.

"That's what I was thinking." Leo nodded. He brought out some parts from his tool belt and started fidgeting with a few metal pieces. "And just outside the tunnel for Camp Jupiter."

"How are we going to keep it from being used or found by anyone else?" Annabeth asked.

"The portal needs two pillars made of something from nature to anchor it," Leo started thoughtfully. "That won't be too hard to do, we can ask a couple nearby dryads about using their trees. The hard part is hiding the panel."

All eyes turned to look at said object.

It was an elaborate piece of marble. Carved with images of both the Roman and Greek camps. The top of it was a collection of knobs and buttons with a small screen at the top.

"We can figure that out when it's time to move it to the spot," Percy started. "How does it work?"

He started fiddling with some of the buttons and knobs on the panel. It made the classic starting up sounds and looked fine until it started sparking.

"I said don't touch anything!" Leo reached out with what ever he was making and slapped at Percy's hands.

"Yeeooww!" Percy held his hands close to his stomach and crouched over.

Annabeth held in a laugh as her boyfriend started hopping in place.

"What was that?" Percy asked, sounding very offended.

Leo held up what looked like a fly swatter. "A Percy Slapper."

"I don't like it."

"You're not supposed to." Leo pushed a few buttons and turned a few other things and the control panel stopped smoking. "You punch in the location here," he pointed to the buttons that had letters on them for Annabeth to see "and the password here," the buttons with the extra characters and numbers "and turn this knob twice to open the portal which will open even inside the camps. The entry points for the portals are the touchy ones."

"How do you turn it off?" Annabeth asked, ignoring the groans of pain from the son of Poseidon on the floor. She suspected the 'Percy Slapper' had an electric shock.

"Turn this knob," he gestured to a different knob than the first "and push another password in. It can be the same or different. Doesn't matter."

"Simple but complicated enough for a monster to be stumped if they found it." Annabeth nodded. "Perfect."

Leo puffed up his chest proudly and a little smugly.

- - -

"What is she doing here?" The high, snobby voice distracted Annabeth from her thoughts.

She turned to the owner of the voice to see Kelly the dracaenae sitting farther down the long table. She still wore the cheerleading outfit Annabeth had first seen her in with Percy.

"Do you not know who she is?" Kelly exclaimed. She stood from her seat and sent an accusing finger in Annabeth's direction. "She is Perseus Jackson's girlfriend! One of their leaders!"

The other monsters and Titans around the table muttered angrily among themselves at that. Several who could speak English sent angry questions her way or to the room in general.

Annabeth only stood there expressionless even though her hands were aching to send a knife flying through the head of the Cyclopes to her left. He'd questioned her skill on the battlefield.

A few hellhounds growled in warning just as the doors on the other end of the room opened.

"Do I hear you complaining about our only source of intel about the demigods?"

The softness of the voice did nothing to dispel the feeling of danger that came with it. If anything, it enhanced it, giving chills down the spine. All arguments ceased, each monster and Titan watching the newcomer like a hawk.

"Lord Pontus." Annabeth greeted with a small bend at the waist. "Where are they?"

"I put them in the largest ballroom." Pontus said carelessly. He sat gracefully in the throne like chair on one end of the long table. "I have already explained everything to them so you don't need to worry about that."

"Who are you talking about?" Hyperion demanded, looking from Annabeth to Pontus.

Pontus ignored him for now as he gazed unnervingly at Annabeth. "Is the plan in motion for part two?"

Annabeth nodded. "You would doubt me after all I told you?" she raised her eyebrow in a challenge.

Oceanus sat to the primordial's left and apparently didn't like how Annabeth's tone came across. "You dare speak to Lord Pontus in this manner?"

"Relax, Oceanus," Pontus reached his hand out to pat the hand that had slammed the table. "This is how we speak with each other. It has taken a lot for us to reach this stage in our planning, I think a little familiarity is warranted."he then turned to Annabeth with a warm smile. "Go, my dear, show them the things they need to know for our plan."

"Who?" Hyperion asked again. "What plan?"

Now Pontus's smile was horrific. "You will see."

Annabeth was not fooled by Pontus's warm demeanor. She sacrificed a lot in order to show him she had actually switched sides. So she could help in the plans to take down Olympus. The things she did to prove her loyalty would not get her accepted back at camp.

And she wanted it that way. Camp had done nothing to stop this. They needed to learn.

But even as it took such a huge act to prove her loyalty, his trust in her could disappear too quickly for her to even blink. She had to keep doing and saying things that met his approval. And it was so hard sometimes to tell what that was.

As she left the conference room, Kelly hissed and narrowed her eyes at her. Whatever Annabeth was doing was obviously not meeting her standards.

That didn't matter right now. She had more important things to do than start a cat fight with a dubious monster. Like head to the largest ballroom to teach the giants about the demigod camp and the portals. Eventually, all the monsters will know how to use them.