Blessings from Khaos

|The stars incline us, they do not blind us|

"It's still out there," Lee warned them during announcements. Lea remembered him because he was the only one that congratulated Drew when it was announced that she was backed by their Father. That was not even mentioning how he helped save Percy's life back when his best friend, Luke, had tried to kill her brother. Drew took the older boy under her protection which put him under Lea's protection by proxy. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. It's eyes—" he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves. Lea sipped at her coffee.

There were rumors about an invasion of the camp. Not that Lea thought it was just rumors. She was sure that she had heard it confirmed in passing, but for the life of her, she could not remember when or where. Everyone expected it to happen during this summer though so Lea guessed she should prepare for that. It didn't help that the attendance was down. We only had about eighty campers. There had been more than that before, but people kept dying, going missing, or joined Luke. That last group was a bunch of losers if you asked Lea, but no one asked her so.

"This is a good reason for new war games, "Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes..." Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."

Lea raised her cup and repeated the blessing to the aliens before throwing the rest of coffee back like a shot. She joined her brothers at the bronze brazier and scraped some of the food in there. She didn't have much to say except for a small prayer to make sure that she and the others would still be able to attend B.A.G. in the fall.

Once everyone was eating, Chiron and Grover came over to visit. Grover was bleary-eyed. His shirt was inside out. He slid his plate onto the table and slumped next to Percy. Lea scowled, looking to her goblet for a refill on her coffee. She had no time for this.

Tyson shifted uncomfortably. "I will go...um...polish my fish ponies." He lumbered off, leaving his breakfast half-eaten.

Lea wished she had the mental capacity to think of her own excuse.

Chiron tried for a smile.  "Well, Percy, Leaneira, how did you sleep?"

Lea groaned, eyes drooping back close.

"Uh, fine."  Percy said.

"I brought Grover over," Chiron said, "because I thought you two might want to, ah, discuss matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Iris-messages to send. I'll see you later in the day." He gave Grover a meaningful look, then trotted out of the pavilion.

"What's he talking about?" Percy asked Grover. Lea looked up when she heard the crunch of metal. Of course, Grover ate through his fork.

"He wants you to convince me," he mumbled.

Somebody else slid on the bench: Annabeth.

Huh, Lea understood why Drew was scared of her face without coffee. She looked almost mad. Lea pushed her coffee over to the other. She looked like she needed it more.

She chugged it back.

"I'll tell you what it's about," she said. "The Labyrinth."

"You're not supposed to be here," Percy said. Lea could hear the uptick in whispering.