The king stood over the map, his eyes scanning every part of the island that he had marked, previously. His eyes kept coming back to the big X that was drawn at a specific area in the island's jungle. 

               He had been fighting the monsters for weeks, the Olympians have been sending them way before the arrival of his old 'friends'. Did they have any knowledge of the Olympians sending monsters to challenge him? 

               As much as he hated to admit it, the Olympians were smart enough to know that even a Titan can't defeat him now. What were the Olympians planning? His only source for answers would be the demigods they have sent to the island. 

                Percy had never trusted the Olympians, they would send demigods on a quest for a reason the demigod would know about, but he knew they always had another reason, another goal to reach from the assistance of the young naive demigod. 

               He had figured it out, the Olympians were using Annabeth and the others as bait. The Olympians couldn't possibly believe that he could be made good again? The Olympians would use Annabeth and the others to bring him to them, then they would destroy him. They would win. 

            A smile played on his lips as his villain mind conjured a plan. Let Annabeth come close to him, let her think he had changed, let her take him to the Olympians to prove it, and when they make their move, Percy would've already strike them down. 

            Annabeth and the others thought that the Olympians are with them, but Percy had figured them out. The two sides had a traitor, the Olympians. All what Percy had to do was change the game to aid himself, let him control them. 

              He was after all, always one step ahead.

***************

              "That actually sounds like a good plan. We need to know more about the island." Annabeth said, agreeing to Hazel's suggestion. 

               Hazel had thought that, while Annabeth, Piper, Nico and Leo would be working to get closer to Percy, her, Jason and Frank would secretly search through the library and the island's jungle, to learn more about the place.

               "I'm in." Frank added. 

               Jason nodded in response. "It would be easier if we found a map of the island. We would know where to search first."

               "Guys," Piper said glancing at the three Upper Guards. "We better go, I don't want to be late to our first Upper Guard meeting. The sooner we get there, the better." 

              "She's right. I want to get there soon enough to punch the nose off of Percy's face." Nico said, following Piper out of the cabin. 

              "I'll take that as a joke!" Hazel said. Once Annabeth and Leo left the cabin she turned to the two boys. "Do you think Nico was being serious? Percy might actually end him."

             Frank smiled. The bruises on his back still caused him to wince every time he moved and he limped a little when he walked. "With Nico, you can never be sure." 

             Jason sighed and stood up from his bed. "So, who's in the mood for some reading?" 

***************

               As Annabeth, Piper, Leo and Nico made their way through the camp, unlike usual, no one dared to throw insults their direction or even dare to glare at them, apparently being an Upper Guard around here had its perks.

               When they reached the palace's gates the guards didn't confront them, instead they led them through many twists and turns through the palace. 

              They reached a huge dark hall, its only source of light was a chandelier that had Greek Fire blazing in it.  At the end of the hall was a huge door, made from pure gold. 

              "The king's office lies behind that door, it is where you will be heading daily, from now on." The guard said before walking away. 

               "So? Who's going to knock?" Leo said stepping away from the door. 

               "What do you think will happen? A dragon will appear and burn you to death?" Nico said, clearly irritated. 

               "I am highly offended." Leo said, shaking his head. 

              "And why is that?" Nico asked, clearly confused. 

              "I'm immune to fire!" Leo shouted. Nico simply rolled his eyes and knocked on the door. 

               "Lets just get this over with." Nico muttered under his breath. 

               The door opened, by itself. Nico turned and smiled at the rest. "Put on your best villain face, its about to get evil." 

               A huge round table was placed in the middle of the room, Percy sat at the head of the table, the rest of the Upper Guards sat quietly. Nico, Piper, Leo and Annabeth made their way to the last four chairs and sat down.

              Percy hadn't bothered to look up when they entered, he was busy scanning his eyes over a map of the island. "Your late." He said, not looking up.

               "Sorry, it won't happen again, sir." Annabeth said. 

               "You honestly think a 'sorry' is enough?" Octavia, who sat next to Percy, snapped at Annabeth. "You should be punished, all four of you, being an Upper Guard isn't some lousy job."

               Percy looked up from the map and glared at Octavia. "Thats my decision Octavia, not yours. Or are you suddenly the one in command and I'm not aware of the changes?" 

               Octavia's confident countenance crumbled and changed to fear, she wouldn't dare to challenge him. "No, s-sir. You will always be in command." 

               Percy nodded, not taking his eyes off of her. "I thought so." He turned to look at the other Upper Guards. "As for the rest of you, I won't tolerate anyone being late, unless they wish to be hung upside down, with the Underworld below them. Do I make myself clear?" 

               Everyone nodded silently. He went back to examining the map, after a few minutes he folded it and looked up. "This time, we're changing the rules. Previously, each Upper Guard was given a sector of the island to rule, this time we have bigger issues." 

               Piper and Annabeth exchanged glances before leaning forward to listen closer, they both suspected something was up. "The Olympians have been sending monsters to the island, to challenge me." All the Upper Guards, excluding Annabeth, Piper, Leo and Nico, sent death glares towards them. They must've thought they knew about this. 

               Annabeth had done a good job at hiding her shook, but the confusion and anger that was brewing inside her could've made her explode right there. She had suspected it, the Olympians' betrayal, what if Percy had decided to kill them, thinking they knew something about the monsters being sent? 

               The Olympians played with their lives, sending these monsters. What if the monsters have reached the camp and attacked? All the blame would have pointed towards them, then all hell would have broke loose. Annabeth sighed and tried to shake the thought of it away, she had to stay focused. 

               "The monsters haven't reached the camp, yet. But they'll eventually make progress, many of them are scattered across the island, so for the next few days, we'll search through the jungle and kill them, until then, what happens at the meetings stays in the meeting. If I find out a word has slipped from any of you, I promise you, I will use the death penalty." 

               The Upper Guards' eyes widened, fear evident in them. "And if your all wondering, yes I'm that serious, the Olympians sending these monsters means one thing, they want war. And if they want it," he smirked, "we'll give them war." 

***************

               "How big is this place?" Jason asked as he roamed through the bookshelves. 

               "Pretty big, I guess. I think I found a good one." Hazel said, grabbing a book from one of the shelves. Her, Frank and Jason gathered around a table. 

               "The Island of Blood: A History." Jason said, reading the title. "Hopefully it will have the information we need." 

               "I also found this book, about the darkness in demigods, might explain a few things about Percy." Frank said, placing a heavy ancient book in front of them. 

              Hazel sighed. "Whatever these books contain, we just need to know something, we can never give up on Percy." 

              Jason shook his head, "unless Percy gave up on himself."

Author's note: 

I deeply DEEPLY apologize for the long postpone of the chapter, I had promised to make it long but decided not to because this is what I call a filler chapter, a chapter that leads to a bigger important one. (The next chapter will be the most important one in the whole book because it will lead to the story's main plot.) ALSO, by now on I will have an updating schedule, every Thursday, so weekly updates. And if I don't update on a Thursday, it will be updated on a Friday if I had a reason for not updating on Thursday.