"The patrol is doubled, all the guards are walking in four-man squads while the archers will be present in the posts for the next three days."
I informed Chiron as he walked beside me with his armor and his bow in hand. The centaur nodded, his face blank as he looked over the Demigods who were rushing around the camp, preparing for a battle that might or might not come.
"You did good, Leonidas, let us pray that there will not be a repeat. I'm proud of you, my boy."
I exhaled, looking around the camp myself, so far, everyone was contributing in any way they could. The younger campers were in the armory, giving weapons and armor to the ones that could fight, and the older campers were switching shifts with the tired lookouts.
We were preparing for war.
"How are the newcomers? Were they claimed or are they still undetermined?"
The ancient teacher of heroes hummed. He was sorting through his thoughts, probably trying to find the best way to word his sentence.
"The youngest of them was claimed, she belongs to cabin six. The only male of them belongs to cabin eleven. The last one, however... belongs to cabin one."
I sucked in a breath through my teeth.
"Even after the oath? Great, just great, superb, exceptional. Now I will know who to blame if another war breaks out, and in the twenty-first century, who's to say that we won't be on the verge of a nuclear war?"
I sighed, scowling as I massaged the bridge of my nose. Chiron sighed but said nothing, knowing that I was right.
While I was heading to the Apollo cabin, I saw my brother, another son of Ares, and so did Chiron. As soon as he spotted us, he went on a beeline toward the two of us and we slowed our pace.
"How are things, brother?"
I looked up at the sky, glaring at the dark clouds with annoyance before sighing again.
"Zeus broke the oath, daming his child for the rest of her life, consequences be damned, it won't be long until one of the other two follow his example and we might be on the verge of world war three... Things are peachy, thanks for asking."
He froze for a moment as thunder boomed over us which I ignored in favor of heading toward my destination and my brother caught up to us again.
"That bad, Leo, really bad."
I glanced at him incredulously for a moment and huffed.
"I know, Jake. I was being sarcastic, we are in deep shit, man."
Chiron cleared his throat and I turned to glare at him, which he ignored like a professional.
"We need weapons, to up the training, prepare the younger campers. See if Hapheistous Cabin can come up with something that can help us with defenses along the perimeter-"
I paused and my frustration dissipated considerably.
"Jake. Go to the forge, and see how the sensors are coming along, they will help us lessen the load on patrol. The gods know they will need the rest. Get someone to inform the Hermes cabin that we need their fastest runners to remain at the archer's towers in order to inform us if there are any large amount of monsters that the patrol can't deal with alone and we need a sacrifice to Hestia to ask her to keep all of the fires lit around the camp. I don't want any casualties if something happens."
Jake processed the orders and straightened his shoulders. With a short "Got it", he was off to complete his tasks.
"You seem to be preparing the camp for war, Leonidas, isn't this a bit excessive?"
Chiron's question was valid, but he did not have experience in war, or at least not as much as me. He was concerned, I could hear it in his voice, but so was I. I didn't want this either, but there was little choice, there was nothing blocking the monsters from outside from invading the camp.
"I hope for the best, Chiron, but preparing for the worst will save lives."
He sighed and with a glance at his face, I could see the age catch up to him. He didn't get physically old, he was immortal, but I could see in his eyes that he came to terms with the situation.
"Sometimes, I forget that you are only twelve, my boy."
I couldn't respond to that in any way, but many times I liked to forget that I wasn't twelve and act like a child like the others, too.
__
"How are they?"
I asked, walking up the the beds where the three new additions to the camp were laid. Two of them were conscious, one of them just barely, coming off of the adrenaline high, and the child with blonde hair was passed out, overcome by exhaustion.
Elio, the fifteen-year-old kid who was treating them grunted in exhaustion. Everyone did wake up in the middle of the night for this, after all.
"Exhaustion, Minor wounds, nothing fatal. There was no need for nectar or ambrosia, they will be fine by tomorrow, they just need rest."
I nodded and looked at the tired medic for a moment.
"Rest, you will need it in case someone gets injured."
He nodded and turned around to leave for his own bed.
"Sure thing, boss."
Everyone was tired, but medics were crucial for survival, if a healer was tired, lives that could be saved might be lost.
Now, to question the only one lucid enough to answer my inquiries.
I walked toward the short, spiky-haired female who seemed irritated with her bandages.