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Rory woke up in the Empire State Building.
It was their new headquarters since they were otherwise surrounded. The enemy was closing in. The wounded were being treated up on Olympus, and the remaining campers and Hunters were crashed in makeshift bunks around the lobby.
Percy was lying beside her, having pulled up a cot next to her's. Annabeth and Grover were talking quietly nearby.
Annabeth noticed Rory first. Her shoulders fell in relief. She cut off whatever Grover was saying, whispered something, and then they came over to Rory, sitting at the foot of her bunk.
"How are you?" Annabeth asked.
In response, Rory groaned. She raised her hand to her head, which was throbbing mildly. "What happened?"
Grover looked at her nervously. "Before or after you passed out?"
"After."
"Not much," Annabeth said. "Percy freaked out. We brought you inside and left Percy, Rachel, and Chiron to talk." She nodded towards Percy. "He crashed right after you."
Rory sat up, flexing her bad shoulder. "Oh my gods, Rachel! Is she okay?"
"She's fine," Grover answered. "She's still talking with Chiron."
"About what?"
"Who knows," Annabeth grumbled. She shook her head and changed the subject. "Do you feel better now that you've slept?"
Rory thought about the question. She was definitely still tired. But if she needed to, she felt like she could use her powers without too many negative repercussions. Her head hurt and her shoulder was still sore, but it was manageable.
She nodded. "Yeah. I think so." Then she blurted, "I've been dreaming about my grandmother."
"Your grandmother?" Grover's eyes widened. "The daughter of Hades."
"Yeah. I think she was born before the pact, and she was a Hunter. That's how she survived long enough to have my father."
Annabeth hummed. "Still. I can't believe Zeus or Poseidon never tried to kill her."
"Hades never claimed her. She never knew him. Maybe they didn't know," Rory guessed.
Annabeth gave her a doubtful look, but Grover shrugged. "Maybe," he said. "The only reason monsters started going after Percy was because they thought he was the lightning thief."
Rory nodded. "I'll add this to the very short list of things I know about my family."
As she said that, an angry roar shook the city. Percy jumped up and Annabeth helped Rory to her feet. They all ran outside.
