My nightmare started like this.

First off, I was awake and fully aware. That's the worst part. At least when you dream, you can tell yourself that it's not your fault if everything goes wrong. I never liked responsibility. Naturally, I'd tried everything I could to avoid getting the tunnel guard duty today, but things being the way they were, it was difficult to switch chores with someone. At least I wasn't alone in my misery. Octavian was with me.

He was a year older than me and a lot taller. He didn't have what I would call an athletic build, but still had lean muscles forged from years of legionary training that made him look like a baseball player, or maybe someone who does track and field. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and a silver tongue.

Also, he had a bronze breastplate, a sword on his hip, and he was holding a spear. I would have thought that was strange if I didn't have a sword in hand too.

We were both descended from the Roman gods. Turns out they're still alive and well, and so was Rome. Now we live in a secret valley in the middle of San Francisco. It's a lot to take in, I know. I still find it hard to believe, despite being trained by a pack of wolves and making my journey here to Camp Jupiter. It was a little weird to think that I was now the person on the other side of the tunnel – literally, since the entrance to camp was through the Caldecott tunnel.

But right now, I was focused on the person in front of me. It was a girl with long black hair as dark as mine and tanned skin. I guessed she was around thirteen and managed to look stern while wearing a tank top and ratty jeans. And she's clearly a demigod. No mortal would've been able to even get close to this place unless they could somehow see through the Mist, and that was impossible. Only very determined pizza delivery guys got this far.

She wasn't a legacy either. Only a demigod could look that arrogant. Despite being my age, she had an expression that I never could've managed. She looked older. She even sounded older when she spoke.

"My name is Reyna," she said. "I'm looking for Camp Jupiter."

"I think you got the wrong address dude," I said. "Pretty sure Rome is a few thousand miles down the street."

She didn't even smile at my joke. I disliked her already.

Turning to Octavian, she continued speaking. "Lupa sent me?"

"Yes, we know," Octavian said with a smile. "It's always good to have more people in Camp Jupiter, which is why we're so welcoming. Right, Percy?" I pretended not to see the pointed look he gave me.

"Come on. Let's get you inside." Then something roared. It came from beyond the hills, and it definitely wasn't human. No person could have made that noise.

"Damn it, they caught up," Reyna mumbled, moving between us. Now that we were closer I could see dirt and golden dust on her arms. Telltale signs of someone who'd killed monsters.

"Who's coming?" Octavian asked, raising his shield and lowering his spear. I readied my own gladius.

"Those guys," she said dryly.

I saw something crest a hill further away. It was humanoid, but it took a second for my brain to comprehend that because of its sheer size. The thing was easily over eight feet tall, with wild eyes and pointed yellow teeth. At a distance and through the Mist, I might have mistaken them for one those kids in school who must have hit puberty early or something. It was wearing torn gym clothes with the sleeves ripped off, exposing long, tattooed arms. They were armed with iron clubs the size of a motorcycle. Then three more appeared behind it.

The lead monster pointed at us, and all four of them charged.

I only had a few seconds to think. I didn't recognize these guys or what they could do. I've never fought a giant before, but I have fought people who were bigger, stronger, and slower than me. I assumed it would be the same. The most important thing would be to stay out of their reach. I tossed my gladius into the air. Now, that might look stupid, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve too. I caught it as it fell and was now holding a spear.

"Percy," Octavian warned.

"I know," I said. I was ready for a fight, but the priority was to protect this girl.

"You need to get inside. We'll hold them off," I said.

"No."

"When you reach – huh?"

"We can take them," she said, reaching into a pocket.

"Look, we may be cool, but I don't think even my friend and I can take four of those guys," I snapped. What was she thinking?

Then she pulled out something, and my eyes widened. She tossed a golden coin into the air and caught a gladius.

"Great," Octavian mumbled. "Now there are two of you."

"What – how – "

"I can fight," she stated. I didn't have any more time to argue. The giants reached us.

The lead giant took a second to roar while his buddies advanced, revealing a gaping maw with bits of meat between his teeth. A spear sailed through the air and hit him straight down his open mouth. He exploded into dust. I turned to see Octavian, already pulling out his own gladius.

The other three didn't even slow.

"Octavian!" I yelled.

"Right!"

I ran to the right. I couldn't see Octavian, but I knew he cut to the left. If we didn't split up those things would just run us down like a chariot. Fortunately, they weren't smart enough to work together. One of them broke off after me, and another chased Octavian. That was the good news.

The bad news is that I was alone versus a giant. Despite redirecting his charge, the monster barely lost any momentum. I only had time to yelp and roll to the side just before he reached me. I never fought a giant before, but I knew how to dodge a bull rush.

I got to my feet and tried to take a stab at the monster. But I was horribly wrong in my assumptions. He might be big and strong, but he definitely wasn't slow.

The moment I stood, he was already on the offensive. I jumped backwards, barely avoiding a wide sweep of his club, and ducked under another attack. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up as I could feel the weight behind that swing. If I got hit even once, I wasn't getting back up. Maybe ever.

I kept on the defensive, dodging and sidestepping his attacks, trying to get a feel for the way he fought. The attacks were random and clumsy, easily exploited – if he were a regular person. He more than compensated for it with strength and speed. I wasn't going to tire him out. In fact, I could already feel my limbs getting a little heavy. I was grateful for being unarmored.

He was starting to overwhelm me. I had to fight back.

After a big overhead swing with his club that I sidestepped, I moved under his arm and thrusted with my spear. The point sank into the thing's ribs, just below the armpit. It wailed in pain but didn't explode to dust. I heard a grinding sound behind and instantly dove to the right. He'd dragged his club backwards and would have sent me flying if I were a second later.

Another opening. I moved to attack and stabbed at him from the other side. It should have been a solid hit, but all I managed to do was make a shallow wound. It just made him angrier.

"Stupid toothpick!" he yelled, the voice surprisingly whiny. The giant swung again, and I dodged out of the way.

I couldn't do this for much longer. As dumb as he is, he's starting to predict my movements. That last blow came a lot closer than I thought it would. I backed up again and felt my back brush onto something.

I whipped my head around to see Octavian and the girl behind me, both breathing heavily. Octavian's shield had broken off. The girl's hair was plastered to her back with sweat. I looked around and saw that the other two giants were still standing. Octavian's giant was limping slightly, while the one that fought Reyna was bleeding ichor profusely from one arm. It dangled uselessly on his side, but he still had his club.

They had surrounded us. Reyna's giant growled and took a step forward, but the other two stuck out a hand, warning him to step back. He retreated begrudgingly. They exchanged glances with shifty eyes, uncannily like what we were doing.

"I don't like this," Octavian muttered.

"Yeah," I replied. My opponent was a good distance away, but I was still within his reach. It didn't attack, though. It was waiting for us to make the first move. That felt… wrong.

"Right," Reyna said. "We need to work together. We rush the one that I was fighting."

That made sense, I admitted. He was the most injured.

"What're we going to do with the other two?" Octavian demanded. She turned to him.

"You distract your guy. Me and the idiot can take down a giant if it's two on one."

"Excuse me?" I said, indignant. Octavian just nodded in agreement.

"That's a good plan," he said, eyeing me. I sighed and nodded begrudgingly.

"Honestly, though, I don't think I can close the distance that fast," Octavian muttered. Of the three of us, he looked the worst for wear. Fighting with a breastplate and scutum would do that to you. I didn't feel much better.

"I'm not feeling too great either," I agreed. "You got another idea?"

"I have something for that," Reyna said. She raised her gladius and all three giants tensed. I shifted my attention at my opponent but could still see Reyna in the corner of my eye. It looked like she was touching a ring.

Suddenly, I felt a burst of strength, like I hadn't just spent my last few moments fighting a giant. No – I felt even better than I did before. Where the hell did that come from?

"Now!" she shouted. I snapped out of it and sprinted after her as she charged her giant. I even moved faster, my feet gliding on the ground with vigor that I shouldn't have.

I reached the giant first and immediately dove forward, trying to get between his legs. Just as I thought, he tried to do a wide strike that swept above me. He was forced to face the incoming threat of Reyna, giving me the second I needed to impale my spear deep in the back of his leg. The monster fell to his knees but didn't have time to respond to the pain. He exploded in a cloud of dust, and Reyna landed in front of me. She must have jumped up and stabbed him through the neck.

"Look out!" I shouted, grabbing her and tumbling backwards. An iron club split the earth where she had been. My giant roared inches away from my face. I could feel its hot breath and spittle on my face.

He kept up his onslaught as Reyna scrambled back. I rolled to the side and got on my feet in one motion, ready to dodge out of his next attack. It didn't come. The monster was dead-set on the demigod who'd killed his buddy and ignored me completely. I guess they weren't that smart.

I took off running for him, leaping off the ground and grabbing onto the monster's oversized gym clothes with one hand. I saw a meaty hand reaching out to crush me, but then the giant doubled over in pain. That must've been Reyna.

It just made it easier for me to jump on his back and sink my spear into the back of his head. He went poof too.

"Good job," Reyna said between breaths.

"You too," I replied.

"Incoming!" A shrill cry rang out. Octavian was racing towards us, his weapon gone, his giant hot on his heels.

"Get ready," I told Reyna, raising my spear for a javelin toss. I waited until Octavian was fifteen feet away. Ten.

"Down!" I yelled. Octavian dove to the side. The giant scrambled to keep up with him and I hurled my spear. It fell short of his chest and landed on his stomach. It made him stagger, but the fact that he didn't disintegrate immediately was very bad news. I cursed. Octavian and I had no weapons left. We needed to get help –

Reyna darted past me. She charged the giant before I could say anything, jumped off my spear, and drove her sword right into the monster's eye. She landed amid a cloud of dust.

Reyna turned to face us, breathing hard. "That was crazy," she said with a smile.

There was a pause.

"You," I grinned, "just got yourself a sponsor."

Author's note: Welcome to part 2 of the Roman PJO series! The first story, the Son of Rome, is already up. Like the original PJO books, you don't need to read the previous story to understand this one, though I highly recommend it as this contains spoilers.

Please review! I hope you enjoy!