Reyna bit her lower lip.
Across the creek, she knew the Greeks were preparing for battle.
"Legion! Listen up," she yelled.
The legion all stood to attention and stared at her. Reyna felt her stomach swoop. It was stupid to feel this way. She had fought countless battles, this one shouldn't be any different.
But it was so different.
On so many different levels.
"The Greeks think that they have victory over us because we attack them on their home turf," Reyna said. "But today, we will show them what the legion can really do!"
The legion let out a triumphant yell, and Frank joined Reyna on her right.
"I don't like this," he said slowly. "Annabeth and Percy are over there. So is Piper."
Frank and Reyna both glanced over at Jason, who was sitting on a rock with a hard look of determination. After the Greeks had rejected him, he had come crawling back to the legion, bearing all knowledge of the Greek's side.
"We can beat them," Reyna said. She shouldered her blade and adjusted her armor straps. "We're Romans. Sophisticated and organized."
"And they're Greeks. Disorganized and impulsive," Frank countered.
He leaned on his newly constructed bow, glancing at the forest separating them from the Greeks.
"We'll do fine," Reyna said. "I'm sure of it."
Annabeth was tired of yelling at Percy.
He had rejected the idea of fighting against the Romans, despite them having come up out of nowhere and starting this war. He reluctantly agreed to fight when Clarisse and the Stoll brothers teased him relentlessly on it. They stood together on Zeus's fist, Percy was leaning casually on Riptide.
"I don't like this," he repeated.
"Oh please, Percy," Annabeth said. "Just suck it up and fight."
Percy shifted in his armor and adjusted his helmet straps.
"But my bro Jason—"
"Percy, please," Annabeth said. "We're not asking you to kill him, or any of them for that matter."
Percy rolled his eyes and Piper appeared next to him. She donned armor that she had camouflaged and she had her sword and knife strapped into her belt. Around her, the Aphrodite cabin prepared themselves for war as well.
Annabeth had been surprised at how eager the Aphrodite cabin was at participating in the downfall of the Romans. She knew Piper was motivated by the thought of defeating her boyfriend, but the rest of the cabin's eagerness caught nearly everyone off guard. Even if the gift of prophecy was working, she doubted that even the Apollo kids or Rachel Elizabeth Dare could have predicted that.
But needless to say, the Aphrodite cabin ended up being the biggest advantage. Annabeth positioned the children of the love goddess around the perimeter and close to the flag so they could try and seduce any Romans trying to run through. If there was one thing Annabeth knew about the Romans, it was that the men were tied around the pinky fingers of Aphrodite's daughters.
"Two minutes until battle commences!"
Annabeth glanced over at the watch tower. Chiron stood in the box with a grim expression on his face. Beside him stood Rachel Dare, Tyson, Ella, and a surprise visit from Lupa. The wolf was sitting far away from the Greeks, but there was some sort of pleased glint in her eyes.
"Remember the plan?"
Percy nodded slightly and Annabeth bit her lower lip. It was bad enough going against Romans, but they were going against Romans being led by Frank and Reyna, two kids of war gods. Of course, Clarisse and Annabeth had exchanged notes on how to beat the Romans, and devised a killer plan, but if Jason ratted them out…they were done for.
"Annabeth—"
"Yes Percy?
"If I don't make it out alive—"
"Percy, now is not the time for—"
"I just wanted to let you know, I don't really like blue food as much as I thought."
Annabeth did a double take and glanced over at her boyfriend. He had that stupid smirk on his face, and she resisted the urge to slap him. She opened her mouth to yell at him when Chiron blew the horn, and the Greeks yelled at the top of their lungs before charging.
Reyna yelled loudly and thrust her shield forward. The legion responded instantly, and the first and second cohorts split and sprinted into the woods.
Reyna joined the third and half of the fifth while Frank took the other half and the fourth.
"Forward march!"
Frank and his team began to move swiftly through the woods, and Reyna waited a couple of minutes before following.
The sound of her team's feet hitting the ground filled her ears, as well as the unsteady beating of her own heart. She was not going to lose this game, she was not going to lose to Annabeth Chase.
Annabeth's small elite squad ran into Frank's at the creek.
She yelled an order at Percy, who quickly controlled the creek and created a frozen wall about twenty feet high. Frank let out a large swear word, and Annabeth bit her tongue to prevent herself from laughing.
"The middle is secured," she said.
Connor Stoll glanced at the wall a couple of times before throwing down is sword. "Man, c'mon! I wanted to beat up some Romans!"
Annabeth raised her eyebrows at him and Percy glanced over the wall.
"The only issue is it secures us from their side too," he said.
Will Solace took two arrows out of his quiver and handed them over to Annabeth.
"What are these for?" She asked.
"To scale the wall," Nico said.
Annabeth took the two arrows from Will and tried to not stare at the two of them. She supported her two friends, but it was strange how much they had both changed. Nico no longer wore black all the time, and he had certainly become a lot healthier in the past year of seeing Will. She was glad that the kid had found someone. She suspected he had a crush on Percy when they first met, but to protect him, she told others that the crush was on her, which was taken without a question.
Annabeth approached the wall and stuck the arrows as high up as she could reach. She pulled herself up before pulling one out and stabbing it above her again. She was about a half foot from the top when she glanced down.
"Keep going," Percy yelled.
Annabeth gnawed on her lower lip for a second when she realized something. Since Frank's outburst, there had been no noise from the other side.
She lifted herself over so her eyes could see, and was surprised to see that there wasn't a Roman in sight.
"They're gone," Annabeth said. "Kill the wall."
Annabeth quickly lowered herself down and Percy returned to wall back to its normal lazy creek.
"Where'd they go?" Annabeth demanded.
Frank didn't know what to think when Percy froze the creek. The wall was too tall to safely climb over, and he wasn't going to change form to fly everyone across.
"Any ideas?" Frank asked, glancing around at his troops.
They all shrugged and Frank envisioned Annabeth's smirk when the wall went down and she caught the Romans sitting around, helpless to move anywhere.
"Praetor, what happened?"
Reyna and her group jogged up behind Frank, and he sighed in relief when he saw Hazel looking questioningly at the wall.
"Hazel, get us an underground tunnel to pass the Greek forces on the other side."
Hazel obliged, and the Romans quickly descended into the hole with Hazel leading the way. The hole closed after Frank passed through, and he worried momentarily about being trapped forever in the tunnel, but didn't think much of it when he saw the light at the end.
"This is sloppy work on their part," Annabeth gasped as she and Percy sprinted through the woods. "The Romans believe that the best offense is a good defense. They've left their side virtually defenseless."
Percy wheezed slightly and huffed something inaudibly.
Annabeth had sent the rest of the group back when Frank was nowhere to be found, and she had a guess that Hazel was involved.
"There!"
Percy pointed Riptide a few yards away where the purple and gold banner of Camp Jupiter stood proudly.
There were no Romans surrounding it, no eagles or wolves within sight.
"This is so wrong," Annabeth said.
She slowed a little when the flag was within reach, and Percy plucked it from its pole.
"Can't complain." He flashed her a smile. "We're totally going to win."
Annabeth glanced around, unnerved by the lack of defense. She knew Reyna, and she knew Frank. They would never do a sloppy defense…unless they had a secret weapon.
"Let's head back," Annabeth said slowly.
She and Percy began to jog back when a strong wind knocked them to the ground. Jason Grace flew in from above, his Imperial Gold sword in hand and a Camp Jupiter t-shirt resting proudly on his chest.
"Did you really think it'd be that easy?"
Frank was surrounded, and Reyna was off Zeus knows where.
The Hermes and Ares cabins had been waiting for them, and moments after Frank parted from Reyna's group, the two cabins jumped out at them.
"Surrender now or die, Roman!" Clarisse La Rue bellowed.
Frank raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Travis Stoll, whose armor was crooked and his sword hung casually at his side.
"Are there actual deaths in this game?" He asked.
Travis shrugged. "Not that I know of."
Frank notched an arrow in his bow (that had a Nerf point but from afar one couldn't tell) and aimed it at Clarisse.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said slowly.
"Is your dad really the war god?"
"Yeah, he is. Now let us pass or I'll shoot you all."
The Greeks exchanged a look when a loud whoop was head behind them followed by angry yells. They turned quickly and Reyna was sprinting towards them, the black and orange flag of Camp Half-Blood held high in one hand.
Reyna's team rallied around her, fighting off the Hypnos and Aphrodite kids, which was a surprisingly deadly combination.
"Stop, you want to stop!" Frank heard Piper yell.
Reyna faltered for only a second before she shook her head and picked up speed.
"Frank, a little help!" She yelled.
Frank regained his senses and yelled orders at his men to hold down Hermes and Ares cabins, who were rushing to aid their Greek brethren.
The creek was in sight, and Annabeth almost made it. She had bundled up the flag to make it easier to carry, and she pumped her arms. Percy was somewhere behind her, trying to delay Jason. She could hear the sound of their swords clashing. She knew it wouldn't last long, but the creek was getting close enough for him to control it.
On the opposite side of the creek, she saw Reyna running towards her. She held the Camp Half-Blood flag in one hand and had a group of Romans protecting her from all sides from the Greeks.
"Percy!" Annabeth yelled desperately.
"Coming!"
The river responded to Percy instantly, and it flooded. Annabeth stuck the flag between her teeth as the water reached her shoulders, and then Percy was beside her.
"Come on, Wise Girl," he said.
He grabbed her waist and controlled the tide to push them over to the Greek side.
"Zhang!"
Reyna swam one-handed across the now-ocean creek. She saw Percy and Annabeth making their way rapidly across, and she was not going to lose.
Not when she was so close to victory.
Seconds later, Frank scooped her up in his claws and flew her across the border, just as Percy and Annabeth reached their side. The flag in Reyna's hand shimmered slightly before it sported the purple and gold colors of Camp Jupiter.
"We win!" Percy yelled triumphantly, pumping his fist into the air as the creek slowly drained itself to normal.
The horn blew, and Romans and Greeks alike began to walk out of the woods. All of them were soaked from Percy's flood, and many had minor cuts and bruises. Despite all that, they were messing around with one another and having a good time.
"No, we won!" Reyna retorted.
The campers fell silent at the standoff, and Reyna straightened her posture before raising the flag high above her head.
"We crossed the creek first," Percy said slowly. "So we win."
Jason appeared next to Reyna. His clothes were ripped but other than that she seemed perfectly fine. He seemed to have managed to escape the flood.
"I'm pretty sure we win bro," he said.
Percy scowled and took the now-orange and black flag from Annabeth.
"Our flag changed," he said, waving it around.
"So did ours."
Frank held up the purple and gold flag and Percy's scowl changed into a look of surprise.
Chiron and Lupa trotted into the middle of the field, the old horse's eyes were alight with amusement.
"Heroes!" He bellowed. "The game result…a tie!"
Annabeth wasn't sure who protested more, the Greeks or the Romans.
After a week of practicing and anticipation for this one night, it ended in a tie.
Personally, Annabeth was just pleased she didn't lose. Of course, it would have been nice to win, but one glance at Reyna and Annabeth knew that a tie was better than a decided winner. It didn't take a child of the wisdom goddess to know that one camp dominating the other would not be good.
"I accept the tie," Annabeth said loudly.
Percy raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to protest when Annabeth shot him a look.
"So do I," Reyna said.
The other camps went silent and watched as their two leaders met in the middle of the field and exchanged flags. Annabeth draped the Roman flag around her shoulders and Reyna did the same with the Greek.
Unity for all.
Annabeth hugged Reyna, and the other girl returned it. The camps cheered and began to mess around once more. When Annabeth pulled away, Reyna gave her a mischievous grin.
"But tonight at the campfire, I will totally burn you alive at the s'more war, Chase," Reyna said.
The Romans let out a loud cheer and Annabeth laughed.
"You talk a big game, but everyone knows that the Greeks are better s'more makers," Annabeth said.
In response, the Greeks let out a loud hurrah. Annabeth hugged Reyna one last time, and Chiron spread his arms out wide.
"Very good! Wash up, and then the war shall commence at nine at the campfire!"
The Greeks and Romans cheered together before setting off towards the showers.
"So, Avila," Annabeth said. She leaned on her drakon bone sword and raised an eyebrow at the daughter of Bellona.
"So, Chase," Reyna countered.
"Ever think we'd be in this position?"
Reyna's eyes followed the retreating backs of their comrades who were pushing each other and joking around, as if they had always been the best of friends. She shook her head slowly.
"Never in a million years."
Percy handed Annabeth his jacket when he saw that she was shivering.
"Thanks," she said.
"Nice job out there today," he said as he impaled a marshmallow on a stick. "You did well."
Percy lowered his stick over the roaring fire, and Annabeth leaned on his shoulder.
Percy took in his surroundings for a second. The Greeks and Romans sat together and exchanged old war stories and tossed marshmallows back and forth.
"I get why you accepted the tie," he said slowly. "It's like the time Jason and I fought in Kansas."
Annabeth shrugged and Percy turned his head towards her. He had never quite gotten used to the fact that they were dating. Each day he woke up, remembered that Annabeth was his girlfriend, and he would smile. It seemed so new and so delicate, he didn't want to break it.
"So, I was wondering—"
"What's that?"
Annabeth's head lifted off of Percy's shoulder, and he glanced over at what she was talking about.
A couple other campers had seen it too, and soon everyone was staring at the sky. A large shadow was flying towards them, and Percy's mind began to race. There was only one person he could think of that could fly and was that large…
"Leo?" He yelled.
Leo felt Calypso's hands tighten around his abdomen, and he leaned forward, peering through the clouds.
"There it is!" He yelled.
The distant glow of the campfire brought back memories, and Leo smiled to himself. The outline of the Athena Parthenos stood proudly over the valley, as if the other six had just returned and all was well.
A small part of him hoped that since he last saw his friends that it had just been a couple of minutes, or hours even, but he knew even his luck wouldn't allow that.
Two dark shapes flew apart from the campfire and approached them.
"Ready?"
"Ready!"
Leo's heart hammered as Festus lowered in altitude, the shape of Camp Half-Blood becoming more and more focused. The figures that had flown up were now recognizable, and Leo whooped.
"Jason! Frank!"
Jason yelled something back that was indistinct, and Frank screeched.
"Good to see you too buddy!" Leo said.
Festus circled the campfire once before landing behind the Hephaestus cabin. He slid off of the dragon's back and helped Calypso down. He was immediately engulfed by a sobbing Piper.
"Oh my gods! Oh my gods…OH MY GODS!" She sobbed.
"Hey Beauty Queen," Leo said.
The other campers cheered and made their way over. Calypso grasped Leo's hand tightly, and he felt a warmth flow through him that had nothing to do with the campfire.
"How long has it been?" Leo asked.
"A year."
Leo's heart sunk a little. He glanced around and realized that everyone did look a year older. Jason's hair was grown out and he had put on more muscle mass. Frank had lost more weight, and he was now lean and mean. Hazel had grown about three inches, and was the same height as Piper.
"You look exactly the same," Piper said.
"Well, I was wandering around an island where time stands still," Leo said. "It only seemed like I was gone for an hour at most."
Calypso nodded in agreement, and then her eyes widened. Leo followed them to see Percy and Annabeth making their way over. Percy froze at the sight of her before breaking into a wide grin.
"You found her man!" He said. "All on your own too!"
Leo nodded and wrapped his arm protectively around Calypso. He knew that Percy was out of the picture with her, but that didn't stop him from worrying.
"Calypso, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, Calypso," Percy said.
Percy and Leo exchanged a look when the two girls shook hands, a strong sense of hostility coming from both. Percy had, one way or another, left each girl for the other.
"So, what have I missed the past year?"
Everyone began talking rapidly at once, and Leo nodded as if he was actually listening. After a little while, he feigned a yawn and stretched.
"Man, I'm beat. Where should I room?" Leo asked.
"Same bunk if you want," Jake Mason said. "It's good to have you back."
"It's nice to be back," Leo said. He slipped his arm around Calypso once more before waving. "I'm going to show Calypso around before we hit the hay."
He directed Calypso away from the crowd and towards the dinning pavilion, a new feeling of relief and happiness flowing through him.
Everything was going to be okay.