I am SO SO sorry to everyone who has me on Author Alert and received a bunch of random emails about this story! I really don't want any reviews or alerts. Again, sorry!
This is the first part of my first story. It's my version of the Mark of Athena. However, I read the first chapter of the real MoA and totally lost my inspiration. It's unfinished, sorry.
**Line breaks indicate the next chapter**
Annabeth:
Annabeth was sick of flying. Being stuck thousands of feet in the air, pacing the main deck of the Argo II for hours on end, and desperately trying to avoid Leo was enough to drive any demigod crazy. As the ship's so-called "Supreme Commander", Leo found immense pleasure in giving minute-by-minute updates on the ship's whereabouts, and just as much (if not more) pleasure in the groans that escaped everyone as he shouted out another command. Their only break from Leo's constant "captainship" had been when he had sent the message to the Romans, promising not to hurt them and the like. Sadly, that had ended far to soon and Leo had resumed his position.
" This is your Supreme Commander Leo Valdez speaking. According to our head navigator Jason, we should be landing in about 10 minutes. Please put all tray tables up and set your seats to the upright position. Thank you for flying Argo Airlines! "
"Leo, shut up! Just concentrate on getting the ship down safely. I don't think the mortals would be very happy if we crashed a 2-ton, celestial bronze-clad Greek Trimere into their backyards," Piper said, duly noting that Leo's entire body was now flaming from excitement.
"Uh, Leo… you're doing it again." Jason had turned around from his position at the prow, where he constantly peered down at the California landscape, looking for even the slightest clue that would lead the Argo ll and its passengers safely to Camp Jupiter. Leo sighed, obviously accustomed to the procedure, and set the ship on autopilot as he reluctantly stepped down from the steering wheel. He trudged over to a shower-head bolted to the Argo ll's back wall, yanked the attached pull-chain, and was promptly doused in water from head to toe, extinguishing his flames.
"I will never be able to express how glad I am your Hephaestus siblings installed that," Piper stifled a laugh as Leo made a vain attempt to dry himself off. Leo grumbled about excitement and ADHD, but he begrudgingly returned to his spot behind the wheel and tried to act as if nothing had happened.
"You need to learn to control that fire. It doesn't matter how excited you get," Annabeth remarked. But she could barely contain her own emotion. After almost eight months, she was finally going to see him again. Percy. She'd missed him for so long. She closed her eyes and imagined the ship touching down in Camp. Time would stop as Annabeth ran towards him and kissed him and never let him go. And Percy would remember her, and kiss her back, and everything would be just as it should. But black tendrils of fear took over. What if he'd found a new girlfriend? What if he didn't remember her? What if, gods forbid, he hadn't come back from that stupid quest he went on when Annabeth had specifically told him to stay put. He never listened, but that was just one of the things she loved most about him- not that she'd ever let him know that.
"Leo! That's it! Right there! Starboard- now!" Jason interrupted Annabeth's fantasy, pointing at a spot on the ground below and yelling frantically. Annabeth couldn't blame him for being so spastic. Had she been in his place, she wouldn't know whether to feel excited or scared, or a terrible mixture of both, about seeing her home again. The boat lurched as Leo spun the wheel, laughing as if tipping a flying ship was the most fun he'd ever had.
"Your other starboard you idiot! What kind of Supreme Commander doesn't know left and right? Now we have to turn around!" Piper exclaimed.
"Are U-turns allowed in the air?" Annabeth heard Jason mutter, more to himself than anyone else. The boat leaned again, and Annabeth began to feel the Argo ll descending.
"Okay, see that Tunnel right over there? Yeah, go straight past it. You'll see a river- that's the Little Tiber. There it is. Cool, so just cruise slowly past the river. Piper, the truce flag is out, right?" Jason automatically took charge, giving Leo more directions as Piper hoisted a giant white flag above the head of Festus, the dragonhead attached to the front of the boat. Leo eased the ship past the giant river- the Little Tiber wasn't so little- and the ship passed through the Mist that concealed Camp Jupiter from nosy mortals.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and Piper, welcome to Camp Jupiter," Leo said in his Captain voice. Piper seemed too stunned by her surroundings to even react to Leo's insult, and Annabeth felt the same way. They were in an exact replica, if a little smaller, of the original Rome. There was a military base camp, a Coliseum, temples to all the Roman gods and goddesses, and a small city where demigods strolled in the summer afternoon sun- all of which were constructed with some of the most fantastic architecture Annabeth had ever seen.
"Home," Jason breathed. He seemed about ready to jump right off the ship so he could reunite with his old friends, but he snapped out of it and continued to direct Leo. "Leo, see that field? That's the field of Mars. You can see the big group of Romans gathering. Land over there."
"Okaaaay… flying I can do, landing… maybe not so much. Brace for Impact everyone!" Leo shouted, uneasy for the first time. His hands began to smoke again as he clenched the steering wheel. Everyone else held on for their lives to the ship's railings. Finally, the ship hit the ground with minimal damage, except for the deep trench cut in the field. With a sigh of relief, Leo pressed a button, and the gangplank was released. Jason stepped out first, but Annabeth quickly brushed past him. All her thoughts were on Percy. She searched the faces of what seemed like thousands of demigods, looking for the long black hair and sea green eyes she knew so well, the mouth she had kissed so many times. But she couldn't find him in the midst of strange faces. Piper came up behind her and put her hand on Annabeth's shoulder.
"Don't worry. He's here. I'm sure of it," Piper's words were calming, but they meant nothing if Annabeth couldn't see Percy's face. As she silently fought back tears, two figures in purple cloaks and slightly stupid-looking togas fought through the crowd. There was a somehow-familiar-looking girl in the front: she had long, black-brown hair and dark eyes that perfectly accented her olive skin. Jason looked like he had been electrocuted (and for a son of Jupiter who was normally immune to lightning, that was big).
"Reyna." Jason stepped forward as if in a trance. The girl looked up at him, silent tears, happy tears, streaming down her face. There was a tall, tanned guy behind her, brushing his jet-black hair out of his face and looking frantically over Reyna's shoulder, as if searching for someone. Annabeth looked up and gasped. Sea green eyes met stormy gray, and the world stopped.
Percy:
Percy figured he could still keep his composure when he saw Annabeth again. He was wrong. The giant celestial bronze ship set down on the field, and a the ship's gangplank helped the passengers down into the mob of Romans. Reyna and Percy made their way through the crowd, Percy desperately trying not to trip over his toga. They came to the front just as a muscular guy with electric blue eyes and blonde hair stepped off the ship. He looked somewhat familiar to Percy, especially those eyes. He looked directly at Reyna.
"Jason," Percy heard Reyna breathe; she sounded like she might even be crying. Percy realized that this was the famous Jason, the hero everyone thought was missing. But where was Annabeth? Percy looked out behind Reyna's shoulder, desperately trying to find Annabeth. He'd been waiting for this for so long. She had to be there; she had to.
"Reyna-" Jason was cut short by a girl brushing past him. She was tall, with curly blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail and fierce eyes. She looked like she was trying not to cry.
Another girl, this one with dark hair in braids, came down and put her hand on the blonde girl's shoulder. Percy gasped. She was even more gorgeous than he'd remembered. Annabeth looked up. Their eyes met. She ran down towards him and latched onto him. He kissed her and was vaguely aware of the other demigods watching them, the rest of the Greeks getting off the ship. But nothing else mattered except Annabeth in front of him, her face and lips that he'd kissed a lifetime ago. They finally broke apart.
"Hey," Percy said, at a total loss for words.
"Hey? I haven't seen you in months, Seaweed brain, I thought you were dead, and all you can say is HEY!" Annabeth was trying to be angry, but even Percy- the most clueless guy in the entire world when it came to girls- could tell she didn't really mean it. "So, while we were all worrying our heads off about you… did what, exactly?"
"Yeah, about that… I kinda got lost. Made some friends, though. Let me introduce you all." Percy's world had finally been pieced back together. Everything was perfect. Reyna stepped forward out of the mob of Romans.
"Demigods of Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood! I speak for all the Romans as I personally welcome the Greeks to our camp. There will be no military duties for the rest of the day as we get to know our Greek… friends. But let me send out a warning to both Greeks and Romans. In order to defeat Gaea, we need to work together. There will be no fighting, pranking, or otherwise argument between Romans and Greeks whatsoever. Am I making myself clear?" Both Romans and Greeks nodded in unison.
"Good," said Reyna. "Now, let's get to know each other."
Hazel:
Hazel was in complete shock, and for a girl whose mother had been possessed by Gaea, who had died and come back to life, and who had seen Percy eat two entire pizzas in one sitting and ask for dessert, that was saying something. Sammy Valdez was standing in front of her, like he'd been magically transported through time along with her. Hazel knew deep down that this guy's name was Leo, that he wasn't Sammy, but her heart wanted so much for this boy with the curly hair and wild eyes to be Sammy that she forced reality away. She longed for just one piece of her old life back, before Gaea had ripped it apart, but she knew that times had changed. At Reyna's instruction, all the Greeks (and Jason) stepped forward. Percy seemed reluctant to leave his girlfriend's side for even a second, but he resumed his place next to Reyna. Annabeth (that was her name, right?) nudged Jason's side, indicating that he should start. He stepped forward.
"Um, I'm Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. Lots of you guys already know me, but Juno/Hera switched me and Percy for the past few months. But I guess we'll explain that later…" Jason stepped back in line with the rest of the Greeks. Hazel was glad to have him back; she'd missed his optimism, and Reyna's mood was definitely going to improve now that he had returned. Octavian was sure to flip out, though… where was that rat of a demigod, anyway? Hazel shook the thought away as Percy's girlfriend started to speak.
"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. I guess that would be Minerva for you," Annabeth looked to Jason for confirmation and he nodded. Leo took command next.
"Leo Valdez-" Hazel inhaled sharply, but no one besides Frank seemed to notice. Frank mouthed to her 'that's him?' Hazel nodded; Frank looked troubled. "-son of Hephaestus, or that Star Trek Guy in Roman terms. Spock? No… um, Vulcan! That's it!" So I'm the Supreme Commander of the Argo ll, and… yeah. Your turn, Beauty Queen." Leo gestured to the final girl standing next to him. To Hazel, it looked like Leo's hair was smoking, but it must have been coming from the ship behind him. Another girl stepped up. She was pretty with choppy brown hair in braids and kaleidoscope eyes.
"I'm Piper," Piper seemed reluctant to say her last name. "Piper McLean. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus." There was murmuring about someone named McLean and some kind of movie. Hazel was too focused on Leo to really care. Reyna stepped forward again.
"Thank you. I guess we should introduce ourselves now too. I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona and one of the praetors of the Twelfth Leigon. I believe Bellona doesn't really have a Greek name…" Percy stepped forward as Reyna finished.
"Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon… Neptune, whatever. Like Jason said, I switched places with him for awhile. I am the, um former praetor of the Twelfth Legion." Everyone looked at him, shocked. "Jason was the praetor before he disappeared, and I'd like to give it back to him. On one condition." Jason looked incredibly happy as he asked what the condition was. "You resume praetor, I get back Camp Half-Blood leadership. Deal?"
"Deal," Jason smiled. He and Percy switched places, and Percy handed Jason his purple praetor's cape. Reyna seemed all too happy to have Jason back at her side.
"These are some of my friends I've met," Percy said, gesturing to each of them in turn. "Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto; Frank Zhang, son of Mars; Dakota, son of Bacchus…" He went on, gesturing to a few more demigods. Once all the introductions were completed, everyone was about to adjourn for dinner when none other than Octavian burst through the Romans. Hazel cursed under her breath. Octavian ruining the already shaky peace between the two groups was just what they needed. Octavian was panting, as if running from his barrack to the Field of Mars had caused him such great effort. Reyna glared at him, and Hazel saw Percy whisper something to Annabeth. From what she could tell, Percy had said, "That guy's a total jerk. He wants nothing but power." Annabeth had responded, "But he looks just like..." "I know," Percy calmed her. "Just pretend like you don't notice." Octavian began to speak.
"Graechus! Graechus! The omens- I have never seen such horror! Beware of Greeks with dirty tricks! I knew from the beginning they weren't to be trusted!" Octavian seemed to want to continue, but Reyna cut short his overly-dramatic rant.
"Octavian, they've done nothing to prove themselves wrong," she said sternly, giving Octavian another glare. Reyna then addressed the Greeks. "This is Octavian, the camp Augur." When the rest of the Greeks looked confused, Jason had to clarify:
"Octavian is Rome's version of the Oracle. He reads prophecies through ripped up, um, stuffed animal guts." The Greeks obviously looked like they were trying hard not to laugh, but Percy silenced them.
"Okay, everyone to dinner. Tonight we will assign the Greeks to their cohorts, and we will have a meeting to discuss this prophecy." Reyna commanded. Everyone left for the dining pavilion. Percy and Annabeth were trying to catch up on eight months of each other's lives, and Reyna and Jason were talking with Piper trailing behind- come to think of it, Piper looked a little upset, staring at Reyna and Jason. Hazel would have to ask her about it later. Sammy- no, Leo, was de-assembling the ship, handling the equipment with ease. Hazel started to make off to go eat, but Frank pulled her back.
"Hazel, that's Sammy? Your friend from your old, uh, other life?" Frank looked really concerned, like he wanted nothing more than to make Hazel happy. Now Hazel was even more confused. She hadn't exactly said that Sammy was her old boyfriend yet, and now she had no idea what she was going to do.
"Yes, that's him. Or, at least someone who looks exactly like him. Come on, let's go eat. I don't really want to talk about this." Hazel started off without seeing if Frank would follow. Mean, she knew, but at this point, she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to even care.
Jason:
Jason's life was finally back to normal- well, almost normal. Dinner had been excellent as always. Jason had missed being able to sit with whoever he wanted; eating by himself at Camp Half-Blood had been hard. He was also Praetor again, which he still couldn't believe. How could Percy have given that up so easily?
But Jason wasn't about to argue. He'd also noticed that they'd recovered the eagle. Seeing it tower on its pedestal above the demigods made Jason's heart swell with Roman pride. When he asked Hazel about it, she just said, "Percy." Percy saved Camp Half-Blood, was helping to save Camp Jupiter, and recovered the Twelfth Legion's eagle? That guy really was good.
After dinner, the Greeks were assigned to cohorts. He and Percy were obviously still in the fifth, Piper went to the fourth, Leo to the third, and Annabeth to the second. None of the Romans seemed very willing to stand for the Greeks, but they were declared "special guests" like Nico, that son of Pluto from all those months ago. Reyna dismissed everyone for evening activities except for the Greeks, Hazel, Frank, and Percy (did Percy qualify as a Greek? Then again, did Jason still qualify as a Roman? They were a mixture of both groups). Jason was sorry for missing out on what looked to be a riveting game of death-ball vs. the Lares.
Leo was the first to notice the Lares. It took a while for Jason, Percy, and Reyna to explain, and all the Greeks seemed as wary of them as the Lares were of the Graechus. Reyna started by giving the demigods a tour of camp, and once they'd fulfilled Terminus's OCD demands- Jason sure must have been homesick, because he was even glad to see Terminus again- they sat in the living room of Reyna's Praetor house. Percy started out by saying what everyone was thinking.
"So we know that the New Great Prophecy- the Prophecy of Seven to the Romans- is coming true, and it's happening this summer. I think we also know that Jason, Piper, Leo, Hazel, Frank, and me make up six of the seven demigods. So the question is, who's the seventh?"
"Percy, slow down. I think we need to make a plan for the present and then when the seventh demigod is revealed, he or she can join us," Annabeth replied.
"But who's saying that the seventh demigod isn't you or Reyna?" Piper asked.
"That's a good point. I suppose we'll have to wait to find out," Reyna replied.
"Or we could always ask that scarecrow Octavian. He could rip off the head of my teddy bear and say who the seventh demigod is," snickered Leo.
"Leo, that guy is a force to be reckoned with. He may look puny, but he has a lot of the power in this camp," Percy cut him off.
"Why don't we assume for now that both of you could very well be the seventh demigod? You both can be included in all the planning so everyone knows what's going on," Hazel remarked, putting the demigods back on topic.
"I'm for that. Any opposed?" Annabeth asked. When no one raised their hands, she proceeded. "I'd like to hear what happened to Percy while we had Jason, and I think you'd like to hear our side." Annabeth looked at Reyna, who nodded.
"Okay, Jason, you start." Jason talked about waking up on the bus with Piper and Leo, and defeating the venti at the Grand Canyon. He didn't really mention that Leo had fire power or that Piper was his girlfriend... Jason still had no idea what he was going to do about that. He also didn't really mention Piper's charm-speaking ability, or meeting his sister Thalia. He continued, explaining how he met Annabeth and traveled to Camp Half-Blood. Then he started on the quest, and Jason ended his story with Leo building the Argo ll. Piper, Leo, and Annabeth added a few comments, but Jason did a pretty good job of explaining. Reyna looked satisfied, and nodded to Percy so he could start, but Percy looked a little confused.
"You said your name was Grace, right? Jason Grace. That's so weird..." Percy looked at Annabeth, who looked to Jason, who nodded. Percy obviously knew Thalia, so Jason was okay talking about her.
"Oh yeah, Thalia is kinda my long-lost older sister, but she's a daughter of Zeus. We have the same mother though. Thalia thought I was dead for a long time."
"That explains why she never talked about you. Okay, I guess I'll tell my story. So it all started when I woke up and was almost eaten by a wolf..." Percy started, eager to move on in the story.
Percy:
Percy told everything that had happened to him since he woke up in the Wolf House, with a few interjections by Frank and Hazel and some questions asked by the rest of the group. He left out a few things, such as Hazel's story and Frank's stick, and Percy decided not to mention Ella the harpy until later.
"Wait. Frank, you can shape-shift? That's awesome!" Leo exclaimed. Jason had to get him to cool down so he wouldn't set Reyna's house on fire. "Can we see?" Frank looked a little uneasy.
"I'm not always so good at it..." Leo used his best pleading eyes, and Frank sighed. "Okay, I guess." Frank shut his eyes and looked like he was concentrating really hard. Percy was afraid it wouldn't work and Frank would be all embarrassed, but sure enough, Frank started to transform. Soon, the demigods were all staring at a full-grown stallion, with a shiny black coat and intelligent eyes. It made Percy miss his own Pegasus, Blackjack, even though Frank didn't have wings. Frank quickly turned back into himself. Piper, Annabeth, Leo, and Jason looked stunned. Hazel gave Frank a hug, murmuring something about him being a very handsome horse. Of course, Leo was the first to actually talk. Percy had only known Leo for a day or so, but he knew that Leo was definitely ADHD like most demigods. Leo's mouth never seemed to shut, either.
"Whoa. So you can turn into any animal? That makes me feel pretty meek." Meek was not the first word Percy would use to describe Leo, but he knew how Leo felt.
"Don't worry, you'll always be Flame Boy to me," Piper teased. At the mention of flames, Frank jerked his head a little, no one really noticed.
"I wonder if I could communicate with you when you're in horse form like I do most horses. That would be awesome!" Percy said.
"That's something you'll have to figure out later. Get back to the story, Percy. We have no time to spare," Reyna silenced the rest of the group. Percy finished his tale with the battle at Camp Jupiter and the rebuilding of the camp.
"So everyone's caught up on each other's stories. I think we need to have a full meeting tomorrow with the rest of the camp, detailing the quest."
"Yeah, we need to get to Greece as quickly as possible. The ship needs a few minor adjustments so it can fly long-term, but we should be ready to set off by the beginning of next week," Leo supplied.
"Greece? No, we need to go to Rome first. There's someone we need to find..." Hazel was too troubled to continue. Annabeth looked questioningly at Percy.
"Has Nico been disappearing from camp the past few months?" Percy asked.
"That really isn't relevant, Percy, but yeah. He keeps going off on his own. It's driving Chiron mad," Annabeth said.
"Wait, Nico diAngelo? How do you know Hazel's half-brother?" Frank asked. Everyone seemed really confused. They all looked at Percy for answers.
"Nico was leaving Camp Half-Blood to go to Camp Jupiter. He was acting as Pluto's ambassador here. He went to go find the doors of Death, and Gaea captured him. Now we think he's in Rome, but he doesn't have much time. Hazel's right, we need to find him before we go to Greece," explained Percy.
"Wait, Nico was supposed to be looking for you, too. Why didn't he first tell you who you were when you met him at Camp Jupiter?" Annabeth asked.
"You know Nico, he always has some kind of reason. I guess we'll have to find him to ask him."
"Good, so it's settled. We will have a Senate Meeting tomorrow and will go from there. Now everyone to their barracks. It's been a long day," ended Jason. Everyone slowly got up and returned to their dorms, each of them thinking the same thing. Tomorrow was definitely going to be interesting.
Percy:
Percy thought that it was always easy to wake up at Camp: there was always so much to do, etc. Plus Frank snored- and loudly- so that acted as a pretty good alarm clock. This morning was no different. He got up and stretched, pulling on an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Percy couldn't even describe how good it felt to be wearing one again. He tiptoed out of the cabins and towards the unicorn stables, where Tyson and Ella slept. Percy had been surprised when Tyson didn't come out to greet everyone, especially Annabeth, but apparently Tyson had been in the forges all day working on something. He checked his watch- Tyson had brought it with him when he first found Percy, and Percy had spent the entire night reminiscing on the adventures he, Tyson, and Annabeth had had in the Sea of Monsters. It was 5:47, just about 15 minutes before morning curfew.
Percy crept into the stables, trying not to disturb the unicorns.
Lord! My Lord! They all chanted in his head, neighing and stomping their hooves. Percy told them to be quiet- the last thing he needed was to hear the thoughts of the entire herd. Percy brushed past them, and found what he was looking for in the very back of the barn: a large cyclops, sleeping on a pile of straw. A gangly red harpy was perched above him.
"Tyson, wake up. C'mon big guy," Percy whispered, shaking Tyson ever so slightly. Percy needed to talk to Tyson about Ella's prophecies- especially that one about the Mark of Athena, and since Ella wasn't very good about staying on-topic, Percy usually got information through Tyson. Percy's half-brother turned over with a moan, but Ella woke up frantically.
"Wake up. Despertarse in Spanish. The early bird catches the worm. Ella likes cinnamon. Not cheese. Not worms." She fluttered nervously to Percy's
side.
"Morning, Ella," Percy said kindly. "Do you think you can get Tyson to wake up?" Percy prodded Tyson a little, but to no avail.
"Tyson. Tyson is a cyclops. General Tyson of the Cyclops Army. Peanut Butter. Strange battle cry, very strange..." Ella continued. Percy sighed. So much for that. As he was about to yell into Tyson's ear, or maybe summon some water to blast him with (in a loving, half-brother kind of way, of course), the conch shell rang for morning muster. Percy sprinted back to the Fifth Cohort's Barracks. Hazel had been late one time, and it had pained Centurion Frank to make her clean the streets in New Rome with a toothbrush. Miraculously, Hazel finished in record time. Percy just, uh, helped a bit. That giant wave of water that cleaned all the street paths could have come from anywhere, right? But Percy didn't want to be late, because Frank would know to be more creative with his punishment. He made it just in time, panting.
"Okay, everyone to breakfast," Frank said. They all followed him to the dining hall. Percy sat with Frank, Hazel, and Leo. Piper sat with Jason and Reyna at the praetor's table, and Annabeth was discussing architecture with some son of Minerva named Bobby at another table. Hazel looked like she was trying to hold it together. Her golden gaze never wavered from Leo's face.
"So Leo, did you build the Argo II by yourself? That's one wicked ship," Percy asked. He loved the idea of a ship, even if it had to be in the air. Leo looked proud as he answered.
"Me and my cabin, with some help from all the other campers. It took a while, with a few... uh... malfunctions. Yeah, let's just say that."
"I guess you met the metal dragon. How many cabins has it torched thus far? I mean, that is who the mast-head is modeled off of, right?" Percy waved his hand in an 'Ill-explain-later' gesture to Frank and Hazel, who were giving him weird looks.
"Festus? That's actually his head. We used him on our quest and he, kinda, malfunctioned. His head is getting good use now though." Leo nodded, beaming.
"Wait, you saved the world while riding on Happy the Dragon?" Frank interjected.
"Yeah, well..." Leo was interrupted by Reyna.
"Demigods! There will be a Senate meeting at 11:00. Attendance is mandatory. We will be discussing the quest upon us," Reyna spoke. As she sat back down, Tyson and Ella came ambling in.
"Brother!" Tyson squeezed Percy in another bear-hug.
"Hey there, big guy! Where were you yesterday?"
"At forge. Made this. For you and Annabeth. She came?" Tyson held out rings to Percy. One was decidedly more masculine, while the other was prettier and more delicate-looking. Both had sparkling stones in the center.
"Yeah, she came. Lemme go get her." Percy pulled her out of her discussion and brought her back over to Tyson.
"Annabeth!" Even Percy's girlfriend couldn't escape from Tyson's hugs.
"Squeezing... can't... breathe..." Tyson let her go and Annabeth coughed a few times before recovering herself.
"Hi Tyson! Percy said you were here. Where were you yesterday?"
"Making stuff in forges. Gift for you and Percy. For quest." Tyson gave the girly ring to Annabeth (thank the gods, Percy thought) and the other to Percy.
"Wow, Tyson. It's beautiful!" Annabeth said. "Does it, um, do anything?" Percy nudged her, hinting that she should be nice about the gift.
"Iris Message rings. Prism in center. Now you don't need mist for a rainbow!" Tyson said happily, oblivious to her previous comment.
"Tyson, that's genius! Oh wow, I can get so much use out of this. Thank you!" Annabeth ran off, wanting to play with her new magic toy. Percy slipped the ring onto his finger. Armed with three magic items now- Riptide, his watch/shield, and the ring, he felt accomplished.
"Gee, Tyson. Thanks so much. Now we can talk all the time on the Quest!" Percy said. Tyson nodded happily, and Percy went to go finish breakfast with Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Piper, who had joined them after Jason and Reyna had left. They all asked questions about the ring, and Percy was always happy to show off his half-brother's handiwork. Tyson sat down and was promptly whisked a large plate of peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast, and Ella sat next to him, nibbling on a Snickerdoodle cookie. The demigods quickly finished up their meal and went to get ready for the day. Percy sighed. Camp was back to normal. But deep inside he knew he wouldn't be here long.
Percy pressed the feeling away as he jogged to catch up with Frank and Hazel, who were buzzing with excitement for the Senate Meeting and the quest, the adventure of a lifetime.
Frank:
"This meeting of the Senate will now convene," Reyna commanded, ceasing all murmuring amongst the demigods. Reyna and Jason stood at the front of the Senate hall. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Hazel, and Frank sat in the front row. Octavian was in the front as well but was seated as far away from the rest of them as possible, and that was more than fine by Frank.
"I believe we all know why we are here today. The Prophecy of Seven is happening. We know six of the seven demigods of the prophecy: myself, Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, and Leo Valdez," Jason started. Hazel tensed at the mention of Leo, as she always did, and there was more murmuring about McLean. Frank found it a little funny, too. The child of a Greek goddess and a movie star famous for his role as a Greek warrior, and she was helping to save Greece and its beliefs. Frank had learned not to ask Piper about it, though. She seemed very, um, tense about the subject.
"When the time is right, the seventh demigod will be claimed," Jason continued, but Bobby interrupted from the crowd.
"But who's the seventh?" Jason looked at Reyna.
"We do not know yet, but we believe that the gods will claim their hero soon," Reyna replied. This caused unrest in the rows of Romans. Octavian rose to speak; Frank sighed, knowing what was ahead.
"My fellow Romans, let me be the first to ask. How can we trust people who are unsure of even the Seven demigods going on the quest? How can we
support such a-"
"That is ENOUGH, Octavian," Reyna looked dangerously close to loosing control. Jason attempted to cool her down, but Frank could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. Meanwhile, Percy stood up to speak. Annabeth stood up next to him.
"Look, guys, I know that we may not have a lot to go on, but we need this quest. Gaea and her giants are going to destroy each and every god and goddess- Greek, Roman, it doesn't matter. We have to defeat her. Trust me, I know how it feels to be used, like your godly parent only needs you to help solve their problems. The gods sometimes seem like they don't care, but they will claim the seventh demigod. We just need to have faith." Percy seemed a little embarrassed of his long speech, but he sat back down. Reyna's face color was back to normal, so she and Jason proceeded.
"In honor of our Greek partners, we will decide this quest with democracy. No possible quest members may vote, and the votes of Lares will not be counted. Do I have a statement of support for this quest from my legion?" Reyna asked. Surprisingly, a lot of demigods, almost 3/4, raised their hands.
"Do I have a statement against this quest?" Most of the Lares raised their hands anyway, along with Octavian, all of his posse, and a few others.
"According to majority, the Twelfth Legion will support this quest. It will go as following: Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, and one other demigod who remains yet-to-be-named will travel on the Argo II to Rome. There, they will recover son of Pluto... erm, Hades, Nico DiAngelo. They will proceed to Greece and defeat Gaea and her giants? Any questions?" No one raised their hands.
"Good," she concluded. "Senate dismissed."
Piper:
It was all Piper could do to hold it together when she saw them. Jason and Reyna. It killed her to think that someone else knew Jason as well as she did, even better than she did. But the worst was that deep down, she knew that they were far closer than she and Jason had ever been. Call it her Aphrodite-Sense, but she knew when two people 'fit'. Like Percy and Annabeth. Piper saw true love whenever she saw them together. So why didn't she get that feeling when she and Jason were together? The Fates were already cruel enough. They'd almost killed her dad, and now she couldn't even tell him who she really was. It wrenched Piper's heart whenever she had to make up another excuse as to why she couldn't come home from her new 'boarding school' for Christmas. But now they had to take away her boyfriend, the only guy she really truly liked. Piper was totally torn, because she wanted Jason to be happy, but she wanted Jason to be happy with her, not Reyna.
Leo:
Leo was SO ready for the War Games tonight. He'd heard some of the senior campers at Camp Half-Blood talking about a weekly game of capture the flag (and some weird things about that one time with the Hunters of Artemis, the Oracle, and how funny it had been to watch Percy and Grover carry her back up to the Big House), but he'd been so busy with the Argo II he hadn't really done any normal camp activities for the past few months. So he was psyched.
Percy had explained all the rules to the Greeks- from what Leo caught when he wasn't tuning out, it was basically like capture the flag. All weapons were allowed, all powers were A-OK (provided Leo could control them), and all violence was expected.
Apparently there had been some talk about the Graechus not being able to defend themselves, or not being "worthy" to go on the quest. What better way to prove them wrong than by a spur-of-the-moment war game the night after the Senate meeting?
Everyone stood on the edge of the Field of Mars. Leo saw where the trench made by the Argo II had been hastily filled in with dirt. The Greeks stood out- even more than usual- in Greek-style armor. Percy looked grateful trading in Roman armor for Greek armor. Leo agreed- combat boots definitely weren't Percy's style.
Reyna gave some final instructions from her pegasus. Leo heard somewhere that its name was Skippy, but that had to be some kind of a joke, right?Who names their godly winged horse after a brand of peanut butter? Anyway, there were some changes to the usual lineup. The fifth and third cohorts would attack, the second and fourth would defend, and the first would try to trip up both sides. The change was met with a surprising amount of support. Jason and Reyna, as usual, would act as battlefield refs.
"The war games have begun! You have ten minutes to plan with your teams. Good luck!" Reyna danced away on her pegasus, and Jason flew after her. Percy looked flabbergasted.
"How can he...?" he asked. Annabeth explained, and Percy started to laugh. "Good thing Thalia doesn't have that power, then. Did I ever tell you about the time she drove Apollo's sun chariot? She was so scared..." Annabeth shook her head.
"No way, Seaweed Brain, you aren't getting me distracted. For the next few hours, we're enemies. Then you can tell me about Thalia and whatever the Hades you guys did while I was abducted." Percy looked pouty.
"Seaweed Brain? Aww, you even have your own pet-name, Percy. How adorably romantic," Hazel teased.
"Wait, wait wait. Annabeth got abducted, and you and Jason's long-lost sister got to ride in Apollo's sun chariot?" Frank cut in.
"Don't even get them started, dude. You think normal demigods have weird adventures?" Leo tried to help Frank. Annabeth had tried to keep Leo entertained one day while he was working on the Argo II by telling about all of her and Percy's adventures. The entire time, Leo was like you could fit this into a book series!
The conversation was ended by the groups of cohorts getting together. Annabeth and Percy kissed each other "for good luck"- like they needed an excuse- and Annabeth went over to join the group of second and fourth cohort demigods.
"Okay, so anyone got a plan?" Percy asked.
"Well, I do know that Octavian and his buddies are going to be attacking the Greeks. If he makes them look helpless or bad in any way, he's won," Hazel said. Percy nodded.
"Good point. Okay, since they know I can kick their sorry podexes, they won't be targeting me. They'll be going after Leo." At this point, everyone looked at Leo- that is, except for Hazel, who come to think of it had never met his gaze. "So Leo, you go out there and act all 'helpless, defenseless Greek trying to attack solo because thats how stupid Greeks think' and whatever. What kind of weapon do you use? Knife? Sword?" Percy asked.
Technically Leo's only tools were his tool belt (which looked really stupid tied over his armor, by the way) and his fire. But he often used the hammer from the tool belt...
"Um, a hammer, I guess." Leo stuttered, getting laughs from most of the Romans.
"Oh right, I forgot you're a Hephaestus kid. You good with your hands?"
"Yeah..." Leo was good with his hands, especially when he could control the flames shooting out of them.
"Good. So like I said, you go out there all doe-eyed. Then they try to attack and-"
"And I open fire on 'em!" Leo shouted, pumping his fist in the air.
"Open fire? You have a gun with Celestial bronze bullets or something?"
"Celestial bronze bullets! Why didn't I think of that... oh, um, anyway. Nah, I don't have a gun. When I say open fire..." Leo took a deep breath, and all the other demigods looked at him in anticipation. Here we go, thought Leo. He opened his hand and let the flames dance in his fingers.
"...I mean open fire."
Frank:
Frank was trying hard not to run away. Fire, seriously? It seemed like a sick joke. Out of all the demigods in the world, the one Frank was supposed to go on a quest with could control fire. It was basically Frank's worst nightmare, only it was reality. Even by demigod standards, that was scary.
All the demigods backed away from Leo, who closed his hand and extinguished the flames. Percy was the first to recover from the shock.
"Leo, how...?" Was all Percy managed to say.
"Um, son of Hephaestus thing, I guess. I can use it though, right? It would scare Octavian out of his skin!" Leo, obviously regretting showing everyone the fire, tried to change topics. Percy slowly nodded, getting more accustomed to the idea.
"Yeah, that would totally work. So you get the first cohort on your tail- don't torch them too much, now- and we get to the fort. They'll be too busy going after the rest of the Greeks anyway. Just hold them off for as long as you can." Percy turned to the rest of the group. "So we sneak by, I divert the water cannons if necessary, Frank and Hannibal bust down the doors, walls, whatever-"
"What about the scorpions and fireballs?" One girl from the fourth cohort asked.
"Good point. For the scorpions... Hazel, could you do those pit-falls again?" Hazel nodded. Last time, Hazel had created spur-of-the-moment holes in the ground that enemies and scorpions alike fell into. The other demigods would be more wary this time, but scorpions were still scorpions. "Good. The fire might be harder, but I guess we'll just have to stay on our feet. We'll attack in star formation, and once Frank gets the walls knocked down, Frank- you double back into formation- and we swarm. I'll cover Annabeth personally, she'll have some nasty tricks up her sleeve. So let's win this!" Percy finished just in time, as Jason yelled, "Cohorts, to your formations! Begin!"
Annabeth:
Annabeth's eyes were stormy. There had to be a way to beat Seaweed Brain and his cohort. Otherwise, he'd never let her live it down. She surveyed the group. There was a pretty good-looking bunch of demigods; tough and ready to fight. Bobby started making plans, and everyone else (who obviously knew to listen to children of battle strategy) looked to him for advice. Unlike attackers, defense was sort of cut-and-dried. Bobby assigned demigods to the water cannons ("Remember, don't shoot them at Percy again. You know what happened last time." All the other campers groaned in agreement), put people to defend in the inner room where the banners were held, set some on 'Scorpion Duty', whatever that was, and the rest would be positioned along the inner walls.
"Now, Hannibal- and I presume our part-time pachyderm friend from the Fifth- will be knocking down our doors and outer walls, so stay away from there. Mind Levesque's insta-pits, but I don't think she'll use the tunnels again. And as always, there's Percy..." Annabeth spoke up.
"I can take Percy. That stupid invincible Seaweed Brain can't outfight me," she said, earning her some weird looks.
"Invincible? Percy was invincible at some point?"
"Gods, I am sure glad that wore off before he came here!"
"Imagine having to fight the best warrior at camp and he's invincible to boot!" Various kids called out. Annabeth was incredibly confused. Percy's curse had worn off? It didn't seem possible. But she pushed that train of thought away. She'd ask him after she beat him.
"Yeah, at one point he was... never mind for now. I can still take Percy, but what about that jerk Octavian and his cohort? Won't they be targeting the Greeks from both sides?" Annabeth looked to Bobby. It was hard not taking control, but from the medals on his chest, Bobby had obviously earned his place as leader.
"Oh yeah. Um..." Even he seemed at a loss. Surprisingly, Piper burst out form the crowd.
"I think I can help with that," she said quietly. The Romans snickered.
"What are you gonna do? Bribe him with an autograph from Daddy? Fix his makeup?"At this point, Piper was mad. She turned to the girl that had said it, but suddenly Piper's face changed.
"You know what would make me really happy?" Her voice was honey-like, and had Annabeth not been exposed to her (and Drew's) charm-speak before, she would have been lapping up every word. Instantly, the girl looked like her life goal was to please Piper. "Why don't you come up here, yep, up to the front, and do a nice little dance for us?" The girl ran up to the front of the group and began to hula in full body armor, looking to Piper for encouragement the whole time. "Okay, that's good. You're so helpful!" The girl ran back to her place in line, and suddenly shook her head as if waking up from a dream.
"Wha..? Hey! What did you do to me!" Some of her fellow demigods had to restrain her. All the Romans looked at Piper in awe.
"Yeah, I think I can hold them off," she said, much louder this time. Bobby took to the front once more.
"We can do this! To positions!" he said, as Reyna announced the start of the games.
Frank:
Frank ran over to Hannibal and concentrated on every part of him. The long trunk, leathery grey skin, ginormous ears. Frank tuned out the battle that had just begun raging behind him, and slowly felt his body expanding, changing. Soon, there were two elephants standing side by side. Hannibal (who had grown accustomed to his twin) looked to Ele-Frank to lead, and Frank charged at the doors, trying desperately not to step on any of his teammates. Hannibal followed in pursuit. Needless to say, the fort's doors and most of its outer wall were reduced to rubble in practically no time at all. Frank quickly changed into an eagle and flew over to the giant star formation, where he turned back into, well, himself and began to fight. Now came the hard part.
Hazel:
Hazel stood near the front of the formation, ready to divert any scorpions or enemies (and in Octavian's case, what was the difference?) from attacking. A few water cannons burst, but everyone knew by now that if anything, the only thing the water did was make Percy fight better. And that was something none of his enemies wanted. So instead they unleashed the scorpions on the attackers. Hazel felt a tingle in her hands, and a giant trench, much like the one made by the Argo II when it first landed, acted as a cage for the scorpions.
Predictably, none of the demigods fell for that trick again. They skirted around the hole and attacked. Hazel pulled our her sword and took a deep breath. She was ready.
Percy:
Percy headed the group of demigods. He darted out of the way so the elephants wouldn't step on them, and once the outer walls had been breached, the demigods began attacking and fighting like there was no tomorrow. Percy looked around for Annabeth. Where was she? He came to the realization that she could be invisible just as an invisible knife pressed itself into his throat. Percy reached out, praying he was right, and threw off Annabeth's Yankees cap.
"Game on!" he shouted, and they began to fight.
Annabeth:
Annabeth and Percy found themselves locked in combat. Percy had actually influenced his fighting style: Annabeth saw him use some of the same moves as the Romans around them.
But that couldn't stop her. She fought back and though she knew neither of them could really beat the other, she didn't care. She was too in love with the fact that finally, she was fighting Percy again.
Piper:
Piper ran down to fight off attacking Romans when she heard a laugh behind her. She spun around, Katatrophis in hand, as she came face-to-face with Octavian and a few of his "closest friends".
"Like the Greeks could ever out-fight a Roman!" he laughed again, and Piper took a deep breath. She let her voice turn sweet as she powered the words she was about to say.
"Now, do you really want to do that? Hurting me wouldn't make me very happy at all. You know what you should do? Call off the attacks on my team, and go focus on the third and fifth cohorts. That Leo kid looks like a big, bad Greek to me. Do you want to go fight him instead? As a favor to me?" she pleaded, batting her eyes. Octavian stepped back as if in a trance.
"How could I be so stupid? First cohort, attack the third and fifth!" he cried, running towards the attackers. His friends looked a little confused, but they weren't about to disobey Octavian, so they followed him. Piper praised herself, and began to fight once again.
Leo:
Leo saw Octavian and co. running towards him. Time for some action.
"Not today you scarecrow!" Leo shouted, and he lit his hands. Arrogance turned to fear in Octavian's eyes as Leo shot fireballs after them. Once they were far gone, Percy held his sword to Annabeth's neck as he shouted,
"Good job Leo! You can douse the flames now!" Leo felt so proud. He actually had helped. But, as always, Leo spoke too soon.
As he tried to extinguish his fire, he just... couldn't. Instead, the flames shot farther and farther out. Leo saw the field catching fire, Reyna and Jason calling off the games as the entire fort was engulfed in flame. Leo heard a voice he'd never wanted to hear again.
Fight now, little pawn, but your flame will kill all those you care about. Just like your mother. You think fire is a gift? Fire only means destruction, and I've made sure that your flame causes damage. Won't it be nice to see everyone you love burning, screaming for you to stop, and you can't. You aren't even hurt at all. Burn, demigod. BURN! Gaea laughed as Leo put his flaming hands to his head.
"STOP!" he cried, falling to his knees. Leo feared that the blaze would never end, that he would destroy the only family who'd ever really liked him, but he was soon engulfed in wave after cool ocean wave. Percy continued to flood the field as all the demigods, Greek and Roman, looked at Leo in shock. Octavian looked like he was about to say something, but Jason cut him off.
"Leo..." Leo couldn't meet their eyes, as tears brimmed in his own.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry..." and he ran, past the demigods, past the steaming field, and into the dry summer evening.
Leo:
Leo ran and ran, not even caring where he went anymore. He felt the Mist lift as he passed Camp Jupiter's borders. Heart pumping, he sprinted away from the smoke rising off the field, the shocked faces of the only family he'd ever really had. The world around him was a blur. After what seemed like forever, he finally stopped in the middle of a suburban street. Happy, aloof mortals sat on porches, laughing, completely oblivious to the world around them. For the first time in a long time, Leo thought of his mom, how he had ruined their life. The memory was too painful to bear.
Shut up, Valdez. No time to feel sorry for yourself, Leo thought to himself. He began to stroll down the street, absentmindedly gazing at the happy families enjoying the perfect summer weather. Anything to get his mind off of... everything. Leo was so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't even see the little boy that ran out onto the sidewalk. Leo skidded to a stop before he ran the little kid over- he was still in his armor, and crushing someone in that would definitely leave some nasty bruises. The boy looked up at him with huge brown eyes.
"Hi! I'm Tanner what's your name are you a knight I like knights I get to play knights with my older sister her name is Gemma only she's not a knight she's the princess-" he was cut off by a woman, presumably his mother, coming down from her lawn.
"Tanner, come here! We don't talk to strangers, remember?" She turned to Leo. "I'm so sorry. He's on a bit of a Medieval Knight phase and you're wearing... armor..." she seemed to notice this as she said it.
"Oh, yeah. About that... it's actually Greek armor. I'm, uh, advertising- yeah, advertising for a Greek exhibit in that one museum..." Leo prayed that she'd take the bait.
"Oh, I didn't know about that. Thank you again for putting up with Tanner. I know he can be a handful."
"It's no problem, honestly." Leo forced himself to smile. The kid reminded him so much of himself when he'd been younger, with his dark, curly hair and big brown eyes. Tanner and his mother walked back to their house, and Leo continued on his way.
Leo had actually been mistaken for a knight. A knight. But knights were supposed to help, to defend what is right. And all Leo could do was cause destruction. He wasn't a knight. He didn't deserve to be one of the Seven. He didn't even deserve to be a demigod.
As sunset faded to night, Leo dug a bedroll and a thin blanket out of his tool belt. He found a patch of woods on the outskirt of the neighborhood and settled down for the night.
Right before sleep took over, Leo made himself a promise: no matter if he never truly found a home, if he never got to have a family, he would never hurt anyone. Ever. Again.
Jason:
Leo ran off into the woods, faster than Jason had ever seen him run before. Jason started to follow him, but was pulled back by Reyna.
"He needs to do this alone. Your campers here are the ones who truly need your help." He turned around to see everyone staring at him, silently begging for reassurance, or instructions, or both. Percy had adverted disaster by flooding the field with water from the Little Tiber, and once all the flames were gone, he channeled the water back to the riverbed.
The Field of Mars, one of the 12th Legion's greatest prides, lay in ruins. In addition to the trenches dug by Hazel, the debris from the toppled fort, and the normal scuffle marks from War Games, the entire field had been torched. The grass, now dry and black, crunched under Jason's feet as he surveyed the damage. Most of the demigods were trying to dry themselves off- to extinguish the whole area, Percy had doused the warriors as well as the landscape around them.
Jason was in shock. He knew that Leo sometimes had trouble controlling his powers, but it had never been this bad. How could such a nice guy cause such utter destruction?
"Demigods! Stay calm!" Reyna commanded. But she didn't need to. For once, every demigod in Camp Jupiter was silent. Eyes scanned their surroundings, begging for some sort of command to be taken. Piper ran to Jason, and not for the first time, he noticed how beautiful she was. Her chocolatey hair streamed out of her armor. Her eyes, barely visible under the shadow of her helmet, were a constant meld of blue, green, and hazel-y brown. But Jason was Praetor. He didn't have time to stare into Piper's shining face... he had a duty to his legionnaires.
"Jason, how could he have... why would he... where did he even go? We have to find Leo, we have to!" Jason never thought Piper would cry over Leo, whom she'd laughed with so many times in the past. But she was right. Something had to be done. Jason looked at his troops, an ironic mix of singed and doused, and the leader in him took over.
"We need a crew to, ah, fix the field after tonight's incident. Ivy and Eden," he gestured to twins standing side-by-side, surprised he even remembered their names. "You and the rest of Ceres's children start on re-growing the fields. Dakota and your siblings, same goes for you- just try whatever you can. Ryan, I want you, Riley, Hank, Nikki, Kevin, and Natalie on general War Games cleanup. For fort repair and deconstruction, Bobby, you lead Devon, Claire, Miller, Kristen, Maya, Alex, and Jordan. The rest of you can help out if you want, or can retire for the night." To tell the truth, he really just picked the people he recognized the most, but everyone seemed pretty OK with their jobs.
"I need all the potential quest members to stay. The rest of you are dismissed," Reyna said. The demigods set out to get tools or to go back to their barracks. Soon enough, the only one there besides the questers was, surprise surprise, Octavian. Reyna cut him off before he even got to speak. "And not a word from you, Octavian." She practically spit the name.
Octavian refused to take no for an answer, of course, and took a deep breath. Jason sighed, remembering Octavian's signal that one of his tirades was about to begin.
"I told you from the very beginning, Reyna." There was even more venom, more ice in his voice than there had been in hers. "The Greeks are nothing but disaster for the Romans. There was a reason Rome lasted for centuries longer than Greece. Greeks have no self-control. They think of nothing and no one but themselves. How are we to defeat Gaea when one of the so-called 'chosen' can't even stop himself from potentially injuring his allies, his friends? He BURNED THE FIELD TO THE GROUND, Reyna. And no matter how long you continue to deny it, look around you. You aren't stupid, Reyna." At this point he was practically hissing in her ear, causing a wave of over-protective-ness to wash over Jason. "But you need to look around you. And you need to decide what's really best for the Camp. That's all I ask." With that, Octavian turned and stalked away.
Jason cursed under his breath. Leave it to Octavian to make turning on the Greeks sound like the sensible idea. He could tell Reyna was weighing her options, her eyes were guarded and clouded. Jason had discovered long ago, probably even before Reyna herself, that his fellow praetor's fatal flaw was indecision. She was proud and impulsive, and generally had good judgement, but the slightest pushing could cause her to reexamine every decision she'd ever made. Jason could see the wheels turning, and decided Reyna turning against the cause would create a foe the demigods could not afford to have. Besides, she could still be the seventh demigod. Secretly, Jason was hoping she'd be the seventh demigod; her instinct would make her perfect for this kind of thing.
Jason turned to her and barely whispered to her, pretending not to see Piper flinch at the action. That was a problem for another day.
"Don't listen to him. Just stay with your judgement. You're always right," he breathed into her ear. Reyna barely nodded, like she was convincing herself to do just that. She sighed and finally seemed to notice the five other demigods next to her; Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, and Frank looked patiently back at her.
"We need to talk. Now." Reyna commanded. "Go back to your barracks and change out of your armor, and meet me back in the dining pavilion. Immediately." She strode off. Everyone looked at Jason in obvious confusion, and he just shrugged.
"You probably don't want to disobey her," he said, and started back to his bunk.
Annabeth:
"You can't be serious!" Annabeth shouted. People had seen Annabeth mad, but (with the possible exception of Percy) never this mad. She and Reyna looked each other in the eyes, steely grey meeting blazing olive. The two daughters of battle were definitely living up to their names.
"Leo is a loose cannon. We cannot sacrifice Roman troops to go look for him. If he returns, it must be of his own choice." Reyna's voice was dangerously calm, but Annabeth knew that the other girl was at her breaking point.
"You've known Leo for less than a week. You have absolutely no right to judge him in any way. And even if the loss of one of the best campers here doesn't concern you, he was a confirmed member of the quest. You can't find a replacement for fate," Annabeth spat. The two had been going at each other like this for almost an hour. Reyna's eyes narrowed, and she reached to her sword. Annabeth opened her mouth, but Percy suddenly wedged himself between them.
"Why don't we just settle this tomorrow? You're both tired, the rest of us are tired, and if I have to hear you guys screaming at each other for one more second..." Percy glared at them both. Annabeth wheeled to face Percy, who instantly backed off with his hands in a gesture of surrender. He'd seen that look on Annabeth before and didn't like where he knew this was heading.
"In case you haven't noticed, Perseus, one of our campers is missing-in-action. Sorry, but this is slight priority over your sleep schedule!" Percy flinched at the use of his real name, which Annabeth never, ever used unless she was really mad. Like I'll-gut-you-without-a-second-glance mad. Percy looked to the rest of the group for support; everyone quickly stepped back. But Jason spoke up.
"Percy's right. We're all a little shaken about what's happened in the past few hours. I'm sure everyone'll be much more... agreeable come tomorrow." Hazel, Piper, and Frank nodded hastily. Annabeth narrowed her eyes, but Reyna sighed.
"They're right, you know. I'm just a little frazzled about what happened. Truce?" Reyna held out her hand. There was still anger in her eyes, but Reyna seemed to realize that they were going nowhere with all the fighting. Annabeth glared at her.
"Truce," Annabeth replied though gritted teeth. She shook Reyna's hand stiffly and stalked off back to her cabin. She heard Reyna and Jason dismissing the rest of the group, but she didn't look back. Percy jogged up to meet her after a minute or so, but she brushed past him without a word. She didn't want to see anyone, not even Percy. Annabeth stormed into her barrack and it took all her power not to slam the door behind her and wake all the sleeping Romans in there. Instead, she settled into a restless sleep.
She found herself in a place just like her Camp Half-Blood cabin. Bookshelves surrounded her, filled with ancient scrolls and modern manuscripts alike. Suddenly, Annabeth knew where she was.
"No way," she breathed, her mood forgotten. She was in the frickin' Library of Congress. The restricted section. Number three on her "top places I have to see" list. And it was all she'd ever imagined, even if she was only dreaming. Annabeth walked around slowly, wondering what she should dig into first. But she spotted someone alone, sitting at a far table in the corner. As Annabeth walked closer, she realized who it was. The woman studied the scroll in her hands, her gray eyes completely locked on the writing. Annabeth kneeled.
"Mother."
Athena turned to look at her favorite daughter, a quiet pride glowing in her face.
"Annabeth." As was the way of the war goddess, Athena wasted no time on formalities. "I have limited time and so much to tell you. Sit." Annabeth obliged. "It took too much time for me to break through the boundaries, the Romans' as well as Zeus's. But never mind that. I saw the fight you had with the praetor girl. I have known for a while, but this was the right time to tell you. You are the final demigod of the Great Prophecy." Annabeth gasped.
"Me?"
"Don't look so astounded. The Fates choose only the best when it comes to saving the world. But be warned. If the quest is to fail, it will be by your hand. Long before you were born, I made a mistake. I- I let my pride cloud my vision. And I was told that one day, the child I depended on most would suffer the consequences." She looked at her favorite daughter, her eyes dreary like dirty rainwater. "The Mark of Athena will blind you. And if you cannot conquer it..." Annabeth was speechless. "Know that I am proud of you. I have faith that you will choose the right path. Now go, before Zeus discovers us."
Athena waved her hand, and Annabeth awoke, upright in her bed, trembling and covered in cold sweat.
Piper:
Piper still couldn't get used to not having him around. He was always the calm, comic relief that everyone needed in the middle of the storm. But Leo was gone. She'd tossed and turned all night, not knowing what to do. Should they go after him, like Annabeth said? Her heart agreed with the daughter of Athena- Leo had rescued her in more ways than one so many times. But what Reyna said rang true as well. They couldn't put the quest at risk. Gaea sure as Hades wasn't going to wait for the seven demigods to get perfectly situated before attacking. Which to trust, her head or her heart? Piper finally fell into a restless, but thankfully dreamless, sleep.
The next morning, she woke at noon (unthinkably long considering the Roman rules, but she figured Reyna had let her sleep in late because the meeting last night had lasted until almost four in the morning), gratefully well-rested but still indecisive. Not knowing what else to do, Piper decided to IM Camp Half-Blood, not seeking the advice of anyone in particular, but someone- anyone- who she could just spill her mind to. She walked over to the bathhouse and threw a drachma into the rainbowy mist seeping through the doors.
"O, Iris, goddess of the rainbow, show me... someone who I can talk to at Camp Half-Blood." Piper felt more than a little stupid, but the mist responded to reveal none other than Piper's half-sister, Lacy. With her curly blonde pigtails and brace-face teeth, Lacy wasn't exactly the stereotypical daughter of Aphrodite. But then again, neither was Piper.
Piper cleared her throat, and Lacy, who'd been looking through magazines and clipping new pictures to post on her Hottie Collage, looked up frantically. When she saw Piper, Lacy's entire face brightened.
"Piper! Oh my gods how've you been how are the Romans did you find Percy have you gone on the quest yet guess what I was at my school dance last weekend before we got out for summer break and I danced with the cutest guy his name was Carter and I go to school with his sister Sadie but they look nothing alike he was SO cute with curly hair and tan skin and the nicest smile but I could tell there was something weird about him Drew says to stay away from Sadie and her brother 'cuz they creep he out or whatever I just think she thinks Sadie ruins her image-"
"Um, that's nice, Lacy," Piper interrupted kindly. Lacy took a breath for the first time since she'd seen Piper. Lacy nodded eagerly, her curly pigtails bouncing as if an invisible force was tugging them.
"So why did you call? Please tell me there isn't any bad news. Chiron'll be really upset..." Lacy had calmed down considerably.
"Um, well, Leo's run away. He thought he was going to hurt us all because he couldn't control his fire. And the head of the Romans doesn't want to look for him, but Annabeth thinks we should. And I don't know who to agree with. Sorry for bugging you, I just needed someone to talk to." Emotion clouded Piper's voice, and Lacy looked thoughtful.
"Leo's the guy you normally go to for this stuff, isn't he," she said kindly, more a statement than a question. Piper nodded slowly. She really needed Leo, the entire quest needed Leo.
"Well, I think you have your answer. You're going to have to think about it by yourself, but Leo's more than your fellow soldier. He's your friend who's sacrificed a lot for you. Maybe it's time to repay him." Piper had never heard her bubbly half-sister speak so wisely, but she immediately took Lacy's advice to heart.
"Thanks, Lacy. I'll call you back when we have more news. Tell Chiron we found Percy and everyone's OK for now." Piper managed to smile.
"OK bye! Keep us updated!" Lacy waved and Piper cut the connection. She knew what she was going to do.
And that's all I have. Thanks for reading!