Hi! This is NOT my first fanfic but I'm still pretty inexperienced. I'd really appreciate it if you gave me your advice!
So I think that the Mark of Athena should start sometime when they're on the boat going to Rome. So this is the much longed-for reunion.
To Clara-Ann, Amanda, Elena, Vicki and all my friends who read and reviewed this fanfic before it was published.
Percy POV
The Roman demigods drew their weapons as the Argo II landed, right on the border. Terminus lost it.
"This is ridiculous! You are breaking nearly every rule set about this border! So many weapons… so many rules broken…" he groaned, his torso waggling erratically. "Come here, you stupid flying, rule-breaking boat! I'm going to crush you!"
Percy walked up next to Reyna. "I don't wish for war. I hope you are right," she spoke softly, but Percy saw that she had sheathed her dagger. Good sign, right?
Percy nodded. "The Greeks won't attack. I'm pretty sure. We are not as," he paused to consider, "aggressive as Romans are. If it does come to war, I'm fully prepared to defend Camp Jupiter." As he spoke, he grasped the full meaning of his words. If Octavian persuaded enough campers to fight, he would have no choice but to fight against the Greeks, his family.
Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw Frank and Hazel She had explained her situation with Sammy and Leo, and he tried his best to reassure her. "Don't panic. It'll be alright." She nodded and took a deep breath. Percy smiled at her, and Hazel smiled shakily back.
Finally, the passengers on the Argo II began to disembark. First, a blonde haired guy stepped off. His hair was regulation-cut, but he wore an orange T-shirt. Percy supposed that that had to be Jason, since Reyna sheathed her dagger in front of him. Some from the Fifth Cohort lowered their weapons, but the rest stood ready. Jason cupped his mouth and shouted over the distance. "We come in peace!" Percy snorted.
Octavian, who had been steaming silently, exploded. "This is clearly a trick! The Greeks will attack the minute you let down your guard, and Jason has led them here!" he shrieked, pulling a few seams out from a faded green toy rabbit. "This new praetor of yours is leading them! There is no doubt!"
When Jason reached the Romans, he unsheathed a gladius that was hanging by his side and placed it on the ground, proving that he was unarmed. "Seriously, Octavian, would I really lead a Greek camp here to destroy the Romans? Relax."
At that point, the whole Twelfth legion chose to ignore Octavian's protests and dropped their weapons. The rest of the Greek demigods disembarked. Percy waited anxiously until Annabeth stepped off. Her eyes searched until they rested on Percy. She smiled, but hung back, looking slightly worried. Percy waved and grinned.
Once Jason closed the gap between the Greek and Roman demigods, Annabeth broke into a run, tackling Percy in a bear hug. "Percy! You're okay! Your mom called to tell us about your message; she said you were on a quest. Why didn't you Iris-message us or something? Do you know how worried I've been? We weren't sure you were going to come back alive! Thank god! I wasn't sure if you would remember me because Jason showed up with Piper and Leo, he couldn't remember anything at all. What took you so long to contact us? It's been EIGHT MONTHS." She looked as if she was going to punch Percy.
"Hera actually put me to sleep for eight months. Then I went on a quest to free Thanatos, god of death. That's why monsters stay dead now. And I tried to Iris-message, but someone jammed the line, for some reason. I would've called, but…" he shrugged. He hadn't remembered Annabeth's number until recently. Then Annabeth did punch him. "Ow," he complained. He'd grown a few inches over the past few months, so Percy couldn't see her expression,.
Over her shoulder, Percy saw Jason's orange shirt disappear inside a sea of purple. Octavian had run back to Jupiter's temple to avoid being trampled. Percy pitied the teddy bear that was on the receiving end of Octavian's anger as he heard a loud RIIIIP! coming from the temple. Reyna looked on, while Frank and Hazel were trying to talk to Leo and a dark-haired girl, who must have been Piper. Hazel was pale and she trembled slightly while talking to Leo.
Annabeth saw Percy looking. "That's Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, and Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, the guy who sent you the message. Piper seems to like Jason, and vice versa, though I'm not sure now…." Percy knew what she meant. Reyna clearly had a crush on Jason, though she did a good job of hiding it. But something else had caught his attention. Valdez?
He walked forward to Hazel and Frank, still holding Annabeth's hand." Hazel still seemed a bit panicky, so Percy introduced himself. "Hi, I'm-"
"Percy Jackson, we know. You're famous, man." Leo interrupted.
"Leo Valdez," Hazel emphasized, her voice trembling. Percy nodded and studied Leo. He did look a lot like Sammy.
Leo looked freaked out. He couldn't seem to figure out why Hazel looked so freaked out too. Percy tried to help.
"Do you know a… Sammy Valdez?"
Leo looked as freaked out as Hazel. "Um, my grandpa Sammy? He's dead."
"Grand-pa?" Hazel looked close to fainting. Then she slowly nodded. "Grandpa. Right." Her face slowly began to regain its color.
"Been dead for years. I never knew him," Leo said flatly. "How could you know him?" It was a valid question. Hazel was at least two years younger than Leo.
"Long story." Frank said, saving Hazel. "And we don't have time."
Piper smiled at Percy. She was very pretty. He couldn't decide the colour of her eyes. "Thanks for not blowing us out of the sky."
"Hey, we're all on the same side. I knew that. I wouldn't have, even without prior warning."
Almost on cue, Reyna approached the group. "Percy, I would appreciate it if everyone returned to their cabins and the centurions gather with the Greek demigods at the Senate Room. I am certain we all have some extraordinary adventures to tell of," she smiled slightly at the sight of Jason being paraded around the camp.
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The Senate Room was crowded. The centurions sat in front, along with all the Greeks and Romans. As Percy made his way to the front, he noticed that Rachel was there. She sat with the Greek demigods, looking perfectly calm in her usual T-shirt and shorts.
Percy stood to let Jason sit on the praetor's seat, but Jason shook his head.
"You've been raised as the praetor. It's your right to take your place as the praetor." Percy found it totally unfair, but sat down, feeling awkward to be sitting away from his Camp Half-Blood friends on the praetor's seat like a king. Jason sat among the Greeks, with Leo and Piper in the front row. Jason told his story, Leo and Piper occasionally adding parts.
When Jason was finished, Percy told his story, starting from the time he left the wolf house. All of them listened in silence until he explained the part about carrying Juno across the river.
"You lost the curse of Achilles?" Annabeth asked. Percy nodded
"I'm not invulnerable anymore." That's why it hurt when you punched me, he added mentally.
Reyna suddenly interrupted. "You bore the curse of Achilles?"
"Yes, I did. I lost it when I carried Juno across the river. Something about it being a Greek curse and the Tiber would wash it away, yadda, yadda, yadda."
"She made you lose your invulnerability?" Annabeth shook her head. "I knew they shouldn't have freed that her."
So Percy continued his story, Hazel telling the part where Percy fell from the ice, and Frank turning into an elephant. Frank turned red and smiled proudly. Percy added that Frank was also descended from Poseidon. When they finished their story, Reyna spoke. "It has been made clear that the Argo II must sail to Rome. So far, six out of the seven of the prophecy have been identified."
All the Greek demigods turned to Rachel. Reyna noticed and stopped talking. She looked questioningly over at Percy. He nodded absently and looked at Rachel. He gestured for her to explain.
"I'm Rachel, the Oracle of Delphi. I delivered the prophecy that you're talking about." Suddenly laughter erupted from the corner of the room. Percy turned and saw Octavian. He hadn't noticed him slip in from the Temple of Jupiter.
"That prophecy has been in the Sibylline books since the beginning of the Roman empire. We've known about it for centuries. Do you honestly think that we would believe that you delivered the prophecy of seven?" he scoffed.
Yeah, and you have so much credibility, Percy thought.
Rachel shot him a look. "Do you deny the existence of the Oracle of Delphi from the Greek stories? The Greeks also needed a source to tell the future in times of difficulty." Octavian turned red and glared at Rachel. "I can usually sense certain things. And I can tell that the seven of the prophecy are in the room right now. Nothing more specific." Percy waited for her to say something else, but she sat down.
Everyone was buzzing. Who was the last member? Percy considered it, and he remembered what he had said to Hera the night before. He'd said that Annabeth was the one he'd most want to have watching his back. She'd said that she would be coming on the quest with him. He stood up, raising his hand for silence.
"I think I know who the last member of this quest is." He could feel everyone's eyes on him. He turned to Annabeth and looked her straight in the eye. "It's Annabeth." There were some cries of protest from the Romans. But the Greeks cheered. Percy looked for her reaction. There was an expectant look in her eyes. She wanted an explanation.
"Juno-Hera, that is, visited me in a dream. She told me that Annabeth would be a part of this quest. You wouldn't contradict the Queen of Olympus, would you?"
Octavian shot back, "Then why must you leave immediately? I was under the impression," he sneered. "That you have recently freed Thanatos? Why hurry? We should take time to train and prepare for the tasks ahead." Some of the campers started nodding in agreement. Percy was about to stand up to argue, but Hazel beat him to it.
"We have to leave now because my brother Nico di Angelo's been captured by Gaia. He's a son of Pluto, by the way," she explained.
Percy grimaced. He'd forgotten. "They all know Nico."
Reyna looked at the Greek demigods, "You know Nico di Angelo?"
Percy replied, "Yep. Most of us do. Because Nico is actually a Greek demigod. You've known him all along."
You know, when I was thinking about Nico, I think that he has too many OOCs. I think that I might introduce some of Nico's alter egos to my fanfiction page. Stay tuned! R&R! Give me your thoughts! Goodbye! Adieu! Ciao! Fare-*grandma drags away from computer*
OH! I forgot the disclaimer!
Here it is: I Don't own any content of this story. None of the characters, none of the places, NOTHING! This is a completely book-based fic!
