Helloooooo, my readers! Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long! But, yes, I finally finished the first chapter. And to new readers, I strongly recommend you to read Nico's Double Troubles first, because the two stories are closely related. Anyway, the summary has already stated this story's main idea, so there's no reason for me to stall any longer.

I present you...the grand first chapter of Light and Shadow! Enjoy!

-Amber-

Disclaimer: You know I'm only a student. We definitely aren't Rick Riordan. And we definitely couldn't have written the PJ series and the HoO series. Everything recognizable from the books belong to RR!

Chapter 1 June

After Percy Jackson left, I fell back into my bed. It was so soft, which cruelly contrasted with the most uncomfortable night I had squeezing with July in Fort Tryon Park. But I would do anything to exchange this real bed with that park bench. As I stared at the sky through the curtains, I spent a few minutes considering my situation. But thinking was getting me nowhere. I decided to scout around New Rome a bit and try to find Percy again. Maybe he can tell me what to do. I grudgingly got out of bed. Some new clothes were piled in the cabinet next to my bed. My backpack and hair pin was there too. So was my old outfit, apparently washed and dried, but my T-shirt was obviously torn beyond wearing. Looking at them wrenched my heart. I pulled on a new purple T-shirt and my old jeans, grabbed my belongings, and hurried out the room.

As I walked out of the door, I automatically halted and looked back. The room was empty, of course. Then why had I feel compelled to stop? I was confused, trying to figure out if something was missing. Then realization hit me with a pang. I was waiting for July. We were literally never a few meters away from each other all our life. If we weren't twins, if we weren't demigods who were constantly stalked after, we wouldn't be so close. I had gotten used to waiting for July. Tears stung my eyelids, but I push my emotions down and slammed the door shut. Compared to moaning over my misfortune, action was what I should choose.

After getting out of the hospital-like white building, I found myself standing on a bustling street. Rushing along the stone paved road were teenagers, some in casual clothes, some in shiny armor. Mingled among them were a few dozens of shimmering purplish ghosts. I was suddenly self conscious about my appearance, my chopped hair, my scrapped limbs…everything. But nobody paid me attention. I wasn't used to that, since July and I were always stared at because we're twins. But now I was grateful. I didn't need more inquiries. I walked down the road, with no clear direction. As I walked, I heard snippets of conversation from the Romans. They were smiling and laughing, talking about a battle yesterday. As far as I understood, Gaea sent an army of nasties to invade but Percy Jackson and his friends saved the day again. Percy's victory made me think of my failure. Why couldn't I protect my sister like he had protected the whole camp? Now I was even more certain that I had to find him. He would definitely have ways to send me to Camp Half-blood, wouldn't he?

I had reached a crossroad when I heard someone calling behind me. "Hey, you! Wait up!" Uncertain if it was meant for me, I looked back. A short plump boy with flaming red hair was pushing his way through people towards me. I could've ignored him, but his sweaty, flushed face made me unable to turn away, the way I couldn't turn away from kittens with a heat stroke.

"Thank you, thank you for stopping." The boy panted. He looked around my age, probably a few years older. "I looked everywhere for you!"

"You were looking for me?" I asked.

"Yep. Reyna assigned me to keep a watch on you because the Lares said…ah, um, whatever. Anyway, I am to show you the routines. I'm Bobby, by the way, from Fifth Cohort, son of Ceres. What's your name?" Bobby held out a friendly hand, covering up for whatever he let slipped.

I shook it, managing a smile. Keep a watch over me, huh? The Romans surely are guarded. I wondered what the "Larries", whoever they are, said about me."June Loras. What are the routines you're supposed to show me?"

Bobby answered: "Well, I could show you around the camp and the city, but mainly I have to take you to Octavian."

"Octavian? Who's that?" I asked.

Bobby made a face as he led me down a road which, according to the street sign, led to New Rome. "He's the augury, a real pain. You're new here, right? Anyone who arrives at camp without announcement or introduction has to be tested before being accepted. Normally, the praetors, they're Reyna and Percy, should be the ones that receive you, but things are kinda intense these days and they can't really spare time now. Octavian will interrogate you and read the auguries."

Interrogate? Auguries? I wondered if I would be shown an enemy.

Seeing that I was silent, Bobby asked uncertainly: "Is anything wrong?"

"No, no." I lied. "It's just a lot to take in."

He nodded sympathetically. "So do you know how you got here? Do you know anything about yourself, I mean who's your parent or…"

I cut in: "I'm a daughter of Apollo." I paused. I somehow knew I shouldn't tell the whole truth. "And I'm not really sure how I got here. I was being chased by monsters…then I sort of blacked out."

"Really?" Bobby frowned. "Maybe someone saved you and sent you here."

"Yeah, maybe. Are you taking me to Octavian now?" I changed the topic.

"Not now, all the officers are at senate now. How about…" He grinned at me. "some fabulous Roman breakfast in New Rome? I can tell you about Camp Jupiter and the city on the way."

xxx

It turns out Bobby was a good guide. He took me all over New Rome, pointing out all the magnificent buildings and statues. He also told me all about how things worked in Camp Jupiter, which I think Reyna wouldn't be too happy about. After all, I wasn't officially decided as friend or foe yet. However, my heart wasn't really in the sightseeing, which is hard to do when you are defenseless in enemy grounds. The boundary god and his assistant insisted on pulling out my golden pin. More importantly, I kept thinking how I should find Percy and what I should say when that Octavian guy interrogates me. On the other hand, I imagined how things were going for July and Landyn. Better than me, I bet. At least they wouldn't be assigned a guard (Even though my guard is more like a tour guide).

Fate obviously didn't pardon me for my bad luck on the quest. According to Bobby, the senate was still going on, after we've walked around all over the city and the sun had already been hanging high in the sky for a long, long time. Initially not recovered completely, I was already feeling tired. We stopped at the fountain between the senate house and the forum. Many chunks of the stone fountain were missing and some parts crumbled, result of yesterday's battle, but the fountain was still standing and spurting clear cool water.

"How long till they finally get out?" I groaned as I dropped onto the marble rims. I covered my face, elbows on my knees. The fountain gurgled and sprayed water behind me cheerfully.

Bobby answered timidly: "I'm not sure. It's taking a lot longer than usual. Why are you so eager for the senators to come out? Octavian will interrogate you sooner or later. There's no need to rush."

I shrugged. "I want to take a shower and get some more sleep, which can't be done if I'm not accepted." The lie came naturally, as I did want those things.

Bobby sighed. He plopped down next to me and muttered: "Finally I get assigned to one slightly important job, and now my subject is upset. Why can't I do anything right?"

I looked up. Bobby looked so frustrated and disappointed that I felt bad for him. "I'm sorry. It's not your fault. You're a great guide. It's just that…I have other things on mind, Ok?"

Bobby managed a grateful smile. "You know, Fifth Cohort never had much glory, until Jason Grace and Percy Jackson came along. But still, it's like they get all the attention and important tasks and…stuff. I'd like to do something greater than feeding Hannibal all day long too."

I nodded in sympathy and patted his hand. I was sort of surprised, in a good way, that Bobby was telling me, a total stranger, all this.

"I just don't get the opportunities much and this time, Reyna assigned me to watch an apparent that the Lares thought dangerous and suspicious, probably a Greek spy! Now, that's something I just can't screw up…Oops." He covered his mouth and looked at me in horror.

My thoughts must have shown on my face, since Bobby looked truly regretful. Dangerous and suspicious? A Greek spy? So apparently, I am not in a good state. If the Lares (Roman house spirits, Bobby told me) suggested so much, I had a feeling that Octavian would not give me an easy time.

"I wasn't supposed to say that! I'm sorry!" Bobby jumped up in panic. "Please forget what I said! Even though the Lares can't decide whether you're really Roman or Greek, you're a good person to me; you'll be absolutely fine…"

"Calm down, Bobby!" I composed myself and in turn tried to quiet Bobby down." It's ok. I won't tell. Not a big deal, anyway. Last I checked, I am no spy or dangerous object."

"Really? Thank goodness, because if they decide you are a threat, you'll be killed!" Bobby let out his breath in relief.

I gulped. I hoped I could find Percy before I meet Octavian and possibly get sentenced to an excruciating Roman death. I'd tell Percy enough to beg him to help me out.

Suddenly, horns sounded loudly, resonating all the way from Camp Jupiter's fort. We jumped up. It took me a second to realize what was wrong. A huge shadow passed the senate building and the forum. I looked up and momentarily forgot how to breathe. A huge bronze and gold warship hovered over the city, gleaming in the sunlight. A figure in a purple cloak stood on the raised crossbow platform, in plain sight. Several teenagers clustered the deck. Roman citizens started to file out onto the streets.

"Oh, gods. It's Jason! That's what they were talking about last night." Bobby stared at the ship, jaws hanging open.

"What?" I asked, feeling completely bewildered, "That's Jason? What were they talking about?"

But before Bobby could answer, people in what seemed to me like towels rushed out of the senate house. Everybody was crowding over. I heard some whisper: "The Greeks! They're really not going to attack us?" "Let's just hope Jackson won't turn out to be a betrayer."

I finally recalled Nico telling me about this. The war ship was from Camp Half-blood, which means the passengers are all from the Greek camp (well, expect for Jason Grace). Which also means my chances of getting help getting back to July and Landyn increased greatly. Yes! I secretly pumped my fist. I started to squeeze through the crowd.

However, I underestimated how oppressive a mob of excited and nervous Romans can be. Once I was in the crowd, I could hardly move around without stepping on someone or elbowing another. I tried my best to peer over all those heads. Being too short, I wasn't doing a very good job. I could barely see the small explosives coming from the ship, though unable to figure out what they were. I also managed to spot Percy at the front of the people, docked in a purple cloak just like what Jason was wearing. Judging the number of people between me and him, my chances of getting to him was very slim.

After some time, I was getting frustrated. I could hear people shouting aboard the ship, but nothing was really going on. And I was stuck among a bunch of Romans, getting nowhere while Percy was engaged in serious conversation with Reyna, the beautiful dark haired praetor.

"What's going on?" I demanded at Bobby, who was behind me.

I couldn't turn to face him, but I heard him answer: "I guess Terminus is not giving the ship permission to land. That's good. It makes them a less threat." He sounded more like reassuring himself. I couldn't blame him though; the war ship looked anything but friendly with all those weapons.

Then, a rope latter tumbled down from the ship. Everybody gasped and took a collective step back, almost knocking me down. Reyna and Percy's conversation broke off. They all looked at the ship, Reyna apprehensive, Percy eager. I immediately trained my eyes on the latter. One by one, teenagers all in orange T-shirts climbed down. There was a blond girl, a girl with choppy dark hair, a boy with curly brown hair and Jason Grace, the son of Zeus, himself. I analyzed them quickly, or as best as I could, seeing through various heads. The blonde girl was a leader, probably owning even more authority than Jason. She scanned the crowd carefully and piercingly. Jason, on the other hand, seemed to be straining to hide his excitement of returning home as well as his nervousness of coming back with the Greeks.

Once the Greek demigods were all on the ground, the crowd parted as they walked through the forum. Suddenly the crowd cried out in alarm and surged forward. I tried to get a peek of what was happening, but in vain. The Romans were like a solid wall in front of me. Bobby was no help either, as he was basically not much taller than me. Luckily, the excitement passed quickly so I had more space to breathe again.

Annoyed, I was trapped in the crowd for all the time I guessed the two camp leaders exchanged words. When the crowd finally moved, it was to arrange for lunch.

The moment people started to make way for couches and low tables to be carted into the forum, I darted around them and searched for Percy. Sadly, nothing went well for me, as usual. Teenagers kept blocking my path; Bobby trailed after me, asking me where I was going; couches and tables tripped me. It seemed that I just couldn't get to the spot where Percy, Jason and all the officers stood. Slowly, the temporary lunch room on the plaza got in place. People started to group together and choose tables. I quickly navigated towards the tall black-haired son of Poseidon. He was seated around a table slightly larger than the others, together with all the more important Roman officers and the Greek guests. Just then, a hand grabbed my arm and jerked me into a stop. I whirled around and instinctively reached for my bronze knife, which I forgot was broken and lost.

"Where d'you think you're going?" Bobby asked breathlessly. Apparently, he had a hard time keeping up with me.

I swallowed the urge to groan. "Nowhere. I just want to have a word with Percy."

Bobby shook his head in disbelief. "This is the Roman city, and he's the praetor. You can't just interfere with their meeting! They are of higher ranks, plus you're not even technically accepted!" Some people were starting to stop by his side, looking at me curiously.

I gritted my teeth. Through my observations, I had long guessed the Romans were more disciplined and stricter than normal American mortals, probably the Greeks too. I contemplated the situation, but I couldn't think of any solution. Defeated, I forced a smile at the observers and said: "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Bobby smile, relieved that I wasn't going to give him more problems. "Ok. Ok, then, let's find a table and have some lunch. I can introduce you to Percy once they're finished. Come on, we'll sit with my Cohort. Wait till you meet my friends, they're great!"

I followed him obediently to several tables with a bunch of laughing and joking kids seated. Bobby introduced me cheerfully and I said hello, but actually I was looking back at the praetors' table from time to time.

So far so good, nothing much seemed to be happening at Percy's table. I relaxed a little and turned my attention to the food, which was excellent, by the way. I tried to reassure myself: I can always find Percy later, right? It's not like he's going to disappear.

I was totally wrong, as anybody with sense could've guessed.

xxx

As I inhaled all the delicious food of my choice, gulped all kinds of cool drinks, I finally realized how hungry I was. My Roman style breakfast had obviously vanished a long time ago. The guys in the Fifth Cohort were actually nice, just as Bobby had said. They welcomed me warmly, but unluckily showed great interest in my "mysterious history". I tried to cover the quest while I answered questions about almost everything in my life.

One girl asked: "June, did you do your hair like that on purpose? It looks so choppy."

I was about to come up with another ridiculous lie when someone else interrupted.

"Hey, June, you have siblings?" Dakota, the Kool-Aid addicted senior centurion asked.

I practically choked on my potato salad. I wasn't prepared for that. July's limp bloody figure flashed into my mind. My throat tightened painfully. She's fine now. Apollo healed her. She's in good hands. I told myself again and again while pretending to be swallowing a particularly large bite of shredded lettuce. "Siblings? Yeah, I do. A sister." I replied casually.

"Younger or older?"

"Actually…" I stopped myself before I said we're twins. However nice they are, I wasn't going to trust them completely. "Uh, I mean, younger."

Dakota grinned, showing his red stained teeth:" Thought so! You look like the big sister kind."

Really? I thought bitterly. July hated me acting like a big sister. And even if I acted like one, I definitely wasn't a good one. What sort of big sister would dodge an attack only to let it fall on her little sister?

"So, does your family know you're here? Many demigods come with their family's recommendations, but there are some who showed up totally unexpected. "Dakota continued to ask.

Bobby cut in: "Oh, she's unexpected. She just popped out of the ground in a black ball." He looked proud that he knew "all about me" because he's my "guard".

Dakota rolled his eyes, "Everybody in camp knows how she got here, Bob. I'm asking if it was her family that sent her here."

"She says she doesn't know how she got here!" Bobby insisted, trying to save himself from being humiliated.

I could see even in his own Cohort, he was sort of an underdog. Not that his fellow legionnaires were mean or rough on him. Feeling sympathetic again, I piped up to support him."Yeah, I don't know how I got here. My family has no idea where I am."

As I said that, I suddenly realized I had never thought how worried Mom would have been. So many days of dangerous questing, but not a single word from her daughters, Mom must have been worried out of her mind. Guilty tears involuntarily brimmed my eyes.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." A girl said softly. Everybody seemed to soften up, like they could relate to my feelings.

"Hey, we can send a message to your family…once Octavian has officially accepted you." Bobby patted my hand. I nodded, composing myself.

Before I knew it, lunch was nearly over. I looked up at one point and jolted to find many people starting to leave the forum. I looked towards Percy's table immediately—except there was no table. Percy had already left. I got up so fast that I knocked my bowl of remaining tomato soup over. Bobby and his friends all jumped and stared at me questioningly. Mumbling "Bathroom." , I started to make my way out of the forum.

Once I got out of their eyesight, I whirled around wildly, hoping to catch of glimpse of Percy or any of the Greeks. But apparently, I was way too late. None of them was in sight. I cursed myself for being so stupid. After spending a whole morning waiting to see Percy, I lose my chance because I got too friendly with the Romans. Who knows if it was actually a secret order for them to keep me away from Percy? So that I wouldn't have a chance to corrupt him and start an assault, because "I was a Greek spy"? I wanted to slap myself. Before Bobby or one of the girls could come out to see why I had been out for so long, I picked a random direction and started to run.

So...that's all for the first chapter! How do you like it? I hope my writings hadn't turn worse! _

Please tell me your thoughts on this chapter! Did you think Bobby's character was weird? He was actually mentioned in the Son of Neptune. Not that he's of any importance. I just didn't want to add any more OCs. What do you think about the way I developed June's character?

I'm so nervous! I'll be waiting for your reveiws! :)

-Amber-