II. A Clash of Wills

Piper's eyes follow Percy from one side of the room to the other. She had enjoyed the chance to stare at him freely for half an hour, but forty-five minutes of indiscriminate ogling is more than enough for Piper to grow bored of him—for now.

Piper sighs loudly, hoping to catch someone's attention. When no one so much as turns to look at her, she resolves to stay quiet until Leo, Frank and Hazel come back from the Argo II. She notes the cherry-red curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows of Reyna's living room. After Hera disappeared, Reyna had quickly ended the feast—despite complaints from the legionnaires—and ushered everyone into her praetor villa. When they'd gotten there, however, she had made no effort to dissect Hera's announcement, as Piper has expected her to. Instead, she had allowed the room to fall into silence as they settled in their seats.

Piper glances at Reyna, who is sitting in front of her, her back against the armrest of the sofa. She knows enough from the senate meeting, and from the reactions that followed Juno's exit, to understand why Reyna had been so eager to get them out of the dining pavilion. Octavian.

Irritation swept through her in an instant. We are fighting a war. We need to stand together. And yet a single boy, who looks like the wind might knock him over, has them on their guards, keeping themselves locked up inside one of the praetor villas because they were too afraid of making a wrong move. How are we supposed to fight Gaea like this?

Piper remembers the story of Silena Beauregard, which Annabeth had told her after much begging, and a thought suddenly strikes her. She nudges Reyna's foot with her own. The praetor of Camp Jupiter tears her eyes away from Percy's stalking form and gives Piper her full attention.

She arches an eyebrow in question, an amused expression on her face. "Could Octavian be a spy?"

Even Percy looks at Piper. He answers her when no one looks like they're going to. "Sure, he could, but just because he doesn't like us doesn't mean he is."

Piper opens her mouth to speak, but Reyna interrupts her. "Oh, does this mean you're done sulking?" She smirks at Percy.

Percy glares at her and continues pacing.

Piper wants her answers, though. "Why isn't he cooperating, then?" Annoyance forgotten, Percy, Jason and Reyna somehow manage to share a look. "What?"

"You're thinking like a Greek." Annabeth growls, but strangely enough, she is shooting daggers at Reyna—not Percy. Percy quickly corrects himself. "I mean, the two camps are really different. The Romans don't just hate the Greeks because of Troy, and the Greeks the Romans because they got conquered." Piper notes the way he's speaking now, as if he wasn't either. "Romans are more politically-oriented. Even when they're at war with someone else, the Romans fight. We don't." And the switch. Annabeth smiles softly, but Reyna purses her lips in anger. She stays quiet, though.

Jason clears his throat. "The legionnaires are loyal to the legion, but if they believe that the best interests of Rome aren't being represented, or the like, then it's not uncommon for them to desert."

"Oh, yeah," Percy says, "most of the demigods who joined Kronos were yours, right? That would explain why I didn't know most of them."

That's news to Piper, but everyone else in the room doesn't seem surprised. Jason and Reyna look offended, if anything. Reyna snaps, "You know, you're one of us. Remember?"

Percy stiffens, but Annabeth leaps to his rescue. "Get off his case about it. He just found out, and he barely knows you. Leave him alone."

Reyna snorts. "He's our praetor now. He has to own up to it. Juno had such wonderful foresight. She told us just at the right moment." Reyna directs herself to Percy. "This way, the legionnaires that liked you despite being Greek feel justified, and the ones that didn't feel like paranoid idiots—but it's not too bad, because they spent less than a day hating you."

"Like she deserves the credit for everything?"

Reyna looks as if she is about to retort before she closes her mouth. "Of course she is," Jason says. Reyna's eyes widen comically, shaking her head furiously at Jason. She lets out a squeak before she slaps her hand over her mouth, an annoyed look on her face. "Didn't you hear her? She planned his birth."

Percy stays quiet.

Reyna attempts to fix it. "Which is a lovely contrast to most of us here, who were accidents, don't you think?" She shoots a dirty look at Annabeth, as if being a daughter of Athena was her fault.

"Better to be ignored than a weapon, right?"

"Better to be useful than cannon fodder."

What's that supposed to mean? "If you think so, but anyway, Poseidon still used his mother."

Reyna stood up and slammed her hands on the low coffee table. "So what if he didn't love her? What do we care?"

Jason smirks and leans back on his seat as realization dawns on Piper. Annabeth gasps. Piper glances at Percy, who has a stony look on his face. "What?" Reyna looks around. "What did I say?"

"And that," Percy remarks lightly, though Piper thinks it's obvious his words are forced, "was what I meant by Romans being politically-inclined. Manipulation isn't as easy as it looks, though."

"I'm—Okay, what just happened?"

"Just sit down, Reyna." With a confused look on her face, she does as Percy asks. "It's okay."

"No, it isn't." Piper blinks before she realizes Annabeth had echoed her thoughts. "You may be Roman, but you don't want to be. Just get that thing," Annabeth gestures at the praetor toga, "off and we can be on our way towards Camp Half-Blood."

Percy frowns. "You have to stay here, Annabeth. Juno said so."

"He's right," Piper cuts in, only to be ignored. Really, why wouldn't they?

"Which is why I can't stay here. I won't do anything she wants me to because it will most probably be detrimental to my health, so no. I'm going back."

"Hera—"

"Not now, Piper." Annabeth says without looking at her.

"Juno is our patron for this quest, Annabeth. If you don't stay… Well, I don't actually know what would happen if you don't stay, but it's better if we don't find out. The point is, she's helping us save the Gods, so we're on the same side."

Annabeth's mouth drops open. "Percy! Don't you remember what she tried to do to Nico just because he was a son of Hades?"

"Technically, she didn't do anything."

"Not—now."

"I was just saying."

Annabeth finally loses her patience, and whirls around on her seat. "Stay out of this, Piper."

Jason holds his hands up, signaling surrender. "Peace, you two." He says to Annabeth, "But Percy," he makes a face at the name, "is right; you have to stay here. With Reyna." Reyna doesn't smile, but merely shows her teeth in a very threatening way.

Annabeth doesn't look reassured. "You can't make me stay."

Reyna does smile now, but throws her head back, laughing. "Oh, believe me, I won't."

Annabeth cocks her head to the side. "Right." She glances at Percy. "I'm leaving." She stands up to prove her point. "Are you coming with me, Percy?"

He stays quiet for a while, looking at the floor, before he says, "She told me you'd do this."

Piper is confused. "Sorry, what?"

"Juno told me you'd cause trouble in the quest." Gee, thanks for answering me.

Annabeth huffs. "Trouble! Of course she thinks I will. I'm not a pushover. I don't do what she wants. I won't trust her after the labyrinth."

"You don't have to. Just stay for the quest, do what you think is best when something comes up, but don't trust her. Just cooperate. It's for our parents. It's for every mortal out there who doesn't know they might die or be slaved any day now if we don't do something about it."

Annabeth seems to hesitate. There's something Piper can't quite place in Annabeth's face that tells her she will cave in. Piper realizes that her heart is beating wildly in her chest. Her mouth feels dry. If Annabeth says no, then would they fight? Would she be free to date Percy?

Annabeth straightens, apparently having made up her mind, when Percy grabs her hand and says, "Please."

Annabeth shakes her head. "You know I can't."

Percy makes a worried face that, under other circumstances, Piper would have thought cute. "Please."

"You know I shouldn't."

There is a beat of silence. Then, "I love you."

Piper's heart seems to stop. Then it picks up the pace until her chest begins to hurt and her head swims. Her second reaction is to tell herself, It's okay. It doesn't matter. But it does matter, and it can't possibly be okay because she loves him. She had sworn on the river Styx he would be with her. It isn't okay.

Piper tries to deny his words, but it's impossible. Perhaps if she'd been a daughter of Demeter or another deity, she wouldn't have felt the truth of his words. She wouldn't have felt how much he meant it, how much he loved her, and she wouldn't have known it is the first time Percy tells Annabeth he loves her.

Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, however, so she feels it; knows it. It's inescapable.

She chokes back the tears, brushes off Reyna's comforting arm, and tries to ignore the way Jason is glaring at Percy and Piper. Piper knows Jason loves her. She has the sudden urge to laugh. That morning she might as well have done the same thing Percy is doing to her, to Jason. And yet he—who is losing so much more to Percy than Piper is to Annabeth—never acted as anything less than a son of Zeus. He remained strong throughout everything.

Jason is concerned about her, and that breaks her heart in a completely different way than Percy declaring his love for Annabeth is.

Piper takes a deep breath, and resolves to keep quiet for the rest of the night unless she necessarily had to speak up. Reyna has other plans. She digs her nails on Piper's shoulder so hard that she barely refrains from flinching.

When Piper looks up, Reyna has a calculating look on her face. "Nico? Di Angelo?"

Piper grits her teeth in annoyance. Is this the time to be concerned about Nico Di Angelo, for whatever reason?

Annabeth looks away from Percy, and immediately Piper feels thankful to Reyna. Without her knowing it, she'd kept herself open to Annabeth and Percy's emotions, and those hurt. "You know him?" Annabeth says.

Reyna lets out a scream and a slew of words in a language Piper doesn't understand, but Percy and Jason do, so she assumes she is cursing in Latin. "He was Greek. Greek! I let a Greek into the camp. Not only a Greek, but a son of Pluto. How stupid could I have been? This is your fault, Jason!"

Piper looks confused about why Reyna is bringing the boy up now, but he replies anyways, "Mine? How would that be my fault, exactly?"

"You convinced me to let him in."

"I suggested it would do no harm, since he was a demigod and all. I didn't tell you to do anything."

"No, I distinctly remember you telling me to let him in."

"Oh, so now you do what I say?"

Reyna makes a show of spluttering. Piper stares wide-eyed, wondering why she was pushing the topic. Through most of her rebelled at the thought of Percy being with Annabeth, perhaps it was best to leave the two alone to kiss and make up.

Jason and Reyna continue arguing until Leo arrives, slamming the door behind him. "Yo, demigods! Your supreme captain, Leo Valdez, is here to inform you that—"

As everyone's attention shifts to Leo momentarily, Reyna stoops to whisper into Piper's ears. "You owe me for this."

"Why?" Why are you doing this?

"She will say no if she's alone." Reyna doesn't say it, but Piper understands. Later, telling her he loves her won't surprise her enough to concede. Percy loves her. "Don't think about it," she hisses, as if she'd read her mind.

Reyna straightens. Her screech interrupts Leo. "I don't care what you say."

Leo clucks his tongue. "You know what? I think I have to check up on the Argo II again." He leaves as quickly as he came.

Reyna ignores him. "If Octavian finds out about this, he'll have our heads."

Jason answers her calmly. "So get Nico back here, have him do some heroic stuff, and let's pretend that he was sent by Juno. Done."

"Oh, yes," Reyna mocks, "because he's stupid now, right? He would know it's a cover-up. No, Jason. At best, we can downplay his presence and hope no one catches on."

"I really don't see the point of this." The point is interrupting a couple, of course Jason doesn't see the point. Piper thinks that the whole thing is sloppy. Honestly, she had known Reyna for a day, but she already knows that she doesn't throw stupid comments around. "Can you complain about something else? Like maybe something about the quest?"

"I'll complain about having to deal with that whore. Like mother, like daughter."

"That's rich, Reyna, coming from someone who's flirting with two guys at once. Don't call Piper a whore if you're one yourself."

Reyna shoots back at her, "I wasn't calling Piper a whore. I was referring to you. Virgin goddess, please. Diana I'll buy. Minerva? No."

"My mother is a maiden!" Annabeth looks startled.

"That's what you say."

"Are you honestly placing the virtue of Aphrodite over Athena's?"

Piper snorts. "You don't have to be such a bitch about it, Annabeth."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth says, and she actually looks like she is. Piper ignores her. She doesn't care if she's sorry or not. She doesn't care if Aphrodite sleeps around with anything that moves. If only Annabeth could just die, she'd be happy. "I didn't mean it that way."

"Yes, you did," Reyna interjects before Piper can say anything, which she wasn't going to, anyway. Reyna narrows her eyes at Annabeth. "But you're staying here. I won't let you leave until you must, and I'll decide when that is."

Annabeth scoffs, incensed. "You can't hold me here. I'm gone." She made to walk out of the room, but Percy quickly blocked her path.

"Please, Annabeth." Percy appears torn between glaring at Reyna and giving Annabeth pleading looks.

"No." There is no doubt in her voice. It's her pride, Piper thinks. Her face lights up, and she wonders if Reyna knows hubris is Annabeth's fatal flaw.

"Annabeth," Percy begs.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. Stop being so stubborn, swallow your pride," he draws out the word, throwing her flaw on her face, "and help."

"I can't swallow my pride, the same way you can't turn your back on Olympus and serve Gaea like a good servant, Percy. And I couldn't bear the frustration it would bring me to be with someone as crude as her." She points at Reyna.

"Don't make this about her! She hasn't done anything to you."

"My mother—"

"Will most likely smite her for it tomorrow. This is about you, and Juno, and wanting to fight the Queen of the Gods. It's one thing to fight Mars. It's another to challenge Juno."

Annabeth throws her hands up in the air. "It's Hera and Ares, for Hades' sake, Percy. You're Greek."

"And Roman."

"He's been in this camp for less than a week. Most of it has been spent on a quest. He doesn't care about this place."

"He's our praetor." Reyna bites out.

"Just because you need him doesn't mean he needs you." Annabeth isn't only talking about Romans and Greeks anymore.

"Or you."

"He'll be coming back to Camp Half-Blood with me because he wants to, and Hera doesn't have a say about it."

Reyna raises an eyebrow. "Will you?" She calls out to Percy.

Eyes glued to the floor, Percy says, so quietly Piper can barely hear him, "No."

"See? Our praetor stands by us."

Jason flinches.

Annabeth throws Percy an incredulous look, but answers Reyna. "Not for long, do they?"

"I'm sorry for getting kidnapped by a goddess, alright? I should have done something, like resisting and getting killed because of it, I get it. Enough already."

"Jason, no one's blaming you for leaving—"

"I didn't leave."

"—I would have done the same, if you had to deal with such company on a daily basis."

"Could you please be so kind as to leave me out of this?"

"We'll leave you out of this. Don't worry. Annabeth's just too blind to see what's staring her right in the face. She's Greek, you see." Reyna plops down on the sofa. Shrugging, she crosses her legs. "When she understands, she'll slap herself silly for being so dumb."

"I don't understand? I know what you want, and I won't let you manipulate him into abandoning his family." Annabeth steps in front of Reyna's siting form. "It's because you don't have one, isn't it? You want to be miserable together?"

"Camp Jupiter is my home and the legionnaires are my family." Reyna says robotically.

"No, your family was the witches of Circe's island."

Piper knows what she's going to do before she does it. Reyna growls and jumps from the sofa so fast Piper only catches the end of the movement. Her hand goes to her belt and draws her dagger as Annabeth does the same. Piper is half-kneeing on the sofa when she decides that she's not going to be able to stop the two in time. Her hand wraps herself around Reyna's wrist. She tugs on it, but Reyna shakes her off.

"Stop!" It's probably the strongest charmspeak Piper has ever used, and the strength she puts behind her order is enough to provoke a headache. Reyna gets a far-away look in her eyes and drops her dagger, but Annabeth—who has been subject to Piper's charmspeak for months—hesitates for only a moment before she plunges her knife into Reyna's chest, then tears it out.

Piper scrambles off the sofa and places herself between the two, catching Reyna just before she hits the floor. "Oh my Gods. Oh my Gods, did she hit something vital?" A gust of wind—but that should have been impossible; they were indoors—flings Piper and Reyna one way, Annabeth the other. Piper sees Annabeth fall on the coffee table, her weight tipping it backwards with her in it, before the wind snaps her head to the side with a small, almost whip-like crack. The two land on the sofa they'd been occupying seconds ago, but the force of the wind knocks it over and sends it crashing to the floor. They hit the ground rolling, their momentum carrying them forwards until they hit the wall.

Except only Piper did, her head slamming into it so fast and hard that there was a thunderous CRACK!

There is a moment when Piper doesn't know her own name, but somehow, she manages to sit up and lean against the wall. There is no sound, no nothing, for one endless, senseless second. Then she comes back to herself when a harsh whisper pierces the cocoon of silence. "Get—down—on—the—floor!" Someone tackles her. Pain explodes behind her eyes, her neck, her back, her head—everywhere. Her scream rips through the noise, rising above everyone else's.

"Jason, help me restrain her." Percy shouts. "Now!"

"Let me go!"

Convulsions wrack Piper's body as her scream is halted by coughs. She can't breathe, but she feels the blade bury itself into her shoulder. Reyna curses in Latin above her. "She'll pay for this." Piper feels something wet and… thick land on her cheek. The smell of blood drifts into her nose, but she knows it's not only Reyna's.

"Aurum! Argentum! Come here!"

The dogs? Her thoughts are fuzzy, but she has a vision of red eyes and metallic bodies. "Hey?" Piper feels around for Reyna, then tugs at some part of her clothing. "Are their eyes real rubies?"

After a second, Reyna says, "You've got a concussion." She leaves it at that, but Piper's only thought is, So, are they?

Piper makes the mistake of opening her eyes. Reyna's snarling, blood-stained face fills her vision. In one fluid movement she retrieves Annabeth's knife—embedded on the wall—and throws it. Piper can't see at who, but Reyna screams in frustration and hisses, "Fine, he goes first." She draws the bloodied knife from Piper's shoulder. When she yelps in pain, Reyna mutters something that sounds like 'sorry.'

Percy swears. "I was helping you! Look out, Jason. She—"

Through the pain, she can feel Reyna take Katoptris. Piper assumes she throws it, because the next moment Jason groans in pain. "Didn't seem like it!"

Piper holds herself up on her elbows, and is just in time to see Annabeth throw Reyna's own knife back at her. With one hand clutching the wound on her chest, Reyna merely smirks with bloodied lips and snatches the knife out of the air. She throws it with deadly accuracy, and it plunges itself into Annabeth's torso.

"That's the blessing of Bellona. A lung for a lung, daughter of Minerva."

A long, drawn-out scream reaches Piper's ears. The voice, even in her befuddled state, sounds suspiciously like Leo's. The door thunders open and closed in close succession, and indeed, Leo slides to the floor against the oak door, panting. "Whatever happened, violence is not the answer! Call them off! Please!" Leo sounds terrified.

A stabbing pain erupts behind Piper's eyes, forcing her to close the eyes. In reflex, her hand rises to touch the bridge of her noise, but her shoulder explodes in agony at the movement.

"We need some Ambrosia for her, Percy." There is something telling Piper that something terrible must have happened if Jason was cooperating with Percy. It's because Percy loves me, but isn't Percy Annabeth's boyfriend? Why would he love me?

Reyna chuckles, but it soon turns into coughs. Regardless, she says, "Shouldn't you two be more worried about our resident beauty?" Gasps echo around the room. "Yes, yes, but let's get read of the other one. Argentum, Aurum, break the windows and kill her."

"Wait. Time out. You're setting those beasts on Annabeth? Look, she scares me too, but she's part of the quest."

"What do you know, Leo Valdez? Be quiet and stay out of their way. If so, they won't harm you." Reyna coughs. "Ah, here…" Her breathing is labored. "Here they are." I—" More coughs. "My head. I—" She sucks in a sharp breath. "My mother's blessing. My…"

"She's out." Jason calls a second before a crash swallows his voice.

"Oh my Gods."

"Protect Annabeth. Get here, Leo." Piper hears Percy's voice over ferocious growls.

"This is going to end badly." Jason.

"So, what's new?" Leo.

Piper's heart beats in her ears, drowning out her surroundings. There is the clash of metal on metal… an explosion… the crackle of fire… and words.

"Reyna's going to kill you, man."

And then nothing.

The Song of the Sea

"She's waking up." Is that Percy's voice? It makes her smile.

"Yes, she is." Jason says bitterly, and the smile drops from her face. Why is he angry?

"What's…?" What's going on? She doesn't have the energy to finish the question.

"Um, it's better if we don't go into it yet."

"But…" She wants to complain, to demand they tell her what happened and why she is lying on the floor. She wants to know why her head hurts so much. But she can't finish a single sentence before she runs out of breath.

"Everything's fine." Percy says, but she has a feeling Percy is the kind of guy who will say that even when it's not.

"Keep talking." Piper slurs. Even as she says it, she starts drifting off.

"She's falling asleep." Jason says.

"Fine. Piper?" A warm hand touches her cheek. "You've got a concussion. You need to stay awake."

"Hurts."

"Oh, sorry." Percy removes his hand from her cheek.

That wasn't what I meant. For some reason, she really likes his touch.

She leaves the topic alone, though, because she wants to know why everything hurts more than she wants to cause more of a rift—she has a feeling she caused it, but doesn't know why—between Jason and Percy. "Up."

"No." The two boys say at once. They certainly are getting on.

Jason continues, "If you try, you'll probably throw up."

"What's," Piper has to catch her breath, "going on?"

There is a pause, and Piper can just imagine the two looking at each other—deciding if it would be better to tell her or leave her in the dark. Piper desperately wants to open her eyes, but it's enough effort to talk when her back and neck are burning, her head is being constantly pummeled with something heavy, and her shoulder is making her experience a whole new level of pain she didn't know existed.

"You're experiencing memory loss." Jason says. All of a sudden, she becomes aware that her hand is resting on Jason's. Her mind goes back to last winter, when Jason had woken up in a bus, disoriented, with no memories, her hand gripping his when he didn't love her. The role reversal strikes her as darkly funny, but she doesn't know why. I love Jason.

Piper doesn't try to shake his hand off.

"Annabeth and Reyna fought. You kind of got caught in the middle."

An image of Reyna, wounded, grabbing a flying knife effortlessly before she throws it back at someone, swims into her mind.

The last few moments start coming back. "Why?"

Percy understands. "There were a couple of reasons. Annabeth was taking out her anger at Hera on Reyna."

Something else comes to her. "Why did Annabeth want to leave?"

"Juno."

Piper doesn't have anything else to say to that, and opts to let the silence settle.

The Song of the Sea

Hours later, with her memories back and a pounding headache haunting her, Piper walks shakily out of the senate house, leaning heavily on Jason. Romans run around them, ignoring them. Frank, Leo and Hazel follow them, sneaking glances behind them. And following them, Reyna and Percy drag an unconscious Annabeth, lagging behind from having to bat off the incessant badgering of legionnaires who want to know what happened and why the daughter of Minerva hasn't been hanged yet. Trailing behind is Octavian. When Piper glances back at them, he catches her eyes and smirks at her.

She is afraid that they had just given him what he wants—and that is the praetorship.

The crowd stays with them until they climb up the Argo II. Jason carries Piper up to the deck, then Reyna, and reluctantly Annabeth. Percy is the last to climb the rope ladder, snapping at Octavian something Piper can't hear but Octavian doesn't look too happy about.

Despite having been in the Argo II only once, Percy seems to know it perfectly. He leads the group to the meeting room, seating himself at the head of the table, opposite the door. Jason reluctantly seats himself next to him, placing himself in between Percy and Piper. Piper can't muster the anger to be mad at him. She wants to crawl into bed and sleep.

Frank and Leo, who're carrying Annabeth between the two of them, seem unsure as to where to place her. Without a word in their direction, Percy got up from his chair, which screeched against the wooden floor, and strode out of the room. He returned less than a minute later to find Annabeth in the door he'd previously occupied, a sphere of saltwater floating alongside him. He nods jerkily to Leo and Frank, presumably in thanks for carrying Annabeth.

"If that's saltwater, Percy," the name sounds out-of-place coming from Piper's lips, "then it'll scar." She doesn't know why she cares, but Annabeth is—had been, technically still is—her friend.

"Not if I don't want to. The children of Apollo won't heal her. We've got to improvise." Percy kneels down in front of Annabeth and flicks his hand. The sphere of water floats down to Annabeth's chest and slides under her torn shirt. Percy touches Annabeth's hand, saying, "Get some ambrosia and nectar, Hazel."

She complies.

Piper examines Percy. His purple toga is torn, as is the rest of his clothing. His hair is fine, as is his face, but he looks tired. His eyes seem to droop before he snaps back to attention. Suddenly, Annabeth groans.

"What're you doing to me?" She tries to shake of Percy's hand, but he holds on.

"Hold on. Just a while longer."

"Percy?" She shakes her head back and forth, blinking. "It itches. What're you doing?"

"Shh." Percy looks at Annabeth with such tenderness that Piper feels both angry and ashamed of herself for trying to get in between them. "That's it."

Annabeth tries to straighten. Percy's hand stops her. "Not that fast. I can't heal the wound completely. You need some food, some ambrosia, and, well, you should get stitches, but I hardly think that anyone here can do that, so bandages will have to do."

Hazel comes back at that moment. "Hazel, you know how to bandage a wound, right?"

Annabeth shakes her head lightly. "Piper can do it." She smiles at Piper. "Will showed her how a couple of weeks ago.

Piper's mouth drops open. For a moment, she can't answer. When she does, she can only stutter. "I—um, I'm not sure I remember how."

Annabeth looks hurt. "I didn't mean to hit you. I'm sorry. I lost my temper. I was aiming at," her face seems to darken, "her."

"It's lovely to see you so comfortable, Annabeth," Reyna skips into the meeting room, for all the world looking like she hadn't punctured a lung four hours ago. She has bathed and is now wearing a clean toga. "I'm afraid you'll be transferred to one of New Rome's premier cells tomorrow morning."

"We agreed—"

"Yes, yes, Percy, but I changed my mind. Nothing wrong with that." Percy opens his mouth to protest, a look of anger crossing his face, when Reyna attempts to placate him. "It's not like she'll stay be her own free will. I can't afford to set guards around her, and after today most legionnaires aren't going to be too kind to her. Better to marginalize her and look like we're punishing her."

"We would be punishing her." Percy scowls.

Reyna gestures with her hands. "Exactly! What better way to look like we're doing something that actually doing it?" She drops on the chair besides Piper.

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Frank says. Piper is surprised he has spoken at all, but he continues, "She's part of Juno's plan."

Reyna gives him a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, and she does nothing but disrespect our goddess. She attacked a praetor, severely injured someone else in the process," She rests her hand on Piper's shoulder, "and," Reyna grits her teeth, "caused the destruction of an invaluable artifact."

Leo scratches his head. "Look, about the dog…" He clears his throat. "You can hardly blame Annabeth for it. I burned it. Does it really matter so much that—"

Reyna stands up from her chair so fast that her chair tumbles to the floor. Her palms hit the table with so much force that it creaks. "Look, boy," she says it like she would an insult, "Aurum and Argentum were made of priceless materials." She leaps on the table and drags Leo up by his shirt. Jason moves forward to help him, but Hazel stops him with a shake of her head. "What you destroyed was silver blessed by Diana herself, crafted into a deadly, intelligent automaton by Vulcan and blessed by Apollo to tell truth from a lie. They were Mars' gift to my mother when they married! Don't expect me to make light of this. She will pay—for my wound and my dog." Reyna releases Leo, then sits on the table like nothing had happened.

"No one but you is responsible for the dog. You set him on me." Annabeth tilts her chin up in defiance. Piper can't help but think how stupid a move that is when she is wounded.

"I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't stabbed us." She points at herself, then at Piper. Piper turns her head towards Reyna, so that Annabeth can't see the condemnation in her eyes if she cares to look. It's a coward's move.

"It was self-defense. You were going to do the same. Thank you, Piper." For a moment, Piper doesn't understand, then she does and she wants to laugh. She thinks the charmspeak was to help her.

Piper doesn't bother to rectify, but Reyna also seems to find it funny. She doesn't cover up her reaction and doubles over laughing. "Whatever," she says at last, to confused and incredulous looks. "I don't care what you think. I can punish you any way I wish to, and if I want you imprisoned, you will be imprisoned."

"And what am I?" Percy says, voice thick with anger. "A figurine? Don't I have a say in anything?"

Reyna purses her lips. "Nope."

Percy tightens his fists at his sides. "Then why were you so worried about Octavian becoming your co-praetor?"

Reyna gives him a blinding smile. "Because he has followers loyal to him. Because he has political power. You don't, and if you try to oppose me in this, Octavian will destroy you, and once he takes your place, Rome and Greece will be at war with each other. Is that appealing?" No one answers. "I thought not."

"You won't do that." Annabeth says, certainty in her voice.

Reyna arches an eyebrow. "How so?"

"If you do, then Rome will burn." All of a sudden, Frank, Hazel and Percy all become very interested in what Annabeth has to say. No one other than Piper, not even Reyna, seems to notice this. "You won't be able to defeat Gaea. If Civil War erupts, Rome will burn."

Reyna smiles self-deprecatingly. "So? You have more to lose than I do."

Annabeth's eyes widen. "What? But—but Camp Jupiter is your home!"

Reyna's smile turns into something as fascinating as it is dangerous. There's so much malice in her being directed at Annabeth that Piper can't look away. "No, daughter of Minerva, my home was Circe's island."

"Reyna…" Percy's face is full compassion.

"No. I don't want your help or your pity. I want her imprisoned until I decide what to do to her. Do you think I won't let this war happen, if it comes down to it? Do you think I'll stand against Octavian when no one listens to what I want the one time I do?"

"You're selfish. No, you're insane. You'd put yourself before millions of people? I'm leaving with everyone else. There's no way I'll be at your mercy."

"You're already at my mercy."

"Have you looked around? Who's standing with you right now? If we decided to kill you right now, it wouldn't matter that we're in the middle of your territory. Are you going to fight us all? Three children of the Big Three and everyone else?"

"That would set the war in motion."

"So would my death. You don't care about Juno's will. You just want revenge!" Annabeth shouts. "I won't stay!"

"Stop." Percy's voice manages to cut through the argument like a blade. "You can't leave, and I have to go to Camp Half-Blood, but then I'm sailing with Rachel and everyone else towards ancient Rome. That's the end of it. You will stay."

Annabeth blinks, unbelieving. "I won't do something just because you tell me to."

"You're not going to do anything because I tell you to. You will stay because the Gods say you will. I won't stop you. I won't need to lift a finger because Octavian won't let you leave that easily. He may hate us, but he respects the Gods. Juno ordered you to stay, and you will."

"What exactly happened to 'please' and 'I love you'?" Annabeth asks quietly.

"I love you, but you're being stubborn, and yeah, I love that about you specially, but when it's going to destroy the world, it's not as nice." Piper is caught between being happy he is shutting Annabeth down and sad that he does love her. "I do love you." In that moment, Percy looks at Piper, and it's sweet because she's hearing but, and I love you comes on its heels. His look makes her blush. It's beautiful. It's the beach and the first time their eyes met all over again.

Annabeth whirls around, following Percy's gaze. She is confused when her eyes pass over Reyna and land on Piper. With a gasp, she realizes.

I'm sorry, Piper wants to say. But I'm not.

"You're joking." Annabeth says after a while.

Leo tilts his head to the side, confused. "What's going on?"

Reyna shakes her head. "You're hopeless."

Annabeth ignores the two. "Why didn't I expect this?" She laughs sardonically. "This is just like Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she spits out the name, which Piper thinks curious, since the two are friends, "leaving me for a girl you barely know!"

Percy scrambles to fix his mistake. Piper watches him numbly, and prays to her mother he fails. "I'm not leaving you, Annabeth."

"No, of course not. It would be just like a daughter of Aphrodite to be okay with being the other woman. Fine, whatever. I'm going now." She shoots a glare at Reyna. "I don't have any friends here, it seems." Now it is Piper's turn to fall under the scrutiny of Annabeth's gaze. "Just remember, Percy has a short attention span." She glares at Reyna one last time before she walks out of the room, shutting the door on Percy's face.

There's silence, but her words keep echoing inside Piper's head. Percy has a short attention span.

Percy opens the door.

"Where are you going? Are you stupid enough to follow her?" Reyna calls.

Percy sighs. "The barracks. I'm tired." Piper feels bad for him, but she keeps thinking, What if he's going after her?

"Wait, you haven't given him the other praetor house?"

Percy glances back at the son of Jupiter. "Yeah, she has, but you can sleep in it. I mean, your things are still there, Jason."

"No, I moved them here before the feast. The theme has changed already." Percy isn't looking at her, but his gaze is so piercing when he looks at Jason, that Piper looks away. She doesn't know how Jason is able to stand it.

"Okay." Percy says simply, and doesn't wait for an answer.

The Song of the Sea

A/N: I wrote this chapter in two days, literally, even though I haven't updated in a couple of months. This didn't even cover half of what it was supposed to. As such, the next chapter is probably going to have copious amounts of romance.