Gwen knew how important it was to sleep, but she couldn't bring herself to rest during the entire flight. There was way too many questions about their objective. She was also worried about being attacked by harpies.
It seemed almost like a ridiculous fear, but there was a good reason that Roman demigods stayed on foot. First, Romans were just a great infantry unit, and all of their training was geared towards moving swiftly and quickly on foot.
Romans also hated water. Even in the times of the empire, they did not have a large navy. Fighting on water was not very necessary or desired.
Gwen would never admit it out loud, but she also had a fear of water. Everyone knew about it. They were nice enough to not say anything. Some of them probably teased her behind her back.
There was a third reason that Romans liked walking. About thirty years ago, three Romans had been sent on a mission to find an old safe house. Their plane had been attacked by harpies. One of the harpies broke a glass window and tore a Roman out of the plane.
That was probably the biggest reason why Gwen couldn't sleep. She chose the seat next to the aisle, but the fear was still there. In contrast, Jason seemed right at home.
Everyone in the Fifth Cohort liked to call him Superman. Jason possessed the power of flying. He couldn't take off and fly around the world, but he was good enough to hover on air. It was pretty cool.
"Are you okay?" Jason asked looking at her. Gwen looked at him and nodded. Her nerves weren't as bad as before. Jason sat to her right and was closer to the window. If a harpy came and threw him out of the window, he could probably make it to the ground safely.
"I just keep thinking about the harpies," Gwen responded. Jason's face paled. "Were you also thinking about them?"
"I wasn't until two second ago," Jason answered.
"Oh, sorry," Gwen said. Jason nodded and shook his head. He took a small sip of his drink.
"What was in our bags?" Jason questioned. Gwen took a moment to bring the small list to mind.
"There was three vials of unicorn powder, a few hundred dollars to cover the hotel and food expenses, and keys to a car. There should be a car waiting for us at the airport. I have the license plate number in the backpack," Gwen replied.
Gwen reached into her pocket to make sure that she had her wallet. She was the only one who could drive. Gwen glanced over at Jason and studied him.
Both of her fellow centurions were fourteen. Gwen was eighteen years old. She had arrived at the legion when she was ten, and she had been a centurion for about two years. This wasn't anything new to her.
Her plan was to serve as long as she could. Gwen had already taken and passed all of the required exams for the college at New Rome, but to her, the legion came first. That was why she would probably go beyond ten years of service.
It wasn't weird that she would be working with two fourteen years old. It was something she was familiar with. If Gwen was being honest, she would say that both Jason and Reyna were mature for their age.
Jason had literally grown up in the legion. He was taught all these ideals about how a Roman should never show their emotions and always be older than they are. It seemed to have stuck, but that was only when Jason was working. He was extremely relaxed inside the barracks.
Reyna was a different story. She arrived at camp looking like someone had asked her to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. Gwen didn't know Reyna on a personal level, so she couldn't comment on if Reyna was different when not working.
When the pilot announced they were getting ready to ascend, Gwen felt herself going into work mode. They were walking into a mission with no idea of what to expect. Things could go very well or very bad. Either way, it would happen very quickly.
Gwen distracted her mind as the plane safely landed. Once the plane came to a complete stop, Gwen sent a silent thanks up to Jupiter for allowing them safe travel. She then unbuckled the seat belt and stood. Jason followed her example.
Gwen reached above them and grabbed the backpack that the Senate had given them. The backpack that held their armor was stuffed inside of a suitcase. It took some manipulation of the mist to get the weapons and armor past security.
Jason followed her out of the plane. For a moment, Gwen's sense were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people. She decided that it would be best to follow them.
They walked towards a machine that was dispensing their suitcases. Gwen spotted the two backpacks that had their clothes. She grabbed those and handed them to Jason. Gwen adjusted the backpack on her shoulder.
It only took a moment for Gwen to spot the most important item: their suitcase. She walked towards it and pulled it off of the belt. Gwen ran through a mental checklist to make sure they had everything.
The backpack on her shoulder held the items the Senate had given them. She had the suitcase which contained their weapons and armor. Jason had the two backpacks with their clothes. They were good to go.
"Where would Reyna be?" Jason questioned. Gwen didn't respond as she thought about it. It seemed most likely that Reyna would try to blend in or act like she was waiting for a parent.
Gwen's eyes shot around as they neared the exit. To her right, she saw a large line waiting to check their bags in. Reyna wasn't anywhere near them.
"There," Jason said. Gwen turned her head to the left. She saw Reyna standing and walking towards them. It seemed like Reyna had been waiting outside of a cafe.
Reyna walked towards them after glancing around. She spoke, "Ave. We need to move fast. I'm being followed."
Gwen exchanged looks with Jason. It wasn't good that they were being tailed. Gwen suddenly hugged Reyna and spoke into her ear, "Hug back."
After a moment, Reyna reluctantly did. Gwen spoke, "Our cover story is that we're a family."
"Alright," Reyna muttered. She was the first one to pull away. Reyna smiled at Jason, and he took a moment to smile back.
"We should get moving," Gwen said. She put a hand on both of their backs and led them outside. "Did you miss us?"
"I was enjoying the time by myself," Reyna answered. She lowered her voice. "Woman in the black business suit is our tail. She had a mole near her right eye. I've been tailed since the hotel."
"We'll talk more in the car," Gwen whispered back. She stopped walking long enough to reach into her backpack and grab the keys. A quick glance at a paper showed the parking lot their car was parked in and the license plate number.
Gwen led her fellow centurions onto a bus. It would take them to parking lot E, and it would also force the woman to lose their trail or get on the bus. The woman decided to do the latter.
When the woman sat in front of them, Gwen felt Reyna tense. She glanced at the daughter of Bellona and gave her a look. Reyna looked down and occupied herself by untying and retying her shoe.
Gwen looked at Jason and fixed his hair. She was able to look at the woman out of the corner of her eye. The woman was wearing a black business suit, and her face was buried in a manilla folder.
There was no suitcase at her side. Her black hair matched the suit, and her hazel eyes seemed extremely hungry. Gwen was forced to look at her as she looked forward, and it took half of a second to force a smile. The woman smiled back, but it just felt evil.
When the bus stopped, the woman did not get off. Gwen led her two companions off of the bus, and she saw their car immediately. The three walked towards it and threw their bags in the back.
"How are you doing, Grace?" Reyna questioned. Jason looked at her and genuinely smiled. Everyone in the Fifth Cohort knew that Jason had a crush on Reyna.
It was almost a running joke. They would tell Jason that he had to make the Fifth Cohort great again before he could date someone from the Second Cohort. Besides Gwen, no one seemed to notice how much that bothered Jason.
The son of Jupiter had a lot on his plate. Everyone expected great things out of him. He was suppose to bring the Fifth Cohort back to glory. That was why he was picked in the first place.
Gwen sat in the driver's seat. Even though Jason offered her shotgun, Reyna sat in the back. She handed Gwen a keycard for the hotel.
"Thanks," Gwen said pocketing the key. She turned on the car as Jason got in. Gwen started to drive. "You'll have to guide me."
"Make a right out of here," Reyna answered. "You'll drive for about ten minutes."
Gwen nodded and made the right out of the parking lot. She turned off the radio and spoke, "What can you tell us about all of this?"
"I was told to come here by the praetors," Reyna answered. "When I arrived, a mortal picked me up. They had a child who went to Camp Jupiter, so they were more than happy to help. I stayed at the hotel that Ceres was suppose to be in."
"I broke into her room, but it was untouched. The woman at the front counter said that the room had been paid for until the end of this week," Reyna continued. "Why would they need a hotel room though?"
It took Gwen a moment to realize that she was with fourteen years old. They knew about the subject, but they probably didn't know how sneaky the gods and goddesses got. Gwen took a moment to consider her answer.
"Hotels is the number one meeting place for immortals and mortals," Gwen responded. "They might meet somewhere in public, but any further interaction is most likely in a hotel. That's probably where your mom and dad conceived you."
A dark shadow passed over Reyna's face. The centurion looked out the window without another word. Gwen frowned and focused on driving. Jason glanced at her and didn't look like he had noticed.
"What are we going to do when we get to the hotel?" Jason questioned. He tried to hide his yawn.
"Sleep," Gwen answered. "I don't think we need to sleep in watches. We should all get a good night of sleep, so we can be rested for tomorrow."
"The room that we're in is on the floor below the one Ceres had," Reyna said looking back at them. "I broke into one of the rooms and found that flyer. I think it has some address for a meeting place."
"I wonder if there is any translators in town," Jason commented. Gwen smiled. Her companions were smart. While she didn't think the mission was going to be easy, she was going to enjoy it.
"Is there anything else you found out?" Gwen questioned.
"No," Reyna answered. She laid her head against the car window tiredly. Gwen shared the feeling. They needed to rest. Tomorrow would be a new day, and they would continue their investigation then.