Hey, guys! You know, I'm very suprised by how much publicity this story has gotten already! Thank you all so much! I'll try to add more as soon as possible, and don't forget to write what you want for the holidays! Merry Hanzakwanzamas! ;) PLEASE REVIEW!

Chapter 2

Annabeth

They were staring at each other for a long time, and Annabeth felt slightly confused.

Then, Piper broke the silence by pointing at Reyna and glaring at Jason, "Do you know her?"

I stifled a laugh Jason blushed and looked down at his shoes, while Reyna rushed up to Piper and said, "Yes, we do," then turned to Jason and asked, "How do you know her?" as if Piper was some loathsome thing.

Well, Annabeth thought, That was kind of rude of Piper, but Reyna didn't need to get all up in her face like that.

Jason stared at them and started, "Well, I-" but then Piper turned to Reyna and asked, "Yeah, I was his fake girl-friend."

Piper stopped her weird little behavior as she explained everything to Reyna.

"Aphrodite…" Reyna paused, "Do you mean Venus?"

"Yes," Percy and Jason said at the same time.

"Well," Reyna scoffed, "I'm not so sure what's so great about her. She can't even produce proper children to fight! Let alone be strong willed!"

Piper through her arms behind her and growled, "Oh, I bet you're wrong."

Jason eyes grew wide as he starred at Piper. Annabeth got worried and began to sweat. She and Jason both knew how powerful Piper could get, especially when she got angry.

"Oh yeah?" Reyna turned and asked, "prove it!"

' Piper drew her knife with on swift motion, and charged Reyna, but Reyna drew her sword and parried easily.

"Is that all you got?" Reyna laughed as Piper backed away.

"Are you kidding?" Piper laughed, too, "I'm just getting started!"

Piper cried and lunged again, and Reyna parried. Piper stabbed and blocked and missed, and stabbed again. They went on like this for what felt like hours, until Jason ran in and cried, "STOP!"

Piper backed away, and Reyna sheathed her sword, and Jason nodded at Percy.

"I think that we should show our guests around town, while everyone returns to their regular duties," Percy instructed.

There were a few grumbles, but everyone soon left the grassy plain where the ship had landed, and walked back to their camp.

Except for two people, who were holding hands. There was a tall, beefy boy with a small head, and a thin, nice looking girl, who was much shorter than he was.

"Guys," Percy said, leading Annabeth over to the couple, "These are my newest friends, Hazel," he gestured to the girl, "And Frank," he gestured to the guy.

There were a couple murmurs of, "Hey," of, "What's up?" but, Annabeth wasn't listening. She started off by admiring how well kempt this amazingly huge field was, and wondered how long it took to keep it so. But, soon, her gaze trailed of, because in the distance, she could make out a city. A small, beautiful city with buildings and people.

The designs were so amazing she could see some of them from up there.

She clutched Percy's arm and said, "I want to see that town. Can we go?"

"Well, sure! Anywhere you want! I've missed you so much, Annabeth."

She nodded, and looked up at him. "I've missed you, too."

They began walking down a hill, and Percy began to explain, "Right now, we're in the fields of Mars, and this whole place is called Camp-" but Jason finished, "Jupiter."

"Yeah," Percy stared at him for a second, then asked, "Oh, wait, are you Jason? Like, Jason Grace, Jason? The praetor? Oh, dude," Percy walked over and shook his hand, "I've heard so much about you! Here," he took off the purple cape Annabeth hadn't even known he was wearing and gave it to Jason, "I didn't mean to steal your life. Or your house. Or anything. Seriously, feel free to take EVERYHTING back! I never meant to intrude."

"Thanks," Jason said, taking the cape, "I've missed wearing this as soon as I remembered I used to! I hope you've kept my house in order?"

"Actually, I was only elected a couple hours ago. I've never even been in there wearing that cape. Only when Reyna interrogated me. Which, was only about twice. See, look," Percy held up his arm, palm up, and pulled his sleeve back, just past his elbow, where a black tattoo with a trident, underneath were the letters, "SPQR," and a single black stripe, all fitting into the crook of his elbow.

"It still stings!" Percy and Jason laughed together, but Annabeth was mad.

"They gave you a TATOO?"

"Annabeth-"

"Don't you 'Annabeth' me, Percy! WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU?"

"It's for praetors. They get a special mark on their elbow symbolizing their godly parent," Percy pointed to the trident, "the Roman government," he pointed to the letters, "and how many years you've been in service." He pointed to the black stripe.

"How do they mark you, Percy?" Annabeth tapped her foot repeatedly and crossed her arms.

"Octavian waves his hand over your arm and uses some special magic to burn it in. I'm okay, really."

"Does it last forever?" she whirled on Jason.

"I'm not sure, Annabeth, but probably."

She groaned, then sat down on the ground and crossed her legs and arms.

Leo walked over to her and asked, "Gods, Annabeth! You are acting way more moody than usual! Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, it's just I don't like that this, 'Octavian' marked my boy-friend with the eternal government tattoo!" she huffed.

Percy walked over to her and coaxed, "I'm fine, really, but if you keep sitting there, we can't go see the city."

She stood up, and asked, "Well, what are we waiting for?"

"You." Everyone said, and Hazel and Leo laughed.

Annabeth stomped her foot and rushed on ahead, with Percy running up behind her.

Yay, they're going to see the city! I wish you all a merry reading, and a happy next chapter! Don't forget to post what you want for Hanzakwanzamas! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! ;)