Sorry for the long wait. School's starting again, and I was having an internal battle as bloody as the second Titan war as to the direction the story should take. Since it's obvious neither side is going to win, I just decided to pick one, even though it doesn't feel right to. I'm not quite sure how long this is going to be. I know what I'm going to make the big event/climax, but ideas are always helpful!

I'm not really a writer (I really prefer reading fanfiction), and most of my writing is really done based on moment-of-inspiration type of ideas, so, again, ideas are really helpful! They help me think in different ways.

Again, sorry for the long wait, but here it is! Chapter 2!

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO.

Percy

That night, I had a dream about the capture the flag game against the Hunters right after Annabeth had gone missing. Something told me to pay special attention to the part right after, when Thalia and I had our little, er, actually, big fight after the game. It was almost as if Annabeth was in my head, saying, "This can't happen with Jason if you want to see me again, Seaweed Brain."

Right after that, I woke up. I saw sunlight streaming through the windows of my room in Poseidon's palace. I checked the clock – it was 9:00.

I had just finished yawning and stretching when I saw a note on my bedside table.

Percy,

You are to meet up with Jason at 10:30 at the arena for training. Don't bother looking around for Annabeth – she has been told not to come to Olympus for a few days. Please don't get into any big fights.

Poseidon

Ugh. I had no wish to see Jason anytime soon. For some reason, there seemed to be strong hostility between the two of us. I mean, I knew that Greeks and Romans were supposed to hate each other, but we hadn't done anything to each other. I hoped that we could smooth out our relationship, kinda like I did with Annabeth and Thalia.

I went and ate breakfast and wandered around Olympus, admiring Annabeth's work, until it was time to meet Jason.

When I walked in, I saw that Jason was already training against some dummies. When he saw me, his eyes hardened.

"Look," I said, "neither of us wants to be here or do this. But if we want to get back to our friends, we have to make this work."

"Fine, then we might as well start training," he replied.

After 5 minutes of slashing, lunging, and dodging, I finally broke the silence. "So, we might as well get to know a little bit about each other. My last name's Jackson."

"Mine's Grace."

At that moment, I lost my concentration and if it weren't for the Curse of Achilles, I would have been skewered.

I looked at him, shocked. "Did you just say Grace?"

He looked at me curiously. "Yeah, what's it to you?"

My mind was running as fast as it could, which was, mind you, not that fast. "Would you happen to know a Thalia Grace?"

Now it was his turn to look shocked. "How do you know Thalia? You better not have hurt her or – "

"No, no. She's doing great. It's just that she never told us that she had a brother."

By now, Riptide had returned to my pocket so we started training again. We were a little friendlier now that we had something in common. Don't get me wrong, there was still some hostility, but not nearly the amount that was there last night.

Around noon, we stopped training, went and showered, and had lunch. In the middle of lunch, we got a message from a nymph saying that Hera/Juno wanted to see us in the throne room after we finished our lunch.

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Juno seemed mildly surprised when we walked in calmly, no bickering whatsoever (except for a little friendly banter – it seems we're a lot alike. Not me-and-Thalia alike, but pretty close. I guess since because they're siblings it makes sense a little but still…).

She looked us up and down.

"Well, it seems as if you have passed your first test – training together without trying to kill each other."

I looked at her curiously. "Lady Hera, why does it seem like you are actually disappointed that we passed the test?"

"I am not! Why would I be disappointed in your success?"

She looked somewhat angry, which is understandable, although I was surprised she didn't try to kill me right then and there. I figured it was probably because I was right.

"In any case," she huffed, "there are more tests the two of you must pass if you are to be sent back to your camps. You have the rest of today and tonight to prepare for them. No, I am not allowed to tell you what they are just yet. You may go."

Of course, just as we were walking out, she had to drop the bomb. And this wasn't your run-of-the-mill-blow-up-a-quarter-mile bomb. This was an uber-nuclear bomb sent to blow up all of the former USSR.

"By the way, Jason and Percy, your girlfriends miss you very much. Annabeth's been going crazy searching all over camp for you, Percy. She's really acting unlike herself. I wish I'd known her weakness was you, Percy. Oh, the fun I could have had with her."

She sighed, and then she continued, "And Reyna too, Jason, although Lupa's doing a better job than Chiron of keeping her and the rest of camp under control. I mean, really. Who knew a strong daughter of Bellona could cry so much and for so long?"

Jason and I looked at each other. We knew Hera/Juno was trying to destabilize us so we would fail, for whatever reason. The only problem was, it was working. I felt the sudden urge to Iris-message Annabeth, to tell her I was all right. I could tell the same thoughts were going through Jason's mind.

Hera/Juno was smiling. Ugh, I hated her so much right around then.

Jason and I went to try to prepare for any possible challenge; when we found this impossible, we tried to spar, but we were shaken too much.

We ended up just talking endlessly about our girlfriends, not really accomplishing anything. But Juno's small speech had changed something. Now, Jason and I were fighting a common enemy, sharing a common goal. We needed to get back to our friends and our camps. Now, we were closer than ever.

Juno might have been trying to debase us, and it might have worked. But there was a serious flaw in her calculations – she forgot to take into account how hard we would work to get back to the people we love.

So, what do you think? I know I may have lost a bunch of readers because of the long update time, but to those of you left, please, talk to me!

Was anyone too OOC? Do you guys want me to try a Jason POV (I'm not sure how well that would go, but it might be worth a shot if the idea's popular enough)? Am I doing the story justice?

Until next time, chessrd signing out.