Chapter One: Playing Fire
June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0600 hrs, Deck, Argo II - California, United States - Jason Grace
Jason stood on the deck of Argo II. It was an impressive design, Leo really was a lot more brilliant than people gave him credit for. It took months of hard work, hundreds of pairs of hands, more Imperial Gold he could count and so much Denarius that the senate never quitted whining about it.
Jason was definitely not going for a career in politics.
Jason looked beyond, from the altitude the ship was flying, there was nothing to view but a sea of clouds, stormy, grey clouds. They were heading straight into the heart of a storm. Neptune must be angry, Jason thought.
Jason's mind wondered back to Camp Jupiter, the only home he had ever known. Of course, it hadn't been the whole truth. Jason knew he'd grown up in a home, with his mother and sister. He could only vaguely remember them, their faces and voices long blurred from the distant, foggy memories.
Juno brought him to Lupa when he was two, it was the only thing he was told. Sometimes Jason would find himself thinking about them, but his mind would not linger, it was no use dwelling on the past, Romans aren't supposed to be sentimental like that.
He thought of Reyna, his oldest and closest friend. He trusted her more than anyone else in the world, and he would leave his back for her to watch without hesitation. His mind kept playing how she kissed him in slow motion, his thoughts lingered momentarily.
Reyna was the first true friend he'd ever had, and one of the most important people in his life, but did he like her in that way? Truth to be told, that notion never crossed his mind. But she'd stirred something inside him then, something he'd never felt before.
He felt a presence next to him, and Jason smiled, despite it was the moment he almost dreaded. She moved gracefully, her steps silent, but he knew her too well.
"Hello, Piper." Jason said.
"Wonderful morning, isn't it?" Piper didn't sound the slightest surprised, "Leo's still out, I'd say he designed the autopilot function so he could sleep in until noon."
Jason's reply was dry, "Told him he shouldn't have thrown that party for Argo II's voyage, the circumstances are less than ideal."
Piper didn't say a word, instead, she took his hand and squeezed it. Jason returned the pressure. It wasn't until a full minute had passed when Piper broke the comfortable silence.
"Where are we going?"
"We have to find Juno," Jason began, "and since we have no idea where she is, we need to find someone who does."
"And?" Piper raised an eyebrow.
"Since all the Olympians are out of action, thanks to this Greek-Roman split persona thing," Jason declared, "They won't be much help to us until we fulfill the Prophecy of Seven and supposedly unite Greece and Rome, at least according to Lady Minerva." He added the last part, the Son of Jupiter's tone was respectful enough at the name of his half-sister.
"Which means now we are off finding someone who can guide us to Juno." Piper finished for him, drawing a small smile from the son of Jupiter.
"Before we left," Jason said distantly, his eyes had drifted afar from the Venus beauty in front of him to the horizon, "Percy told me to track down Lycaon's pack of lycanthropes. He said finding Lycaon would be our best chance."
"He didn't care to elaborate further?" Piper led out a huff of annoyance, "Because it sounds like another riddle of the Gods' to me."
"Lycaon probably knows something," Jason shrugged, "We know he is one of the most powerful monsters walking on Earth and he is in league with Terra. I wouldn't be surprised if he has information on where Juno is being held, probably even took part in her abduction."
"I doubt it," Piper frowned, her tone was doubtful. She ran a hand through her braided chocolate brown hair subconsciously. Morning breeze gently brushed her choppy hair, carrying a few loose, thin strands away and Piper's eyes flashed from blue to green, then back to her original brown, probably in annoyance. Unlike her half-siblings, Piper was distasteful to her own heritage. She has told Jason more than once that she could trade all her beauty and allure that came from Venus if it meant not being gaped at by boys with hunger, or glared at by girls with envy. She hated attention, and she was never as comfortable with it as Jason. Maybe that's why they'd grown so close rather quickly. Jason found himself staring, and he blushed, turning his gaze away quickly. He thanked Jupiter she did not catch him, otherwise it would be embarrassing… and creepy. He would probably have thanked Jupiter a lot less had he noticed her cheeks turning pink.
"Lycaon might be powerful, but he is only a lycanthrope. A savage dark beast, Juno's Godly form could wipe out his entire pack in less than a second. Not to mention Terra would never be stupid enough to entrust such task with lycanthropes." Piper really was a lot more intelligent than people tended to believe, prejudice against children of Venus was common among the ranks of Camp Jupiter, Jason found it disgusting. "And Terra plans to revive Porphyrion…"
Piper's eyes widened in realization, as did Jason's, "A Giant must have snatched her! Pluto, we are sailing at two Gigantes!"
"Do you think I could resign Praetor?"
"I'm wondering the same thing…"
"Maybe this ship can take us to another planet…"
"…I certainly hope so…"
And now Jason's plans about an early morning of peace and quite is certainly ruined.
June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0800 hrs, Medford, Oregon, United States - Percy Jackson
The first thing Percy did when he opened his eyes in the morning was to yawn. It was against the forces of natural to be up before one is naturally awake, but Percy was already used to it from the early rises in Camp Half-Blood, not to mention the barracks of Twelfth Legion.
off
He didn't mind the early mornings, it was peaceful, and it was all he ever wanted.
Peace.
Surprisingly it was too much to ask for. Being the son of Poseidon and the child of prophecy and everything, then the Savior of Olympus, until they kicked him out.
Percy gazed down for a moment, his pillow looked really inviting, and he almost decided to drop back down and go back to sleep, it surely was tempting enough, but there was no way he was going back to sleep after what he'd seen.
They needed to pay Portland a visit.
Percy changed into a set of new clothes, checked for his weapons and left his tent. The magical tent collapsed on itself upon the son of Vesta's departure and shrunk to the size of a coin, just enough for Percy to pick it up and place in his jeans pocket.
He found Hazel sitting in the middle of the campsite, with a few Starbucks paper bags lying next to her. She was biting a sandwich rather hungrily before spotting Percy, offering him a smile and a bag of breakfast, which he accepted gratefully. When Percy asked whether Hazel has seen Zoë, the daughter of Pluto shrugged and told him she probably wondered off somewhere in the woods. Percy opened the bag and found a paned egg, a small box of salad and a cup of hot chocolate, eyeing them with appreciation as he thanked Hazel again and hurried off in search of Zoë.
Percy eventually found the ex-huntress standing behind a tree with her back to him. Zoë's body tensed at the sound of his feet shuttering against the forest floor piled with green leaves. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" He said, Zoë's posture relaxed again.
She wore a bored expression, the tip of her fingers swirling around the hilt of her silver hunting knife, the body of the silver blade gleaming the reflection of the bright sunlight. Her eyes were distant, her gaze lingering at streams of light coming through the branches of trees, with a small glimpse of pale blue sky with no cloud at all.
She looked to be in a train of thoughts until Percy made his presence known anyway.
"Indeed it is," Zoë replied curtly.
"You look troubled," Percy observed, "Something on your mind?"
"It's just…" Zoë opened her mouth, only to shut it abruptly. The ex-huntress seemed to be debating with herself for a moment, before shaking her head, her tone was dismissive and distant when she spoke again, "Never mind."
"Where's the dragon?" Zoë asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"Peleus?" Percy looked amused, "You didn't expect him to stay here all night with three humans in the middle of a forest, did you?"
"Well pardon me for not being of expertise on the matter," Zoë rolled her eyes, retorting sarcastically, "I did spend two thousand years hunting, not dragon keeping."
"I'm pretty sure Artemis would have allowed you to keep a pet dragon if you asked." Percy replied smoothly, somehow his expression had turned even more bemused. Zoë spent a second debating what she'd preferred to do with that troublemaker's smirk on his face, whether to punch it or stun it.
"Would have preferred to hunt it instead." Zoë snorted.
"Somehow your answer doesn't surprise me the slightest," Percy said, "you, my dear, does have a tendency of violence."
"What did you just call me dear?" Zoë's eyes narrowed, and the smirk vanished from Percy's face almost instantly at the tone of her voice. It amazed Zoë how quickly people tended to pale in her presence, boys…
"Jeez Zoë," Percy said, putting his hands up in surrender as he subconsciously took a step back from her, "I was only joking."
Zoë had this strange urge to smirk.
"You are lucky I like you, Perseus, now when are we leaving?" Zoë noticed Percy's expression turning serious, no, almost solemn. It was a strange sight on his face and Zoë began to grow worried.
"As soon as Peleus gets here," Percy said without a sign of humor, "We'd better get Hazel."
With that, Percy turned and left, leaving Zoë staring at him until she shook it off and jogged to join him.
June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0730 hrs, Deck, Argo II - California, United States - Leo Valdez
Leo considered himself a lady's man, I mean, come on, who could resist an incredibly hot and even more so awesome Latino boy!
Unfortunately, it wasn't the case when it came to one of his closest friends Piper, and he was just about to relive why.
So when he heard a loud voice screaming his name, Leo knew he was screwed.
Leo bolted up from his bed before his knew what his doing, and dropped onto the ground of his room. He rubbed his eyes quickly before forcing them wide open, only to find Piper McLean glaring at him with so much intensity that he wished he could drop through a hole. Probably to his death, but Leo didn't care, Piper was a lot scarier than that.
"What's up Beauty Queen?" Leo said, secretly hoping he won't find his head missing from his neck within the next ten seconds.
"Get up Valdez," Piper glared, "and I told you to not call me that name."
Leo, feeling extra brave or extra stupid, chose to grin at her.
Piper sighed, throwing a hand up in exasperation, "Whatever Leo, Supreme Commander of Argo II or… whatever, just be on the bridge in 15 minutes, we need you."
Leo sighed in relief, before glancing at the clock on his bedside, and gasped, "It's only seven thirty! What could you possibly want from me at this ungodly hour!"
"We wake up earlier than this in the Legion, Leo," Piper rolled her eyes at her friend "and how does saving the world from an evil Primordial Goddess sound?"
For a moment, Leo was too stunned to come up with his usual smartass retort. Piper looked satisfied before excusing herself from his room.
Leo wondered what was up with Piper.
Must be time of the month, Leo decided, and got up to dress, positively proud of himself.
June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0900 hrs, Senate, New Rome, Camp Jupiter - California, United States - Reyna Ramírez-Arellano
Reyna looked at the house of senate assembling before her with discrete distaste from her podium up high. The senate was all bureaucratic, incredibly annoying to a fierce warrior like Reyna, but she understood the need of its existence. New Rome was built to be the Republic of Rome, not the Empire of Rome.
Being a Praetor automatically granted Reyna a seat on the senate, alongside her senior Centurions in the Legion. However, Reyna wouldn't feel the slightest bit of guilt saying the senators were a bunch of pricks minus a few, Octavian wasn't a lone case, too many Romans have been corrupt by money or power, the usual case.
The senate session took place nine in the morning, which was still too late for Reyna's liking. Three good hours in the day were already wasted, let alone the prolonged debates. She hoped the junior Centurions who were put in charge of the Legion's training and patrolling were holding the fort alright on their own.
Reyna began addressing the senate as soon as the house had settled down, and not a second later, "Thank you, for meeting in such short notice," as if, "Since we are very much short on time, I will go straight to the point. We need more funding for the preparations for Terra's impending invasion-"
"This is outrageous!" A senator rose and interrupted her loudly, "New Rome was one of the wealthiest cities in the magical world, and now we are in debt. All your claims about an impending invasion are based on the words of a boy, they are speculations!"
"That's enough!" Gwen snapped, glaring daggers at the fuming senator, but the daughter of Ceres was ignored altogether.
"Our economy is deteriorating, we have almost empties our vaults pumping Denarii into the Legion, this needs to stop! Praetor Reyna is leading Rome down a path away from greatness!"
At this point Frank had lost it and rose, swinging and jumping over three rolls of seats until he landed in front of the senator. Then, he punched him in the face.
Reyna thought it was awesome.
Chaos erupted quickly as angry senators rose to their feet, followed by equally angry Centurions, defending their comrades. Dakota, who was filling Percy's seat as Junior Centurion of Fifth Cohort for the reminder of the quest, threw a punch before the dozen legionaries from First Cohort standing guard inside the Senate attempted to pull the angry senators away, only to join the fight when a mobster of a Senator threw a Molotov's Cocktail and only narrowly missed Reyna, who was desperate to stop the fighting.
Things escalated quickly when a dozen more legionaries stormed into the Senate from outside the building, only to witness their praetor nearly getting torched alive. As it turned out, Octavian was not as alone as Reyna hoped.
By the end of the day, Reyna had this one bitch of a headache.
She decided to pay a visit to her personal stress reliever, the Praetor's private bathe, Roman, of course.
A loud scream echoed in New Rome.
June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 0800 hrs, Bridge, Argo II - California, United States - Piper McLean
"You are late," Piper said briefly, not even bothering to glance at Leo as he entered the Bridge, still scowling. At least Jason spared a second to look at his best friend from the mountain of maps under the pair, a worrisome frown was present on his face as well.
"What are you working on?" Leo inquired curiously, leaning over to take a look at the maps that had piled on the table. On the top was a map of the west cost, stretching from the Mexican borders into the depths of Canada.
"We are… searching for Lycaon and his pack," Jason said, not taking his eyes off the map, "Werewolves, if you will, we need to track them down."
"Okay," Leo replied, confused.
"We think tracking down Lycaon is our best chance at locating Juno, our only chance, really," Piper confessed, pushing herself up from the table, "and we have no clue where to begin. We are both fighters, not hunters…. I mean, obviously, if Zoë is here it'd probably only take her a minute, but sadly she isn't, and since you are this ship's engineer and… oh all right! Comandante Supremo Valdez, we were wondering if you could help."
"Hmm…" Leo said with a satisfied grin, "I know as much about hunting as you two, Sparky, Beauty Queen, so I'm going to assume this awesome warship built by the awesome Latino in front of you can magically find magical creatures."
The looks on Jason's and Piper's faces confirmed that notion.
"Well," Leo continued, "Argo II wasn't built as a hunter, so there is very little we can do right now. However, it does carry a built-in passive radar that detects any incoming hostile forces within 50 miles, a warning system. Lucky for you, the most brilliant mind ever walked on Earth is standing right in front of you and it will only take some slight moderations to pick up magical signals emitted by monsters."
Jason's face lit up, "Are you saying what I think I'm saying?"
"Sí," Leo said, "But I wouldn't hold my breathe if I were you. It is nearly impossible to pinpoint the location of a particular magical creature just based on their magical signal. Besides, it could easily confuse the energy of a God or a demigod for a monster's. The radar won't be able to cover nearly as much as the entire North America either."
"But it is possible?" Piper injected.
Leo nodded, "How much do we know about Lycaon?"
"Just they are roaming across the west coast." Jason shook his head in frustration, "They could be anywhere in America, or Canada, or even Mexico."
"It's a short notice," Leo said, "But I can probably have it ready this afternoon, though I suppose we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way and sweep through the coast board. Since I only have a few hours… I can't promise more than pinpointing outside the scale of a city… Though an entire pack of werewolves would give away a lot of magical energy, if they are anywhere in California… We'll find them."
Leo left rather quickly to grab some breakfast in the kitchens before heading to the engineering for a long day of hard work, leaving Jason and Piper alone in the Bridge again.
"Could we… I don't know, try that Iris Message thing Percy told up about and try to locate Lycaon?" Piper suggested after a moment of frustrated silence.
"Doubt it." Jason shook his head, "Terra would have thought to sever all the connections or block our sight, she's too smart for that. Beside, for all we know, Iris is out of action like the rest of Olympus. Percy only told me to track down the pack, he said himself was unaware of their location as they are constantly roaming."
Piper growled in frustration, "Just what the Pluto does Percy want us to find…"
June 18th 2011 - 6 days before the Feast of Fortuna, 1600 hrs, Portland, Oregon, United States - Hazel Levesque
Zoë jumped off Peleus the second the dragon touched the ground, much to the mutual amusement of Percy and Hazel. The ex-huntress looked like she wanted nothing to do with the dragon while Peleus looked visibly wounded… Hazel just hoped Peleus didn't take rejection too badly…
Percy on the other hand was aware of Zoë's reasons. Peleus was a dragon, and it was a painful reminder of Ladon… The darkest chapter of her life, one that she wished to forget. To be one hundred percent honest, Percy was worried for Zoë.
She looked fine, and that's exactly what got Percy so worried. People didn't know Zoë, and they took her usual behavior dismissively. But Percy did know her, a lot better than she led on. He knew she was troubled, and he also knew she couldn't confine to him.
Two thousand years of solitude made sure of it.
Percy sighed and cursed Aphrodite for probably the one-thousandth time of his life. Aphrodite was cruel in her own way, she loved messing with him, and his love life was in ruins long before his father turned his back on him.
First he was in love with his best friend since twelve, the daughter of his father's great rival who turned out to be a back-stabbing bitch. Then he fell for the beautiful huntress who had a poisonously cold exterior, and an interior as dark and broken as his own, someone who believed was incapable of love.
And there he was, Son of one of the eldest children of Kronos and Rhea, Savior of Olympus, Greatest Hero In History, Centurion of Fifth Cohort Twelfth Legion Fulminata and all, yet he couldn't have the one thing he wanted.
Wealth, fame, power, all that rubbish, just ask Percy.
"Why are we stopping in Portland?" Hazel asked, not totally oblivious to the tension between the duo, but she respected them enough to not bring it up.
"I had a dream," Percy replied curtly.
Zoë raised an eyebrow at this, giving Percy a pointed look. The son of Vesta blushed furiously, "Not that kind of dream you pervert!" Percy exclaimed, "It was a demigod dream."
Now Zoë looked interested, "Care to share?" The ex-huntress said.
"I don't remember the details," Percy frowned, his expression was one of hard concentration, "I just know something here in Portland is critical to us. I remember… a-a harpy, and a name, Phineas, Gaea calls him the seer."
"Phineas?" Zoë looked alarmed, she was visibly tensed, her jaw clenched while her fist locked around the hilt of her hunting blade.
Hazel shot her a look.
"We are going to meet Percy's half-brother," Zoë said, "Let's just hope things won't go ugly to blades, he is gifted much like Nerues."
Percy understood instantly, and paled, but Hazel didn't.
"Nerues can see the future," He explained.
Now Hazel was worried.
"I assure you, my lady Terra, it will be worth it." A lazy voice said, "As you said yourself, my dearest Mother Earth, you are in dire need to hunt down the half-blood. My services will ensure by the end of the day, the boy and the spares will be yours, dead or alive, you only need a word."
The ancient voice of Terra sneered at the bald figure in front of her, but refrained from anything further. "You would better keep your word… Phineas, I do not tolerate failure. But success will be rewarded. I can restore your vision, break the curse, and give you all the wealth in the world… Be sure to deliver me all three godlings, I need them alive… for now. You will be rewarded handsomely…. Or hunted to the ends of the world."
The fat man only nodded lazily, "I hope you are ready to unlatch your vaults, Lady Terra, I do plan on being a lot richer real soon."
Terra snorted, not even hiding the disdain from her voice. The pressure of her presence was gone, and Phineas turned around lazily, picking up a double cheeseburger from the table, his entire demeanor screaming lazy.
"Now dear," He grinned wickedly at one of the Harpies across him, "You and I are going to get alone just fine."
Percy Jackson woke up with a start.
AN: Hello again, first I want to thank you for your wonderful reviews, they are the highlights of my day. Another chapter is done and our heroes seem to be struggling on multiple fronts. Next chapter, Percy will encounter Phineas, and they have a civil conversation. No of course not, things will go ugly pretty quickly because Gaea won't be happy about it. Jason on the other hand, is just about to find out what exactly Percy is hoping to lead him to. I will try to unfold the plot quickly while rotating between the perspectives of different characters, it's sort of an experiment at this stage. It will still be Perzoë centric, of course. Speaking of which, they will advance in the department of romance, just not right now, so have a little patience. Whether you enjoyed or hated this chapter, I would love it if you could leave a review, they are very helpful.
Thanks again for reading and have a nice day, until the next time!