Percy
Percy was amazed at all the people the ship had brought to Camp Jupiter. He had assumed only Annabeth, and the bunch from the parchment: Jason, Leo, and Piper, would be coming. He laughed silently at his stupidity: they were going to fight an army of giants in Rome and Athens, and he planned on bringing only seven people.
Around Annabeth and him, a group had formed. Clarisse and her cabin mates were there, commenting on Percy's stupidity. Thalia was there, along with one of her hunters. The Stoll brothers and the more courageous of the Aphrodite cabin were talking to each other; Connor was talking up the two cabin mates while Travis was trying to get their wallets. The Hephaestus kids were toasting to their awesome ship with some of Athena's kids, who had probably helped in its making.
Annabeth and Percy had gotten over the sea monster incident and were walking around, talking to the rare kind Roman and touring the camp. Reyna came up to them.
"Percy, you have made a big scene, put yourself in danger, and neglected your responsibility as praetor. I'm beginning to doubt your worthiness of the title of praetor. Cetus or not, you must not-"
Annabeth interjected, "I doubt half the Romans were there to see the landing, Reyna. I've heard that formal introductions will be made at nightfall. Let's assess the damage done then?"
Reyna seemed surprised at her interruption, but regained her composure in a split second. "Agreed. Who do you belong to? Aphrodite?"
Percy suppressed a smile, and told her, "Daughter of Goddess of Battle Strategy. In charge of reconstruction of Mt. Olympus in the east." Reyna raised an eyebrow, turned up the side of her lip in a smile, like: Oh, you might not be that bad after all…
The evening darkened quickly and the Romans began to gather in the Field of Mars, where the war games were usually held. The nymphs that served food in the dining hall had set up chairs in front of a sloping section of land, like a stage. It was the only place Terminus trusted the Greeks to be together beside the Romans. Apparently, Greeks inside the Pomerian Line was not an option.
The Romans rested on chairs, beside some other demigods from Camp Half-Blood. The "stage" held most of the Greeks, as well as Reyna, and unfortunately Octavian.
As the crowd quieted, Reyna stepped forward and announced: "As the oldest praetor of this camp, I ask you to welcome the Greeks. They will introduce themselves, share the current condition of their camp, then we shall continue to discuss our plan against Gaea with some select Greeks and the centurions of each cohort."
The crowd was silent as Percy and Jason stepped forward. Behind Percy were Hazel and Frank who had slipped onto the "stage" at the last minute. Behind Jason were the guests from Camp Jupiter, including Annabeth.
"I am Jason Grace, son of Zeus, former praetor of camp Jupiter." Jason said, throwing a wink at Percy when he said former.
"I am Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus/Vulcan, commander of Argo II." Percy heard a squeak from behind him, but decided that bringing attention on Hazel right now would not be good, so didn't turn to look.
"I am Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, Venus, master of charmspeak." Piper muttered with an evil smile.
"I am Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, Minerva in Roman terms." Reyna was watching him closely, so Percy resisted the urge to add "architect of the century".
"I am Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, sister of Jason."
"What!" Percy and Reyna squeaked.
Thalia smiled and said in a superior voice, "While you, Reyna, were off performing the duties of a praetor, and when you, Percy, were off having smoochy time, I was meeting my long lost brother."
Jason grinned at the shocked Roman faces, but waved them off. "Neither of us knew the other was alive. Please, continue."
The remaining Greeks continued, and Clarisse, the Stolls, Athena's and Hephaestus's kids introduced themselves.
Jason offered a quick explanation of how they saved Hera and stopped Porphyrion from rising followed by Percy's side of the story, freeing Thanatos and crushing Polybotes's army.
The crowd began to go back to the barracks, leaving only the centurions, two children of each Greek god, and two children from each Roman god.
"How do we plan on beating Gaea and her giants?" Leo asked simply. The boy, who in the parchment had seemed happy-go-lucky, looked very disturbed and quiet.
All eyes turned to the children of Athena and Minerva, Roman and Greek.
"We need to find a way to divide our forces, both godly and mortal, so all the giants have a pair of fighters that can bring them down together." Annabeth said. "I doubt the gods will feel okay with demigods telling them what to do."
"Hera seems to think the other gods know what they have to do. Only my father is a problem, but I think I can convince him." At that moment, a bolt of electricity shot from a cloudless sky and struck Jason. In contrast with the screams and gasps, he just laughed. Looking up at the sky he said, "Like I said, I think." Percy smiled.
"So what's to decide?" Leo asked. "Percy with Poseidon, Jason, and Thalia with Zeus, and you, Annabeth with Athena, and so on." The ground rumbled with a sound almost like a purr.
"That's too simple. I think Gaea will expect that. But I don't think we can discuss this here. We're on land. She'll hear won't she?" Annabeth's question received uncertain nods.
"Jason, can you get us into the sky?" Thalia asked.
Jason let out a nervous chuckle, "Yeah.. that's a lot of people, sis."
"That's fine Jason, and plus, I don't think making our plans on controlling the gods in Zeus's territory will help us either." Annabeth told him, pointing at the sky, which was beginning to churn with clouds like a washing machine.
All eyes turned on Percy. "I can manage a bubble of air…probably just barely…but I won't be able to add any thoughts, keep anyone afloat in an emergency, and you'll have to find a way to get both yourselves as well as me back to shore, because I'll be exhausted."
"How is it that a son of Neptune is stronger than a son of Zeus?" One of the centurions in the crowd asked.
"I imagine creating a bubble is much less energy-demanding than suspending objects in air. Same as how creating powerful waves is harder than breathing underwater for Percy." Annabeth explained. Still, whether it was because they didn't trust the Greeks or because they would be in the feared Neptune's territory, the Romans were uneasy.
Reyna's word settled it all. "I see no better solution, so I say we go."
"I'll unload some of Argo II's dinghies." Leo offered. "When we get to a good location, we can jump off, anchor them down."
"Good, that'll get you a way to get us back to shore."
Piper raised her hand as if she was in school. Reyna nodded and she spoke: "Don't think I'm asking this because I'm a stupid daughter of Aphrodite. But why exactly do we need to be underwater? Isn't it good enough for us to be in it?"
"I just don't want us to take any chances." Reyna said.
"Even if it means Percy going unconscious for more than last time? I mean, he did a lot today, seems like. Fought dead Roman army, fought a live one made of giants. Got attacked by a sea monster…is this really a good idea?"
There was a short silence before Percy said, "This will be a chance for me to learn my limits. Better to zone out among friends than among enemies. Plus, this is more than just about me, or Jason, or Annabeth, whoever. It's about the future of everything. Like Reyna said, we can't put that to chance."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Leo wondered, breaking the tension with a smile.