Percy waited a few weeks before giving the ring back to Luke. "Vanessa said to give this back to you."
Luke seemed oddly depressed that Vanessa left. The tears that threatened to fall unnerved Percy; he'd never seen Luke like this before. "Thanks." He took the ring and dropped it into his pocket, dragging his feet toward the Hermes bunker.
"Seaweed Brain!" He smiled at the nickname, turning toward the beautiful blonde girl running toward him. "I've been thinking about what happened."
"Something doesn't make sense, Annabeth. Why is Luke so upset that she went back?"
"We have to figure this out. Luke really did change, but this might put him back in the same position he was before."
He nodded, slipping his arms around his girlfriend. "We will, don't worry."
Almost a year later, Percy found himself in a counselor meeting with Annabeth, Clarisse, Luke, working out a plan to bring the Romans to camp. Luke finally spoke up to present an idea. "Why don't we start an annual two-week festival in July?"
"It's brilliant. Trust me, they like feasts and festivals of any kind." Percy quickly agreed.
Even Clarisse could find nothing wrong with this and they voted for it unanimously. As he and Annabeth headed for the mess hall to eat, Thalia Grace intercepted them. Her silver tiara encircled her head like usual, but she was extremely upset. "Your sister is a bitch."
Percy was shocked. "What?"
"You realize Luke's depressed because she left him?"
Annabeth jumped in. "Hey, he's the one who left her a note, telling her he was going after you."
Thalia snorted. "Bullshit. He goes to the creek every day and cries. I have never seen that boy cry."
"We saw the note, Thalia."
"There was no note from him! He was planning to propose to her when he came to Poseidon's cabin and found her note, telling him she was going back to Jason."
"This is ridiculous. She never forgave Jason for what he did to her." Percy stated.
Her electric blue eyes flashed dangerously; the air became charged around them. "You tell her to come back and fix this or I will, and I will not be nice about it."
"Thalia, I swear there was a note on his bed." Annabeth argued. "I read it myself."
"Whatever. I'm not going to stand here and argue with you two, but if she comes back, keep her away from me." She stomped off, her bow bouncing on her back.
Luke came up to them, watching Thalia leave. "What was that all about?"
Percy shrugged. "Food smells good, let's go eat." Annabeth followed him, sitting down at his table instead of hers. "What are you doing?"
"They were set up, Percy."
"Yeah, but now he's too depressed to fight right and she's more than likely making out with Jason. What do you want me to do?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Send her an Iris message, you dimwit."
"I'm hungry." He said pointedly as the food came around.
"Fine." She walked away to her table and proceeded to eat, ignoring him.
He ate quickly after giving the offering to the gods and signed the invitation Annabeth wrote to send to Camp Jupiter. He wasn't sure if Vanessa and Luke were being played, but it seemed that way to him.
The next day, they received the reply from the praetors of the Twelfth Legion, saying they would arrive the day after tomorrow. Annabeth and Percy cheered, high fiving each other. Luke, however, was down in the arena, staring at a piece of paper. He walked down there, Riptide in his hands, to practice. "Hey man."
"Hey." Luke didn't even look up from the paper.
Percy stood there awkwardly for a minute, finally deciding to sit down. "What's wrong?"
He folded the letter up and slipped it into his pocket, picking up his sword, Backbiter. "Nothing a few rounds won't fix. You want to?"
"Sure, why not? I needed to practice anyway."
They sparred for a few minutes, wasting time. "Have we heard back from the Romans?"
"Yeah. They'll be here in a couple of days."
Luke sighed. "I suppose we have to meet them."
"Mr. D said all the counselors were to welcome them when they arrive."
"Let me know, then. I'll see you later." He walked off, head down.
Percy shook his head and went to find Annabeth. She was in the middle of arguing with Grover, with a young teenage girl standing nearby, her head down. Her long, red hair fell to her waist as she looked up, catching Percy's look. He motioned her to come over to him. "Hey, I'm Percy. What's your name?"
Her deep violet eyes met his and he noted the stubborn set of her jaw and the mischievous glint in her eye. "Gwendolyn Messer, but call me Gwen." She grinned, looking him over.
He shifted uncomfortably. "You know you're a demigod, right?"
She gave him an incredulous look. "I may be fourteen, but I'm not stupid."
"Right. Well, while they're arguing, I'll show you around and get you settled in your cabin."
She shrugged. "Fine with me, cutie. Lead the way."
He showed her all the important places: the mess hall, the arena, and the cabins. "This is Cabin eleven, where you'll be at until you're determined."
Luke came out, putting on a fake smile for the newbie. "Hermes is our cabin patron and I'm the cabin counselor, Luke."
"Gwen Messer."
Percy walked away while Luke was explaining the rules to her and joined Annabeth, taking her hand. "I got her settled in."
She gave him a quick smile. "Thanks, Seaweed Brain. She gave Grover some trouble."
He went to eat breakfast earlier than normal, seeing Gwen sit close to Luke, giggling at something he'd said. Luke didn't look too thrilled to have her attention, though. Just as he finished his pancakes, Annabeth ran up to him. "They're here, their four leaders."
Percy ran after her with Luke as two large eagles descended in front of them and three praetors jumped off: Reyna, a tall, black haired girl; Vanessa, the short brunette; Jason, a tall, serious blonde; and Octavian, a shaggy haired blonde boy with teddy bears and a dagger in his belt. Percy snorted as Octavian almost fell. Jason helped him up, saying something to him. Vanessa, however, was staring at Luke. Her smiling face changed rapidly to indifference. Reyna waved at Annabeth as they walked up Camp Half-Blood Hill. Octavian lagged behind Jason, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. "Hey Percy." Jason fist bumped him, completely ignoring Luke.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Romans." Luke said, shaking hands with Reyna.
Octavian pointed his dagger at Luke. "Any funny business and I'll slit you open, sonny."
Vanessa laid a hand on his shoulder. "Be nice Octavian."
He glanced at her, sheathing his dagger. "Control your charmspeaking girlfriend, Grace."
"I can't. She's not my girlfriend."
Percy, being an excellent liar (except to Annabeth), saw right through that statement, as did Luke. His whole body tensed up.
"This is Octavian, our augur, Jason and Vanessa, our other two praetors, and I'm Reyna, the third praetor. It was nice of you to invite us here."
"When is the rest of your camp coming?"
"Tomorrow. They sent us first, as the leaders."
Luke nodded. "I'll go ahead and show you to your cabin, Reyna. Annabeth, Percy, show the others to theirs, please?"
As he left, Vanessa turned to Octavian. "Gabriel's going to be here in the morning, pretty boy."
"Dude, really?" He groaned. "I stink, like, bad and he always smells so yummy!"
"Do you need me to give you a bath?" She smirked.
"I can manage just fine, thank you. Where's my cabin, Jackson?"
Percy, his arm around Annabeth's waist, led Octavian to the Apollo cabin, Jason to the Zeus cabin, and Vanessa to his cabin. As soon as she climbed up on the bunk bed, Annabeth crossed her arms. "Luke left you a note, right?"
"Yeah." Vanessa pulled a folded piece of paper out of her bag. "Here."
"Now maybe Thalia will quit thinking she dumped him."
Percy leaned back on his bed, the bunk across from Vanessa's. "What does Thalia have to do with this?" Vanessa asked, sitting straight up.
"She's under the impression that you left Luke a note, telling him you were going back to Jason."
"Why on earth would I leave Luke for Jason?"
Percy stretched out, pulling Annabeth toward him. "Let her chill, Wise Girl. Show the note to Thalia and see what she says. Meanwhile, Vanessa can get some sleep and you and I can hang out."
Vanessa jumped down from the bed. "I'll be around." She left the cabin, probably headed to Jason's cabin.
Percy then went with Luke to help him get ready for the rest of the Romans while Annabeth searched for Thalia. Right after they finished, the dinner bell rang. Jason appeared with Vanessa, who was giggling. Percy cocked an eyebrow. He had never heard his sister giggle. Luke scowled and walked off, bumping into Jason as he went to his table. Vanessa flipped him off, sitting down across from Percy. Jason plopped down right next to her. "Are you two dating?"
"Annabeth! Sit with us." Jason said cheerily, completely ignoring Percy.
Annabeth sat down beside Percy just as the food came around. "How'd it go?"
"I couldn't find her."
"This is going to get bad, Annabeth." Percy whispered. "We have to do something."
"I have a plan, Seaweed Brain, don't worry." She kissed his cheek.
