We were taken to the northern area of Camp Half-Blood. Hazel promptly collapsed onto the ground.
"I hear noises." Travis said.
"It's just the Heroes of Olympus." Connor said. "And their beautiful angel Calypso."
"Back off, punks. She's mine." Leo said.
"Looks like we're back to square one again." I said.
"Now what?" Percy asked.
"We need to make a list of possible suspects." I answered.
I grabbed a note card and wrote out; Khione, Dionysus, then slashed both of them out.
"If it's not Dionysus, then maybe it's one of his sons?" Leo suggested.
"He doesn't have very many children, but it is possible." Percy said.
I wrote the name Pollux.
"Isn't there a roman child or legacy of Bacchus, the Roman aspect of Mr. D?" Piper asked.
"Yeah, there's Dakota, son of Bacchus." Jason answered.
I wrote down Dakota.
"Now the real question is where are both of them?" Frank asked.
"We'd have to find Mr. D, and even then, I don't think he would appreciate us blaming his children of theft and/or corruption of a goddess." I answered.
"Well, I can tell you that Dakota is in Sacramento." Jason said.
"Sacramento? What's he doing there?" Calypso asked.
"Long story..." Jason began.
Suddenly a giant eagle landed on the ground. A Roman demigod jumped down and put her hand on the nearest tree. She looked up and saw us.
"Frank Zhang... You must come to Camp Jupiter at once. You're needed back there as soon as possible." she said.
"Gwen?" Percy asked.
"Bring Percy along. He needs to come too." Gwen ordered.
"Hold on. Who told you to come here?" Frank asked.
"The augur told me to find Frank Zhang and if possible, Percy Jackson." she answered.
"Did something bad happen?" he asked.
"It's several bad things actually." Gwen answered. "Which is why we need to get to Camp Jupiter as soon as possible."
Frank and Percy got on the eagle. The rest of us got on Festus.
"What's with all the hustle and bustle?" Calypso asked.
"I'm sorry about this, but it's a long story. I'd rather explain once we land at Camp Jupiter." Gwen answered.
So we were flying for a number of hours in silence. There was no rest for any of us (except for Hazel, who was unconscious for most of the day). While on the dragon, Jason tended to Calypso's injures and wrapped up her exposed wounds with bandages. Calypso didn't seem sick, but Leo was still worried. Eventually, at who knows when, we landed at Camp Jupiter.
"So remind us again, what happened?" I asked.
"It's a series of unfortunate events." Gwen answered. "Trying to pinpoint where things started is difficult, but I guess one could say it started when Dakota turned 21. You see, during the Second Giant War, he was the age of 17. Because he was underage, he drank Kool-Aid with three times the amount of sugar. Usually it caused little to no problems." We passed the mess hall.
"So what happened?" Percy asked.
"Four years ago, on June 3rd, he turned 21, and after much putting a lot of pressure on Frank, he finally got the privilege to drink alcohol. Reyna was not here during this time, as she took on a solo quest to save her sister Hylla from the wrath of Antaeus. Anyway, just as Hazel and others predicted, Dakota being drunk caused many problems. Hannibal got loose and it took us a week to find him. By the time we found him, he was dead. That was Dakota's first warning. About two weeks later, after Reyna returned from her quest, he unintentionally caused the death of Hank. He got his alcohol drinking privilege taken away by Reyna. However, he had developed an addiction to alcohol. His supply of wine had been locked up in Reyna's chambers, but while she was preparing for the Feast of Fortuna, which was to occur the next day, he reclaimed the bottles of liquor. Then things really got out of hand."
"Oh no..." I muttered. "What happened next?"
"He got extremely drunk on the day of the Feast. Several evil spirits somehow got into the camp. A fire had started in the Garden of Bacchus. Spirits were reeking havoc and Jacob, Larry, Bobby and Lelia all died in the chaos. It was not easy to get rid of them as nobody had the power of necromancy or Charmspeak to banish them. Nathan, the Augur who took Octavian's place, foresaw bad luck for Camp Jupiter that year and the year after that. It's normal to get bad luck every now and then, but twice in a row was unheard of. Yet Dakota never knew this. On the day of the spirit invasion, he was banished from Camp Jupiter forever because he was blamed for the chaos that took place." Gwen answered. "Unfortunately, now things are taking a turn for the worse."
"What do you mean, a turn for the worse?" Leo asked.
We entered Reyna's bedroom and gasped. Reyna was lying on a couch with a purple sheet over her body. Her arms were across her chest above the sheet and she looked so motionless.
"Reyna..." I said.
"Is she...dead?' Piper asked.
"No, but she's fallen into a coma." Gwen answered.
"How long has she been in her comatose state?" I asked.
"Nearly two days." she answered grimly.
"Two days? That's when Percy was blamed..." Leo muttered under his breath.
"We've tried everything to heal her, believing she was sick, but we don't even know what's wrong." Gwen explained. "Nathan fears that Reyna may die."
"And that's why Frank was called here. Since he's the Praetor of the Fifth Legion." Leo said.
"That, and to see if Percy will keep his promise." Gwen said.
"A promise?" I asked.
"Oh that, well, I can't." Percy said.
"But you must!" Gwen exclaimed.
"How do you even know what I'm talking about?" he asked.
"What are you talking about?" Leo asked.
"Once, Reyna had temporarily awoken from her endless slumber, but only for about a minute. I asked Reyna what I should do, and she told me and Nathan about Percy making a promise to the Roman Legion. After she fell back into her coma, Nathan, the son of Apollo and current Augur, told me to find Frank Zhang and Percy Jackson." Gwen answered.
"Percy?" I asked.
He sighed. "There's something I never told you, since I was asked to keep silent about it for many years." he responded. "I'm sorry for having to tell you all this under such dire circumstances, but I see that I may not have a choice in this matter. Several years ago, I was called to Camp Jupiter. It was a week after the Second Giant War. We were discussing the three praetors issue that was not resolved due to Leo being possessed and unwillingly attacking Camp Jupiter with the Argo II. And by we, I mean me, Frank and Reyna. We had considered inviting Jason as well, but later on we decided not to. Because of my home back at Camp Half-Blood, I did not want to be praetor, but Reyna became paranoid that another one would be lost. So I made a secret promise that if Frank nor Reyna could serve as praetor of Camp Jupiter, that I would step in and take their place."
"But you can't do that! Your friends need you!" I shouted. I felt tears about to fall from my eyes. "I need you."
"I know. And that's the problem." he said. "I need to figure out what's going on with Athena's corruption and the theft of the Golden Fleece. And I need all my friends by my side to do it."
"But if you and Frank leave, the leadership will go the augur and frankly, I don't trust Nathan." Gwen said.
"Why not?" Calypso asked, coughing twice. "He's a good guy, isn't he?"
"I want to believe that he wouldn't do anything outrageous like Octavian did, but they are related." Gwen answered.
"His loyalty is to Reyna." Jason stated.
"Reyna is dying!" Gwen exclaimed. "He may very well betray us as Reyna gets closer to death!"
"I heard that." Nathan said, entering the room. "Don't you trust me? I'm not like my great-great nephew Octavian!"
"You liar!" Gwen exclaimed.
She stabbed him in the arm with her gladius and he screamed in pain. He growled and unsheathed his sword.
