Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.

Chapter Nine

My Mind Gets Blown

"Oh it's unexplainable and it's so weird

Woah it's so strange, confusing and I'm so scared

How can all of this be true?

So this is what the truth feels like."

"Truth" by Gwen Stefani

I sat there for a few moments in shock. When I finally gathered my senses, I grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from Chiron's desk and quickly scribbled: WE NEED TO TALK. I'M IN YOUR OFFICE. I wrapped the note around one of my arrows and tied it in place before picking up my bow and shooting it out the window, aiming for the archery fields. It was a little far, but I had perfect aim so I knew Chiron would get the message.

I sat on the edge of Chiron's desk and only had to wait a few moments for Chiron to come in, my arrow in his hand. "You have some explaining to do. You know all campers are forbidden from entering my office."

"Well, I've always been a bit more special than other demigods," I answered. "You're the one who has some explaining to do." I held up the little book. All the color drained from Chiron's face. Now I knew why we weren't allowed in his office. "He's a Roman? Jason is a Roman?"

The book didn't have very much information in it, but it had all the information I needed. The first thing I saw was a pamphlet. Yes, a pamphlet, but a very special pamphlet because it was advertising another demigod camp on the west coast. A demigod camp that wore purple shirts instead of orange. A demigod camp called Camp Jupiter. For Roman demigods.

Romans, as in the people who invaded Ancient Greece, destroyed it, and then took all of our ideas and beliefs and claimed them as their own.

The pamphlet talked about 'completing your education at the Wolf House', coming to Camp Jupiter whether you were the child of a god or a legacy, and there was information about food and activities (they play camp war games…barbaric, anyone?). They had all these weird ass rules, and they also had these purple-tinged ghosts that hung around their camp called 'Lares'.

I was furious, but more than that, I was confused.

There were only the Greek gods. That's it. They were the original gods to inhabit this world. It went back all the way to the primordial deities. It's been Greek all along. Greek, Greek, Greek. Besides, how could there be any other gods when the Olympians already controlled everything? It wasn't possible. It just wasn't possible.

"Yes, Jason is Roman," Chiron said calmly. Sure, like this wasn't rocking the very foundations of his world? I mean, sure, he's had several millennia to come to terms with it, but it was still mind-blowing and life-altering. "The gods, during the American Civil War, and many wars before that, decided to weave the Mist so tightly that the Roman and Greek demigods would never meet again. They keep the Romans on the west and the Greeks on the east, just like in ancient times because whenever the Romans and Greeks have met, it has ended in catastrophe."

"Well, I'm feeling like causing a catastrophe right now and showing those Romans how dumb it was to invade Greece back in the day," I said.

"History is always interpreted differently," Chiron said calmly.

"Yeah, well, I learned about this in seventh grade socials back in Vancouver, again this past year in AP history, and from Val and dad," I said, running my hands through my hair. Apparently I'd picked up some of Percy's habits. "This isn't possible. There's only one set of gods."

Chiron was silent for a moment, like he was trying to decide what to tell me. "Olympus moves as Western Civilization and the center of power shifts. You know that. The gods change slightly to adapt to the culture they're in, hence your father's chariot appearing as a sports car. When the Romans conquered Greece, the gods took on different names and more war-like characteristics. The gods were in Rome for almost as long as they were in Greece, which is why each god has a Roman counterpart."

"Not every god has a Roman counterpart, though," I said. Everything was starting to click into place in my head. "My dad doesn't."

"You are correct," Chiron said. There are a few gods who are almost identical in either form, and there are a few gods that are solely Greek and solely Roman."

So that had to be what my dad meant when he said the gods were splitting. Their Roman personalities were surfacing and fighting to become dominant, but the Greek parts were fighting back. Hence the headaches and confusion.

This was a lot to take in.

"I was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. I was about as far west as you can get without standing in the Pacific," I said. "Was I born Roman?"

Chiron chuckled. "My dear, did you ever feel like you didn't belong here? Did you feel a certain hatred towards your aunt and the other Greeks?" I shook my head. "That is because you are one hundred percent Greek, which is part of why you are such an anomaly. Not only are you the only daughter of Apollo, but you were born on the west coast of Canada. That is something no one has heard of, and something you should be proud of. We are only now hearing of others who were born here in the United States, and then sent to Canada to keep them safe, much like your friends Mel and Delia. But you are the first we have heard of born and raised in Canada."

I nodded, glad to have it confirmed that I was who I've always thought I was. "So the Roman gods are real," I said. Chiron nodded. "And Jason is actually a son of Jupiter, not Zeus." Chiron nodded. "And there is a camp just like this one, somewhere on the west coast, for all of the Roman demigods and 'legacies'." I paused for a moment, trying to take it all in. "What about other gods?"

"What other gods?" Chiron asked.

"All of them – Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Hindi, all of them. Do they exist too?" I asked. "Lacy, from the Aphrodite cabin, went to school with me and said that a few kids in her grade and above seemed like they could be demigods, but something was off. Something about them was different."

"It is highly possible," Chiron said. "Personally, I believe they do exist in different parts of the country. Like the Greeks and Romans, they follow the center of power."

"Damn," I said under my breath.

"Now that you know Andee, you have to keep this to yourself until Jason's memory returns. He still may not know who he is or where he's from when he returns and he must be the one to reveal it to the others. He was sent here for a reason and we must let things come to pass naturally," Chiron instructed. "You know what this means."

"Percy is at the Roman camp," I said quietly. It was one of the first things I thought when I found out about this Roman camp, but saying it out loud and having Chiron confirm it made it real.

A spark of hope ignited in my heart. We knew where Percy was. I was one step closer to getting him back.

"I want you to act as an ambassador of sorts, so until a definite plan is set, I want you to research everything you can about Ancient Rome. We need to know how they act, how they fight, what their culture is like, and everything else we can possibly know about them. We need to be ready for what's to come."

I nodded, barely able to contain the happiness I felt. Being an ambassador meant that I had to go on the quest to get Percy. This was huge!

I went through the rest of the day with a renewed energy, and people seemed to notice. Everyone made remarks about how much happier I seemed, but of course, I couldn't tell them why. Most of them assumed we had found a lead on where Percy was, which was true, but once again, I could say anything about it.

At dinner, I sat with my brothers and we were all laughing and singing and attempting to make up ridiculous songs with the things at our table. We were drumming with utensils stomping our feet and making up the most ludicrous lyrics to the stupidest songs as we flung out makeshift drumsticks back and forth. We were interrupted by a few gasps and a cry of rage from Drew. I looked over at the Aphrodite table to see that Piper, Jason and Leo had returned. Leo ran to the nearest garbage can and threw up.

Everyone converged on the group, all wanting to know the juicy details of their quest. Obviously it had gone well because they had all returned alive and well. The three told the story over and over again, until it was obvious how desperately they needed to sleep. Chiron send everyone off to bed, calling a meeting of the senior counselors for the next night after dinner, when Rachel and Annabeth would be back from their personal searches.

When I woke up the next morning and started going through my morning ritual, I mentally prepared myself for what was going to happen. We were going to find Percy, but first we had to tell all the other campers about the Romans and what was going on with the gods. I still didn't fully comprehend what was happening, so I doubted the other campers would.

Leo had told Chiron he needed to meet Piper, Jason, Chiron and the Hephaestus campers outside the Hephaestus cabin to show them something. Chiron insisted that I come along because I was now a crucial element in this whole thing.

It felt good to be needed again.

"How much do you know?" Jason asked as we were leaving the cabin.

"Most of it. I had a vision while you guys were gone and I was able to put the pieces together with the help of a book in Chiron's office," I answered. "Did you get any of your memories back?"

"Not all, but a lot."

That was good. It would make it a lot easier to explain what was going on, especially for him to fill everyone in on the Roman parts. I still didn't know anywhere near everything I wanted to know and Jason didn't remember everything, but we were getting closer and closer to completing this Prophecy.

We walked towards the Hephaestus cabin and once we had all gathered, Leo led the way through the forest and to a limestone cliff. Then he turned around with a nervous smile and said, "Here we are."

His hand burst into flames as he pressed it to the wall, which conveniently happened to be a door. Everyone started freaking out and Leo looked…scared.

I knew that feeling. I had caused more than a few fires growing up. Hades, if I took off my bracelets right now, I would set the whole camp on fire, maybe more. Once everyone had calmed down over the whole 'Leo-is-pyrokinetic' thing, he led us through the door. It was the biggest workshop I had ever seen, with giant machines, work tables, maps and schematics all over the room. Festus' battered head sat on the central table and I frowned a little. He was a funny mechanical dragon – he didn't deserve to die like that. Leo stroked the dragon's head and said, "Sorry, Festus, but I won't forget you."

Jason put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Did Hephaestus bring it here for you?" Leo nodded. "But you can't repair him?"

"There's no possible way. However, his head will be reused – he's coming with us."

Everyone looked confused before Nyssa held up a sketchbook full of diagrams for different machines and weapons.

It was Chiron's turn to explain. He told them about the American Civil War and how in Western history, there was always a demigod battle at the same time as a mortal one. The particular civil war that the big map was from was a particularly horrible battle with hundreds of losses on both sides.

"The camp split apart?" Leo asked.

"No. Camp Half-Blood was one side of the war," Jason said.

"Who was the other?" Leo asked in confusion.

Chiron looked at me and I knew it was my turn. Technically, he couldn't speak of it. He had sworn on the River Styx – the only reason he could tell me was because I had already figured most of it out.

So I told them about how after that battle, the gods were devastated and saw the toll it took on their children and swore they would never let it happen again. So they did their thing with the Mist and that was the last time the two sides ever fought. We had managed to avoid another civil war, and like Leo had guessed, this was the command center for the Hephaestus cabin that had only been opened a few times since the civil war.

Leo pulled out a drawing he had made when he was five that Aeolus had given him while they were on the quest and it matched up perfectly with the largest schematic on the board – a Greek trireme. As I looked at it closer, I saw that it was a flying ship with all sorts of weapons equipped to it and on the blueprint, the ship's masthead was Festus.

Those three old hags loved leaving breadcrumbs for us demigods to find year and years later.

"He was meant to be our masthead – our good luck charm! I'm supposed to build this ship," Leo said. "I'm going to call it the Argo II. I'll need a lot of help, though."

"It's exactly what we'll need for our journey," Jason added.

Nyssa looked around in confusion. "What journey? You just got back!"

"We have to confront Poryphyrion," Piper said. "He said he'd destroy the gods at their roots."

That was news to me. "Much of the Prophecy of Nine is a mystery to me, but one thing is clear – Piper, Jason, Leo and Andee are four of the nine demigods mentioned. You must confront the giants in their homeland, where they are the strongest, and stop them before Gaea can fully wake and destroy Mount Olympus."

Okay, that was a lot more information than I knew.

"You don't mean Manhattan, do you?" Nyssa asked nervously, sounding like she already knew the answer.

I knew too. Every part of me knew. "We're going to Greece, bitches!"

It took a few moments to settle in with all the campers and once it did, the Hephaestus campers were full of questions. Who were the other four demigods? How long would it take to build the boat? Why wasn't everyone going to Greece?

Well, Chiron didn't know who the other four demigods were, but I was sure I knew who at least two of them were. Nyssa estimated that the boat would take two years to build. We had one. The summer gods were the least powerful and easiest to navigate, so we had to sail before the next summer solstice. We had to avoid ground travel, using only air and sea, and since Jason and I were both related to the god of the sky, it worked out perfectly.

Percy was the son of Poseidon. I missed him so much, but we were so much closer to finding him now. He'd be perfect on the quest.

Jake Mason handed over the position of senior counselor to Leo, and apparently Piper had taken the position from Drew earlier this morning (thank the gods!).

Everyone disappeared for the rest of the day until the meeting. Everyone was at the war council when we were ready to start. Nobody sat at their proper places anymore because it got confusing with the additions of the minor gods and the Oracle. Jason sat with Leo and Piper on either side, Clarisse leaned back in her chair and rested her boots on the table, Clovis was sleeping while Butch saw how many pencils he could fit up Clovis' nose. It was a lot. Travis was trying to burn a ping-pong ball, and Lee was wrapping and unwrapping a tensor bandage around his wrist. Delia and Mel (now the senior counselors for the Hebe and Hecate cabins, respectively) were chatting, Mel making a small fireworks show in the palm of her hand. Rachel, still in her Clarion Academy uniform, sat at the head of the table with Chiron.

Annabeth was still in full armor beside me, holding her knife at her side. Calm down, I thought to her.

She glared at me. I'm calm. I just want to know what's going on.

Sucks to be the one left in the dark, doesn't it? I asked with a cheeky grin. She flipped me off.

"Let's come to order," Chiron said. "And yes, that means Lou-Ellen giving Miranda her nose back, the ping-pong ball must be extinguished, and Butch, twenty pencils is too much for any one human nostril." Travis tossed the flaming Ping-pong ball at me and I caught it easily, bouncing it from hand to hand. If Travis had it, the Big House would go up in flames in a matter of seconds. If I had it, we were all safe. "As you can see, Jason, Piper and Leo have returned safely and mostly successful – I'll let them fill you in on their quest."

I had heard the story too many times now. I leaned back, balancing on the back legs of my chair, and threw the flaming ping-pong ball up and down, doing little tricks with it to see if I could manipulate the air to make it fly higher and burn brighter.

It didn't work, but I had to believe I'd get there soon enough.

"Romans," Clarisse said, catching my attention as she threw a Snausage to Seymour. "You expect us to believe there's another camp with demigods, but they follow the Roman forms of the gods and we've never heard of them before now."

"He's telling the truth, Clarisse. I've looked into it," I said. "The gods have been keeping us apart on purpose, because every time the Romans and Greeks have met, they try to kill each other."

"Well obviously. I'd kill a Roman if I came across one, too," Clarisse said. Chiron shot her a sharp look which she ignored. "But that's my point. Why have we never run across each other on quests?"

"You have, many times, but it is always a tragedy," Chiron said sadly. "The rivalry goes all the way back to the Trojan War, Clarisse. The Greeks invaded Troy and burned it to the ground. Aeneas, the Roman hero, fled to Italy where he founded the race now known as Romans. The Romans grew more powerful and started worshipping the gods under different names and slightly different personalities."

"More war-like," Jason added. "More united. More about expansion, conquest and discipline."

"Yuck," Travis said. I agreed, but didn't say so out loud. Everyone looked uncomfortable with the idea except for Clarisse. Figures.

"As revenge, the Romans took over the Greek isles and made them part of the Roman Empire," Annabeth said.

"The Romans admired the Greek culture and were a little jealous. At the same time, the Greeks thought the Romans were barbarians, but respected their military power. It was during Roman times that the demigods divided – either Greek or Roman," Jason explained.

"So where were the Romans during the Titan War?" Lee asked, a hint of anger in his voice.

"We conquered Mount Othrys – I personally defeated the Titan Krios."

That explained why the mountain had suddenly crumbled. Everyone thought it was just because we had defeated Kronos, but I guess the Romans had their own part to play in the war. I had to respect them for that.

"The Bay Area," Annabeth said suddenly and I could hear her thoughts buzzing as everything clicked into place. "We were always told to stay away from it because of Mount Othrys, but it was also because the Roman camp was somewhere in San Francisco, probably put there to keep watch over the Titans."

"The camp's heavily veiled with magic and even more heavily guarded," Jason said. "You could search for years and never find it."

"Too bad it didn't mention an address in the brochure – that would have been handy," I said. "We have to go there, though. We'll stop there on the way to Greece."

Clarisse gave me a look. "If those Romans see a warship coming, they'll assume it's an attack."

"You're right," Jason said. "We have to go there, though. I was sent here to learn about Camp Half-Blood and to try to convince you that the two camps don't have to be enemies. A peace offering."

"It was an exchange," I said quietly. "A leader of Camp Jupiter – the Roman camp – for a leader of Camp Half-Blood. Jason for Percy." Everyone gasped and started talking. "We will need to prove just how strong we are to the Romans, but also how different we are. I think we should have a representative of each god go as far as the Roman camp. That way we show a united front, show our custom of respecting each god, and protect ourselves by cushioning our numbers, just in case. There will be a lot more Romans than Greeks."

"I agree," Chiron said.

"We should also consider the idea of praetors," Jason mentioned. "I was one at the Roman camp. It's a commander of the Roman army. At Camp Jupiter, there was always one female and one male. The Romans may look down on the Greeks for not having any sort of formal leadership."

"The Greek equivalent would be a strategos," I said right away. "Same idea, but we don't have any assigned here because we're not really into the whole 'war' thing. We train hard and fight hard, but war isn't something we jump into right away. However, Jason should be one of our strategos, seeing as all of this is a peace treaty. It will show we have accepted him as one of our own."

Everyone agreed with that, but started arguing about who the other should be. Obviously it would need to be female, so people were fighting over whether it should be Annabeth or Clarisse. There were a lot of pros for each of them. The Romans would appreciate Clarisse's militaristic style of thinking and fighting. Annabeth, however, was better with people and put a lot more thought into her plans. They were both daughters of war-related gods, so it could be either of them. My vote was for Annabeth.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP?" Jason shouted. They quieted down immediately. "I want Andee to be my fellow strategos."