Chapter 9
Too good to be true
The next few days just flew by. It was starting to feel like home. I wasn't an outcast here, I was actually treated like a human being.
Although I was curious what Victoria was hiding from me. Every time the head of the armory and forges came to talk to her she sent me away. Which was fine with me. Merida managed to get Cato a job as a trainer in combat. So it was easier for us to see each other. Merida showed me around the base.
This afternoon I was walking the path towards the airstrip with Cato. Merida sent us on a mission to deliver a message to the scouts. We'd already hit the west camp and the central/northern camp. This was the last camp before we headed back to base.
"No joke Warner is the man in charge and I managed to get in trouble my first day by beating him during a demonstration." Cato laughed. he had his arms wrapped around in front of him like they were holding him together.
"Impressive." I chuckled.
"Your turn." Cato teased, elbowing me.
"When we first arrived I almost killed a hair stylist," I told him as if it was the most ordinary thing. Cato doubled over laughing.
"Still?" He laughed.
"Absolutely." I huffed. Cato continued laughing.
"I remember the fits you used to have for grandma. Ever since you were little." He chuckled.
"Your turn genius." I retorted. I held out the bag of jerky.
"Oh, we're back to playing that game." He laughed.
"Yep. You first." I replied.
"Never have I ever been charmspeaked." He teased. I glared at him and ate a piece of jerky.
"Never have I ever been a senator." I retorted. He smiled triumphantly at me.
"I'm not a full senator. I'm an honorary senator. I can't become a full one until I'm claimed." He remarked.
"You suck." I huffed.
"Never have I ever cursed in Greek." Cato quipped. I grabbed another piece of jerky.
"Never have I ever been smacked by a Praetor." I smiled. Cato grabbed a piece of jerky.
"Never have I ever met Annabeth Chase." He chuckled.
"False! You have too!" I snapped glaring at him.
"When?" He asked.
"Last summer the giant warship that came to camp Jupiter! Annabeth was part of the team!" I argued.
"She was? I just remember some blonde chick flipping Percy Jackson." He shrugged. "And an Indian girl with her hold the hand of a girl with spiky black hair."
I rolled my eyes. "The blonde chick was Annabeth, the other girl is Native American and her name is Piper. She was holding my hand you butt!" I hollered smacking him. I rolled my eyes at his lack of observation.
"What were you doing with them? You are quite possibly the last person I'd send on a diplomatic mission." Cato teased.
"Take a wild guess."
"You weren't supposed to be there were you?" He chuckled.
"Of course not but since when did that stop me? I was a stowaway until that stupid satyr found me. Annabeth and Piper are two of the only friends I had in camp. Annabeth was busy beating up Seaweed brain so Piper was keeping track of me. I saw you amongst the senators. But apparently, you didn't see me." I huffed, feigning offense.
"I wasn't expecting to see you. I was kind of too busy laughing alongside Frank at how furious Octavian got." Cato argued.
"You freaking hugged Jason! Who may I mention was standing right next to Piper!" I snapped, pointing a finger at him. Cato looked ashamed.
"I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge your presence. But you weren't there long were you?" Cato asked.
"No Piper charmspeaked me into returning to camp halfblood with Tyson, Ella, and Mrs. O'Leary." I sighed rubbing my arm.
"Ouch." He replied.
"Yeah, I didn't talk to her for weeks after the war. But well Jason guilted me into forgiving her." I admitted hanging my head in shame. Cato threw his head back and let out another hearty laugh.
"He told me he needed someone he trusted to look after her while he was at camp Jupiter." I finished.
"He asked a thirteen-year-old to look after a sixteen-year-old?" Cato chuckled raising an eyebrow.
"He guilted me into it okay?" I snapped impatiently. I didn't want to admit that practically everyone who knows me knows what my fatal flaw is. Annabeth's is pride, Percy's is loyalty, and mine could also be considered loyalty. Which sucks because yet again Percy Jackson the savior of Olympus beat me to it.
"Shush!" Cato scolded me.
I wanted to snap at him but I could tell he was serious. He scanned the sky and locked onto a falcon. He raised two fingers to his mouth and whistled four simple notes. High then low followed by another high then low. The creature swooped towards us and Cato held out his left arm for it. The creature nestled its head against Cato's shoulder.
"Hi, Katniss." Cato greeted, petting the falcon's head.
He examined the collar with a sapphire in the center. "Gods of Olympus tell me she didn't," Cato swore, opening the tube on the falcon's leg and pulling out a rolled up message.
The falcon picked at his shoulder. "I don't have any have any treats Katniss." Cato groaned.
"Will she eat jerky?" I asked Cato holding out a piece of jerky. He handed me the message and grabbed the jerky. Katniss snatched it out of his hand and went to the ground to inspect it. Cato took the message back.
Dear Praetor Reyna,
I have infiltrated some strange demigod camp. It's on an island off the coast of Los Angeles. There is a small mortal presence on this island too. Cato is with Mia and they seem to be acquainted with another teenage girl who just by looking at her seems scary. I can't tell if she's an ally to them or not. Or if there here against their will or not. Mia seems to be kind of friendly with the girl but Cato has had very little contact with the girl. Both seem to be unharmed. How would you like to proceed?
Sapphira
"Great gods of Olympus she did. I can't believe she did. What was she thinking sending a ten-year-old after me!" Cato snapped throwing his hands up in the air.
"Better question how'd she get on this island without being noticed?" I asked him. He shrugged.
"She a daughter of Mercury there's very few spots she can't sneak into."
"Oh so being a child of the god of thieves gives you the privilege of sneaking around without being caught." I teased.
"Also how'd you know it's hers?" I asked him.
"It's Sapphira's falcon Katniss. I helped her train the bird." He answered.
"Have a pen or pencil on you?" Cato asked.
I pulled a pencil out of my pocket. He crossed something's out and scribbled down something on the other side of the letter before whistling a few sharp notes to get the birds attention. He held out his arm for the bird. The falcon jumped up onto his arm and he reinserted the message into the tube.
"Reyna," Cato ordered. He threw his arm up into the air and the falcon took flight.
"Sending Reyna some choice words?" I asked him.
"Sadly no. Currently, I am in no position to yell at her." He sighed, his shoulders slumped.
"So what did you tell her then?" I asked Cato.
"That we're fine, That Sapphira needs to be called off and I don't feel like forging her hand writing. I will keep her updated." Cato explained.
"You can forge Reyna's handwriting?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him.
"So can Dakota for some reason. Octavian knows both of us can forge Reyna's hand writing and has tried using this against her." Cato explained.
"Nice." I chuckled. "So how long until the bird comes back?"
"A couple hours maybe more. I don't how fast the bird is." He shrugged.
"Come on we have one last letter to do and then head back to base," I responded elbowing him. He chuckled.
"Race you?" He teased.
"I'll leave you in the dust." I teased.
"Oh really?" He laughed.
"Remember I lived with some of the fastest runners in camp." I smiled.
"Prove it." He challenged.
"You're on," I answered taking off down the road.
"That's cheating!" Cato argued running after me.
It was almost sunset when we got back to base. Cato left for his area and I headed home. I opened the front door and walked in. I walked upstairs to Victoria's study. I stopped outside the door though. She was talking to someone on the other side. I recognized Terrence's voice. I instantly knew this would probably be the only time I would be able to find out what she was hiding from me. I carefully listened to their conversation.
"We are ready for the invasion tomorrow your ladyship. The spies have found the exact location of the camp. Tomorrow we will take the Romans and defeat them once and for all." I heard him say.
"Good. Then we have everything in order for tomorrow." Victoria responded.
"What about the girl?" Terrence asked.
"Don't you worry about her. I'll have her completely under control tomorrow. I got what I need for her this morning from the same team that was in charge of getting the antibiotics." Victoria responded.
"You plan on drugging her, your ladyship?" Terrence asked. He sounded confused.
"No, I have other ways. It's not that I don't believe she isn't loyal to us but she has a rebellious streak. If she finds out our true plan she'll fight us tooth and nail. I need her to be obedient for this to work. She's essential to our plans." Victoria explained calmly.
"What about her brother?" Terrence asked.
"He won't be a problem after dinner tonight. Neither of them will be a problem after tonight Terrence." Victoria answered.
"I'll see you later tonight at the announcement," Terence replied.
I ran like Hades was chasing me out of there. I knew the route that would lead straight to Cato. The sword fighting arena. Thank the gods he was alone hacking away at a dummy.
"Cato!" I hollered.
His sword fell out of his hands as he turned to face me. I must've sounded as scared as I was.
"What is it, Mia?" He asked closing the distance between us. He was using his nickname for me.
"That thing I was suspicious about. I was right. Victoria is planning on attacking camp Jupiter tomorrow." I blurted. His brown eyes went wide.
"On the Feast of Fortuna." He gasped.
"She's planning on taking care of both of us tonight. I must be obedient for tomorrow's plans." I continued.
"Okay slow down. What's her next step? Do you know when the attack is going to start?" Cato asked.
"They never mentioned when. They discussed that there would be some big announcement tonight after dinner." I answered.
"How long do we got until dinner?" Cato asked. I looked at the setting sun.
"Not enough time. Just be careful tonight at dinner. I will be too. Find me during the big announcement. Whatever happens, I want you to be there with me." I answered.
"I love you, Mia." He sighed hugging me.
"I love you too Cato," I replied hugging him back.
"What about Sapphira and the falcon? How do we warn Camp Jupiter?" I asked.
"Do you still have your box? Because that falcon won't return in time." He replied.
"Why? You have the only twin." I asked confused. Cato gave me a guilty smile.
"Cato Argo Smith you didn't!" I snapped.
"I did. I left my box with Jason as a backup." He sighed. I took my backpack off and pulled out the box. I handed him a pen and a scrap piece of paper.
"Hopefully Jason is still in camp Jupiter and he can deliver this to Reyna for us." He started hastily writing a letter to Reyna.
"I'm telling her what we know about the attack and where we are so maybe she'll send us some help too," Cato explained placing the paper in the box and closing it.
"But I thought he can't touch it without it burning his hands?" I asked.
"Correct but not if I left the box open for him he should be able to receive the letter," Cato responded.
"Now we wait for a few minutes so he has time to bring the letter to Reyna and for her to read and write a response." Cato sighed sitting on the ground.
"Why would she even believe it was you?" I argued.
"Because she trusts Jason just like she trusts me," Cato answered.
"So I doubt we can escape. So don't eat anything tonight at dinner and we'll meet up at the big announcement. Then we go down fighting together." I explained.
"I wouldn't do it any other way. We may not have been claimed but at least we'll die unclaimed." Cato agreed.
"Hey now, we will survive I just know it in my gut." I smiled.
We just sat there in silence for a little bit. Surprisingly no one interrupted us. After what seemed an eternity a letter reappeared in the box.
"Now either we're saved or screwed." He quipped opening the letter. Cato quickly skimmed the letter.
"Well, she's glad we're alive and safe for the moment. She will handle the attack but can't send us aid without alerting Octavian. And we can't make him even the slightest bit suspicious or everything will go to Tartarus at the worst possible moment." Cato explained.
"So we're on our own. Fun." I sighed.
"Hey, at least we warned and quite possibly saved Camp Jupiter. It isn't all for naught." He said, trying to cheer me up.
"Once we confront Victoria I need you to run out of this camp and go find Sapphira. The two of you need to find some way off this island and back to camp Jupiter." I instructed him.
"No way. I am not leaving you alone with her." Cato argued.
"Victoria won't kill me. I'm too important to her plans." I explained.
"Not happening. We stand and fight side by side. I am not leaving you ever again Mia. Nothing is separating us ever again. Not ethnicity, not stupid rules, not hundreds of miles." He argued.
"Fine. But don't say I didn't give you the option." I huffed. Cato wrote a quick reply on the back of Reyna's letter and sent it back. He stuffed the box back in his bag. We both heard the bell. It echoed through the base.
"See you soon Lamia." Cato nodded.
"See you soon Cato. Remember don't eat anything at dinner tonight."
I reminded him. He nodded and started to walk away.
"Wait!" I hollered, rushing after him.
"What?" He asked, as I hugged him tightly.
"Oh Mia. It's okay we'll make it. We're in this together." He chuckled hugging me back.
"I hope so," I told him breaking away.
"Go back to Victoria." He replied.
"I'm going." I sighed walking away towards Victoria's house.
