A/N I missed my self imposed deadline :-( Special thankies to AthenaKidd, Micaela Scarlett Hart, shoshona79, AwesomeTori, Ramzes,iscreamdrizzle,and . for your reviews. I agree, iscreamdrizle, that it would be funny if Bobby is majorly kumbaya in Son of Neptune. He is actually one of my favorite of my version of the Romans. You shall see. :-D I've had to go back and do a Mary Sue test on Bia...soo :-/ Terribly embarrassing.

Without farther delay, please go on to the chapter.

Thank you for your support! Enjoy!
Miette

**Disclaimer** This is a story written in honor of Rick Riordan's popular and successful books and borrowing heavily from them.

As the group made their way toward the cluster of tents that seemed to make up the main part of the Schola, Gwen, Bia and Kota, as the Romans called Dakota, pointed out various things.

"I'm going to go see of Lupa's back from the Wolf House." Bobby grumbled as soon as the group reached the edge of the tents, turning toward the woods.

Bia glanced at the sun, estimating the time, "Lupa shouldn't be back for at least another few hours, right?"

Reyna sighed, "We all know that, he knows that."

"I think he just wants the excuse to get a way, Bi." Jason shrugged, "Let him have some time."

"Oh," Bia glanced sadly at the break in the trees Bobby had disappeared through.

"There are the archery butts," Gwen waved to a couple of the demi-gods practicing their archery as they walked by, trying to distract everyone from Bobby.

"You're favorite place, huh?" Annabeth looked up at Percy, walking beside her his arm tight around her waist.

"Ha, ha, ha." His obviously fake laugh made Annabeth smile, "The Gems out shoot me every time they guilt me into it. They're seven and they're better than me."

"Gems?" Piper asked

"The twins, we call Drew and Kiki the Gemini after the twins in the old myths."

"You guys call them the Dioscuri, I think." Gwen added, "You shouldn't feel bad about them being better then you, Perc, they are children of Apollo."

"Yes, but I think everyone is better at archery then Percy. I think Juniper could beat you."

Percy looked at Annabeth confused, not recognizing the name, "Juniper?"

"Grover's girlfriend? The Nymph? You remember Grover, right?"

"Yes, I remember Grover. Though that took a little bit, I didn't remember he had a girl friend." Percy's face scrunched up as he tried to remember Juniper.

"Don't hurt yourself, Percy." Hazel laughed at the pained look on his face.

"I think…They started dating before we went into the Labyrinth, right?"

"Right."

"And her bush is near Zeus's fist! I remember Juniper. Oh crap…I set her bush on fire during the Battle of the Labyrinth…"

"She forgave you," Annabeth laughed. "It wasn't your fault."

"Gods, I can't imagine what's worse." Gwen said watching the couple, "Having no memory, or missing bits and pieces of your memory."

"It's tough." Both Percy and Jason said at the same time.

"I'd say 75% of my memory is back, give or take." Percy said, "How about you?"

"Same," Jason said. "I'm still missing details, but remembering what's still missing comes a lot more easily and quickly now."

Percy nodded in agreement.

As the group walked through the Schola, nearly everyone stopped what they were doing and followed them with their eyes. The feeling was distinctly uncomfortable and border line hostile. It seemed that Bobby's sentiment mirrored that of the majority of the Romans. Annabeth realized that Gwen, Kota, Rey, and Hazel walking with them was more for protection then out of friendliness. The four girls did their best not to betray that fact, but it became more and more evident the farther from the cliff and the beach they got.

"And here we are, Nidus." Kota said, a bit of relief seeped into her voice as they stopped in front of a tent that seemed to give off a feeling of welcome, of warmth. It was home.

"Nidus?" Leo asked looking at the tent that seemed to standout from those around it.

"The Nest?" Annabeth translated unsure, thinking it an odd name for the tent.

"Yes," Hazle said. "The Nest roosted over by the Mother Hen and her lil Miss in training."

Bia looked up at her tent, happy to see that it seemed just like she'd left it. The ground out front of Nidus was clean swept and hard packed, child sized practice swords and bows and quivers were stacked neatly by the front, along with a few more typical children's toys such as jump ropes and playground balls. To one side, a small group of Nati practiced with Pilums under the watchful eye of a teenage boy. A bench sat to the side, under a tree, on a patch of grass. A few books and scrolls were piled on the bench. Flowerbeds and a small vegetable patch were planted on the left, behind the bench. Something about the Nidus was just much more maintained, warmer and more welcoming; the white curtain door way was pulled open, allowing light in. It was through here that the group entered and stepped into organized chaos, reigned over by strawberry blonde with her back to the entrance.

The girl was everywhere at once, listening to one group of small children reciting Latin declensions, breaking up a disagreement between two more children on the other side of the tent before it even began, rattling off instructions to another set of children, she had a sixth sense for where she was needed. There was some sort of light that danced around the room with her movements.

"Lou-?"

"One moment Drew." She went back to a quick conversation she was having with a girl over something the girl had written.

"Loulou-"

After she finished checking the girls paper, two more children waited for their turns.

"Allouette!"

"Andrew Miller! I requested your patience for a moment, I expect it. Thank you, but I am aware that my sister and her guests have just walked in." She turned, taking a deep breath, toward the entrance. "Welcome," she smiled at the Greeks, "excuse me a moment, she turned to a group of children in the back left corner working on chainmail. "Jer, you will be picking those up?" Though it was phrased as a question, it wasn't one.

"But Lou-?"

"But nothing, I know that it was not Elain's fault and if you throw anymore links I will have you on punish duty so fast your head will spin." She turned back to the group at the door, "I'm sorry. Allouette Fournier, daughter of Vesta." She shook hands with the Greeks as they introduced themselves. "Well, come sit by the hearth, I'll grab something to drink." She lead them to a cluster of comfortable looking chairs by the fire. As she went to get a pitcher of water flavored with lemon and lime, most of the Nati came to great Bia and Jason with hugs for Bia and more respectful salutes for Jason. Piper, Annabeth and Leo were beginning to realize that in a lot of ways, this really was a military installation. Finally, Allouette rejoined the group by the fire as the Nati returned to their activities. "I've missed you Bia." She hugged her sister tightly, "We're going to have to have a talk later," Allouette glared at her sister before she turned to Jason. "And you Jason!" She tilted her head looking at him, "the east coast has been good to you," she hugged him, "or maybe it wasn't the east coast." She gave Piper a knowing smile, her eyes shifted between Piper, Jason, and Reyna. She settled into a seat of her own, and Leo realized what the cause of the light that danced around the tent was. It was sunlight reflecting off the length of Allouette's right leg visible under the knee length skirt she wore. Her right leg was metal; it looked almost like that of an Automaton.

"I'm sorry for running around like this. I feel so rude." She let her hair down from the knot at the back of her neck.

"I'm impressed with the way you keep track of everything and everyone in here." Annabeth said, looking around at the children and the high level of activity going on inside and out front of the tent. She vaguely figured she'd have kids when the time came, but she wasn't much for them at the moment.

"It comes with practice." Lou smiled. "Bobby's off sulking and licking his wounds?"

"Of course." Reyna said, "What else?"

"He'll come around," Gwen said, sipping on her water.

"Yes, well, many things will happen given the proper time," Lou replied. Subconsciously her eyes moved toward her three new acquaintances, a small shadow in the depths of her amber eyes suggested that she may not completely disagree with Bobby's feelings. "Now, I've had an extra tent readied for you guys, also a spare table in the dinning tent."

"Lupa wants to meet with all of us when she gets back from the Wolf House," Reyna added. "That won't be until this evening, though, so we have a few hours to show you guys around and allow you to get settled."

"Do you think that…wise?" Lou glanced around the group, ignoring the glare her sister threw her way.

"It will be fine." Jason said, then turned to Percy, "while I was at Camp Half-Blood, I heard you were an impressive swordsman."

Percy smiled, "I've heard that you're not bad yourself."

"Why don't you boys just whip them out and get them done, let's see who's bigger," Hazel said, "I mean better!" She quickly corrected herself, blushing as everyone laughed. "I meant better," she muttered.

"Well, whatever you meant, we've a few things to do before you two boys can play at whacking each other with sticks."

"So, it's not much, but, knowing Lou, it's comfortable." Hazel held open the entrance flap of the tent that Lou had had set up, at Bia's request for Piper, Leo, and Annabeth. She hadn't been sure where Bia, Jason, and Percy would choose to stay in this peculiar situation, so she'd had it set up for 6 just in case.

"Thanks, Hazel." Piper stepped into the shade of the tent and glanced around. The floor was wood slats like a deck, covered by rugs, 6 cots were set up, each with a spare blanket at the end, beside each bed was a small table. She dropped her bag on one of the beds and sat beside it. "You don't need to babysit me, I'm sure you've got stuff to do."

"I don't mind." Hazel smiled brightly, "It gives me a break from my regular duties. Besides, I want to hear all about Camp Half-Blood and if Mom is any different, and all sorts of juicy stuff! Like what did you do to Jason? He's so different."

"Different?"

"More, I don't know, he seems more human. He's always been all work, work, work, and well, mostly that's the way it is here, except for Contraband night. He always seemed made of steel. It's good to see him a bit softer, it's just disconcerting. Come on, let's walk around." Hazel grabbed Piper's arm and dragged her back out of the tent.

The two girls walked, Hazel chattering away about this person or that person, this thing or that thing, Piper was wrapped up in her own mind. She wasn't sure if she was being paranoid and imagining the looks that everyone had been shooting between her, Jason and Reyna, or if there was really something there.

"Hazel? Could I ask you something?" Piper bit her lip, she'd just met this girl, but she had the notion that if she was going to get an answer it was from her 'sister'.

"'Course."

"It seemed like earlier, before everyone split off, that you guys all kept looking at me and Jason, then Reyna, like you expected her to say something."

"That's because Reyna and Jason used to, date? I guess? People around here don't really date. Lupa frowns on personal relationships between us all, especially us officers, she says it clouds judgment, makes us weak. They haven't been together for ages, but Reyna has still put a big in the ear of any girl that looks at Jason twice. She says it's because no one around here is right for him, though she seems to like you."

"Oh, ok." Piper thought this over, but still felt like there was something she was missing. So Reyna and Jason were still close? Not that it was completely unheard of, but it was curious for ex's to be as close as they seemed. "When did they break up?"

"Ages ago…At least a year and a few months…"Hazel wracked her brain, "Yes, it would have to have been not this past summer but the one before."

"Howcome?"

"Geez! You are full of questions."

"I just want to make sure I'm not stepping on any toes."

"Makes sense," Hazel paused as though she were internally debating something, "come on, I've got another one of our siblings you have to meet." Hazel glanced up to check the position of the sun, then turned Piper around and steered her toward what turned out to be the Roman's equivalent of the arena. Hazel and Piper made their way around the edge of the crowd of demi-gods paired off and practicing. "Amelia!" Hazel called and waved to one of the girls who had just finished her bout.

"Hey honey!" Amelia grabbed a water bottle and made her way over to Hazel and Piper. "Did you see me just kick Cody's butt! He's got me best two out of three, but hey, I'll take the win where I can. Where's my baby? I thought you guys were all with the Graeci." She glanced at Piper.

"She's off talking Bobby down, the rest of us split up till Lupa gets back. This is our sister, Piper, daughter of Aphrodite. Piper, Amelia, daughter of Venus."

As the two Roman girls talked, Piper began to process, Amelia's baby? Reyna was the one who had gone off into the woods to talk to her brother.

"The one with Jason? It's good to meet you, Piper." Amelia shook her hand. "Anyone who can get that boy to smile the way everyone's been saying he is has accomplished something if you ask me. Reya hasn't tried to scare you off yet?"

"Not so far." Piper smiled, realizing she was talking to Jason's ex-girlfriends current girlfriend.

Amelia shook her head, "you've been here a whole hour? She must approve of you then, that or be very distracted. She's very opinionated on the type of girl that's right for Jason. I'm not sure she'd even score well on her checklist." She glanced over her shoulder to see how many of the other pairs were still fighting, "Ok, we're almost done here. I'm going to go run and freshen up, if you ladies don't mind. If Reyna and Bobby's conversation doesn't go well, I may have some drama ahead of me. It's good to meet you, Piper." The girl waved and ran off to what Piper assumed was the Venus tent.

"See?" Hazel smiled impishly, "No toes to worry about."

"…in the middle of the night, just a no note, no sign, you take your amoletum, so I can't even track or sense you…"

"Are you quite finished?" Bia finally interrupted when her sister, who had been raging at her for the past 10 minutes, since the Nati left, began to repeat herself. The two girls were in the back privet part of their tent, Bia sitting on her bed, Lou pacing back and forth.

"No I am not! You told Percy and Mica! You didn't tell your own sister?"

"You would have wanted to come. You would have worried."

"I did worry! It was selfish of you to just leave like that! After everything that happened with the titans? After Jason just disappearing!"

"If I had told you anything you wouldn't have been able to honestly tell Lupa you had no idea where I'd gone. You know you can't lie! Especially to her. I did what I had to do!"

"You did what you had to do," Lou scoffed. "You did what you wanted to do. You wanted an adventure."

"Allouette! That isn't fair!"

Glared at her sister, "You should have given me some idea of what you were up to."

"I am sorry that you worried. I was trying to protect you."

"Well stop it!" Lou flopped onto Bia's bed beside her, and wrapped her arms around her sister.

"This is awesome, Leo." Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Kota, and Gwen were walking around the Argo II. Leo was happy to show off his kickass war machine to Percy and the two Roman girls, he though Gwen seemed particularly interested.

"Thanks, man. I'm just glad it came out so good."

"That figure head is amazing!" Kota and Gwen were leaning over the front railing looking at Festus.

"That's Festus." Jason said, "He was a good dragon."

"Is that the same dragon from when the Myrmekes captured Beckendorf?" Percy looked down surprised, both that he remembered that game of capture the flag, the memory just coming into his mind when he looked at Festus' head and that they had managed to get the dragon.

"The one and only." Annabeth replied. "Leo managed capture and fix Festus, then he and Piper and Jason took him on their quest."

"Festus got blasted out of the sky during the quest, and Dad dropped his head back off at camp for me. I knew it would come in handy."

"Vulcan, I mean Hephaestus just popped in, picked up the dragon head and dropped it off at Camp Half-Blood for you?" Dakota looked between Jason and the Greeks in disbelief.

"I wish our parents put in appearances once in awhile." Gwen considered what she'd just said, "or maybe not."

"Often times it's not a good thing when they stop by." Percy shook his head thinking of some of his less then beneficial interactions with the gods.

"Usually they want something, or just feel like interfering because they're bored." Annabeth added.

"Sometimes they mean well, though." Percy had to admit that they had helped him some over the last few years.

Dakota and Gwen began asking Annabeth questions about their various quests, adventures, and interactions with the gods. Leo took the opportunity to pull Jason aside.

"Hey Jason."

"What's up?"

"I was wondering," Leo looked over to the other four to make sure they wouldn't over hear. "Bia's sister, Lou, her leg-?"

Jason frowned, "like I said, she survived, just a bit worse for wear. She was," he frowned, "8, I think. All the ambrosia and nectar we could give her without risking the side effects and we couldn't save her leg. She's got a scar up her side, too. A couple of the Vulcan children designed and fabricated the leg for her."

"Geez, no wonder Bia's got an extra problem with the Basilisk."

"We thought we were going to lose Louette for a little bit there." Jason's eyes were flat remembering how concerned everyone was.

"Just, don't mention it in front of Bia. Lou's ok, but Bia thinks since she's the big sister it's her fault, there was nothing she could have done though."

"Hey guys!" A voice called from the dock.

"What's up, Reya?"

"Lupa's back. She wants us all."

A/N Thank you for reading! Questions, comments, opinions, suggestions all are greatly appreciated and more then welcome. I'm more then happy to discuss! I love to hear what you guys think! I decided I needed to do something unexpected and issue ending with Reyna, soo there you have it. I hadn't planned on that when I started this fic, but it popped into my head and stuck, soo there you have it.

I hope you enjoyed!
Miette