(A/N: Sorry for the last cliff-hanger, but not really. HAHAHAHAHA. Seriously I love you guys... Now I know what it feels like to be as evil as Rick. No old Jason and Annabeth in this chapter, because I know you want me to get to the most important part :P)
Annabeth stared at Percy, kneeling before her, holding a diamond ring in an oyster shell. "Yes!" She said "Of course I will, Seaweed brain!"
Percy got to his feet, and before Annabeth could react, his lips were on hers, and they were kissing. He was putting his hands on her waist and pulling her closer. Their lips were moving together just like they always had. She didn't have any time to think, and then her fingers were knotting in his hair. Suddenly, he lifted her off the ground, and spun her a few times. She couldn't help but smile, mid-kissing, but she didn't want to let go if his lips just yet. He put her back down on shore of the Little Tiber lake, and pulled away. He looked at her like she was the ocean, and he was desperate to drown.
He looked back down at his hands, and reopened his oyster ring box. He took out the diamond ring, which was strikingly beautiful. He held her hand, and put the ring on her finger. Suddenly, she felt very aware that she was watched by more than three-hundred people, because she heard the most enthusiastic applause she had ever heard in her life. She turned to face her audience, with the widest smile ever to be put on her face. She noticed so many familiar faces in the crowd: Grover, Juniper, Chiron, Jason, Piper, Reyna, Calypso, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Nico, Will, Travis, Connor, Katie, Miranda, Malcolm, Dakota. There were a lot of missing faces that she wanted there, but life doesn't always work that way.
Piper stepped forward from the crowd, and hugged Annabeth "I am so happy for you." she said while she let go of her "I'm your maid of honor, right?"
"Of course," Annabeth reassured her "but I'm eighteen. I'm not going to have my wedding for like another five years."
"I know, I know." Piper exclaimed "I'm just so excited, you're my first friend to get engaged." The crowd started talking all at once, and Annabeth sensed boredom in their tones "We should get going though. The Feast of Spes should start soon."
Now, when you think feast, it's usually a huge meal, eaten by like a hundred people. The Feast of Spes was not anywhere near celebrating food. It was about the celebration of the spirit of hope, being reborn every year. So, in honor of that, Romans used to go to her temple and pray for her blessing to last them for the upcoming year. And what's a feast to honor one god without honoring all the Olympians?
Everyone marched for Temple Hill: Romans, Greeks, Satyrs, Fauns, Lares, Legacies, and countless nature spirits. Annabeth looked down at her hand, and exhaled. Never in her life had she dreamed of getting married. She always knew that demigods never lived for too long, certainly not long enough to get married, but now, it all seemed very possible.
"It's beautiful." A voice said behind her. Annabeth turned around to see Reyna staring at her engagement ring. "Congratulations" She said "Can I walk with you?"
Annabeth looked around, looking for Percy. She glanced over, and saw him walking with Grover in front of her. She figured that he should celebrate with his friends for now. "Of course" she gestured for Reyna to walk beside her.
"So, moving to New Rome. How nervous are you?"
"Just a little." Annabeth admitted "I've always been taught Greek. Roman is just stories in books for me. It's going to be the first time I would actually experience it."
"You're gonna like it here" Reyna assured her "You and I, we're a lot alike."
"I hope so." Annabeth smiled at Reyna, then continued walking. It wasn't the matter that she didn't trust Reyna. After what the Praetor had done for Camp Half-Blood last year, she trusted he more than any Roman. It just seemed that Reyna had been broken. "Reyna, I don't know if I'm crossing a line here, but you just seem depressed. Is everything okay?"
"Um" Reyna sighed "I haven't heard from my sister, Hylla, in over a year. She should've been here today. Something's terribly wrong, and I don't know the first path to helping her. I've tried everything, but I'm afraid she's gone"
"Since I'm going to spend a lot of time here, I promise I'll do everything I can to help you, Reyna. I owe you after saving my home, and accepting me into yours"
"Thank you, Annabeth" Reyna gave her a warm smile. Her eyes glinted in the son. She remembered seeing her in Circe's Island five years ago. She'd never really talked to her back then but she had seemed so immature and helpless back then, but now, Annabeth had to admit, she's the most powerful Roman demigod Annabeth had ever met, including Frank and Hazel.
Everyone stood in front of the Temple of the goddess, Spes. The temple was medium-sized compared to the temples surrounding it, but compared to the temple of Jupiter, it was like comparing a pea to a watermelon.
Annabeth vaguely remembered when reading about the feast that a figure of leadership should come and pray in honor of the goddess of hope, and the rest of the Olympians. She half expected Percy to do it, but he hadn't come to ask her for help writing the speech.
Finally, Chiron stepped up the stairs leading to the temple. He faced the crowd, and started praying:
"O great spirit of Hope. Great Spes. You provide our hearts with your gift in every step of the way. Last year, your hope kept our hearts strong. Strong enough to beat the most ancient and powerful goddess, Gaea, and we owe it to you, Great Spes. We ask of you to continue providing us with your great gift. Keep our hearts and minds full of hope this upcoming year.
Jupiter Optimus Maximus, bearer of the thunder bolt, granter of rule to the worthy, upholder of the right, be with us.
Mars Ultor, ally of those who risk their lives on the field, impetuous one who takes joy in strife, be with us
Peerless Juno, friend of those who seek the joy of marriage, the solace of companionship, be with us.
Mighty Neptune, lord of all the waters and oceans, shaker of the earth, bearer of the great Trident, be with us.
Grey-eyed Minerva, protector of cities, keeper of wisdom, who favors the virtuous, be with us.
Ceres of fields and flowers, mistress of all that grows in the earth, founder of the feast, be with us.
Golden Venus, whose gift it is to bring us here together in love and compassion, be with us.
Swift-footed Mercury, guide of words and meaning, who clears the way for unity and understanding, be with us.
Skillfull Hephaestus, lord of inventions, Patron of metal craftsmen and jewelers alike, be with us.
Bright Apollo, lover of knowledge and beauty, who keeps away all ill, who banishes all blight, be with us.
Diana of the woodlands, mistress of beasts, guardian of all that is innocent and wild, be with us.
Bacchus of the vine, creator of the rich wine, wanderer of field and forest, granter of pleasure and delight, be with us.
Finally, Vesta, blessed lady of the Hearth, keeper of the sacred flames of Olympus, guardian of Pandora's box where the spirit of Spes resides, be with us.
To all the Gods above, to all the Gods below, to all the gods who walk the sacred Earth, I offer to you in thanks, blessed may we be."
After his prayer, Chiron marched to the center of the hill, where a dying fire in the hearth laid. Frank and Reyna stepped forward, with a torch in their hands. They handed it to Chiron as he said "Great gods of Olympus, we ask of you guide us, protect us, and be with us in every step of the way." He lit the Hearth's fire, whose smoke became invisible as it got higher than the clouds in the sky.
The Mess Hall was certainly a mess that day. With over three hundred campers eating lunch, there was almost no place to sit for half the demigods.
Annabeth glanced around the room, admiring the reunion of demigods: Reyna and Nico sitting at the end of the Praetor table "You're looking pale again, Nico." Reyna complained "Take it easy on the Underworld stuff."
Hazel and Leo hugging to one side: "I can't believe we're the same height now" Hazel exclaimed "You should eat better, for Juno's sake"
Jason and Frank: "Praetorship is a pain in the behind." Frank muttered "I have no idea how you handled it, man"
Every once in a while, people kept coming to Annabeth's table to congratulate her, and wishing her a happy chapter in her life, though almost none of the wishes sounded genuine enough. Most girls had a jealous tone, except one specific camper: Calypso.
Percy and Annabeth ate side by side at the Praetor's table. They were almost done with their food when Calypso walked over the other side of the table "Do you mind if I talk to you?"
"No, not at all" Annabeth gestured for her to sit.
"I know we haven't been on the best terms this past year. When a girl that had offered your boyfriend a chance to escape his fate with you comes back to his life. Well, it makes things rather complicated."
"Complicated?" Annabeth asked sarcastically, then chuckled
"'Complicated' isn't the right term for this complex situation, but I just wanted to patch things up. I can't still be hung up on something that happened four years ago, and neither should you. There is nothing left between Percy and I. All I want to say is: Congratulations."
"I believe you." Annabeth admitted "My feelings got the best of me this past year. So, thank you."
Calypso started to get up, but she sat back down as if remembering something "I also wanted to apologize for something else." She paused "When Leo told me that you fell into Tartarus, I couldn't help but think-"
"That your curse got to us?" Percy asked
"Yeah," Calypso said nervously "After you left me on Ogygia, I got so envious of you, Annabeth. My anger and my emotions took over, and I cursed you to die alone, the way Percy left me."
"That was you?!" Annabeth yelled
"I am so sorry. I swear if I had known how kind-hearted you are, I would have never done it."
Annabeth felt a surge of anger rushing through her body. She wanted to strangle Calypso right in the middle of the Mess Hall. That moment in Tartarus, Annabeth was so helpless. She had thought Percy had died, and she was so far away from him to check. On top of all that, she was blind. Calypso had made Annabeth think Percy was dead twice now.
"I believe you." She lied "You were hurt, and abandoned."
"Thank you" Calypso replied "for being so understanding. I hope we can be friends" She reached out and held Annabeth's hand
"I hope so, too." Annabeth said with a fake smile, and squeezed her hand a little. How can she possibly assume that Annabeth and her are friends after what she just confessed to her?
After lunch, all campers, Roman and Greek, gathered for separation of teams for the Roman war games planned this afternoon. It was planned that Greeks were going to play against Romans, but some other campers favored that the teams should be separated by parentage. There was going to be a huge debate about it, but they were interrupted by a couple of surprise visitors.
"I'm telling you," Michael Kahale, a centurion of the first cohort argued "If we battle the Greeks, the game is going to last five minutes"
"We can so take you, Romans" Travis disagreed.
"Oh come on, guys." Jason cooled things down "Today is about us getting along, not about who's tough enough to take whom"
"I think we can take all of you" A voice bellowed from the back of the crowd. "I mean, we're all tougher than a bunch of campers, am I right girls?" laughter and giggles echoed from the back of the crowd. She recognized the voice, but she wasn't sure.
Demigods cleared into two sides, and then right in the back stood two groups of girl warriors. The girls on the right had a silvery glow, and were all twelve to fifteen years old. The girls on the the hand seemed older, ages fourteen to nineteen. Maybe even older in some cases. They wore darker colors, and more jewelry.
Annabeth scanned the girls for a familiar face, then finally she saw her: Thalia Grace, Lieutenant of Artemis. She hadn't aged a day from when she last saw her, which filled Annabeth with both warm and painful memories. She could never imagine calling Thalia "Big sister" anymore, considering that she looked two years older than her now.
Before Annabeth could acknowledge Thalia's presence, she turned to Reyna. She was searching for her sister Hylla, no doubt. She was hiding pain and sorrow in her eyes until She yelled in disbelief "Hylla!"
Everyone walked forward to welcome the Hunters of Artemis and the Amazons who had just intruded Camp Jupiter. Annabeth ran for Thalia, who got lost in the crowd of demigods. She searched among the hunters for what seemed like an eternity, but she wasn't there. It was as if Thalia had been a trick of the mist. A cruel image put there by the gods.
Annabeth kept thinking that Thalia had died in the past year. There were a million ways that Thalia could die, but she just couldn't bring herself to believing that. She was about to collapse on the floor, when someone tapped on her shoulder "Hey"
Annabeth turned and almost cried in relief. There stood her best friend, Thalia. She was wearing a black leather jacket, and a Pierce the Veil shirt underneath. There was a silver circlet on her head, which was different from the other hunters, symbolizing her higher rank. Annabeth stepped forward and almost crushed Thalia in a hug.
"I missed you, too" Thalia said
"Where were you?!" Annabeth asked "There was no word from you for an entire year"
"I know." Thalia replied "Lady Artemis forbade our contact with the camps. All the gods of Olympus did. They didn't want our intrusion in the first year of peace between Romans and Demigods in almost two centuries. That's why Olympus was closed this past year."
"I had assumed that Zeus closed the contacts to Olympus because he was punishing Hera and Apollo."
"That." Thalia chuckled "It only took him a few days to sort out. No, Zeus said that he was advised by The Fates to end all contacts to Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. This year was supposed to determine whether demigods could finally coexist"
"And did we pass this test?" Annabeth asked
"You're about to find out."
"What?" Annabeth asked, unsure of what Thalia just said
"The gods are inviting a few heroes to Olympus to honor their accomplishments. Sort of like what they did after the second Titan war."
"When?"
"That's why we're here. We were sent by the gods to bring you to Mount Olympus."