XIII

Frank

Leo steered them towards the island.

"That's as close as I'm getting with this," Leo said.

"I think only Greek campers should go," Jason said. "Just… Just in case this is Camp Half-Blood."

"That's ridiculous; Percy said it was in New York." Hazel said. "We are not in New York right now."

"Which means that this isn't the Camp Jason went to; which means it isn't the Camp that's okay with Romans." Annabeth said.

"He's right." Quinn nodded. She walked up to Percy and put something metal and the size of a match box in his hand. She whispered something to him, but Frank didn't get it, because Leo spoke up.

"Alright; don't push any buttons on my boat while I'm gone," he said.

"Don't worry, wouldn't dream of it." Hazel said.

"Okay, Piper, Leo hold hands." Percy said.

"Excuse me?" Piper said.

"If you want to breathe underwater…" He said.

"Oh, never mind." She said taking Leo's hand and dragging him towards Percy. He took Annabeth and Piper's hands.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Annabeth said. "Don't leave the boat no matter what. If things get really bad, Leo's send a smoke signal and you have to leave without us."

"W-without you?" Quinn asked.

"Worst case scenario," Annabeth said. "If we're all dying and they're coming to get you guys."

"Then I give you permission to push any button on my boat you think you need." Leo said.

"You're a bit pessimistic, now aren't you?" Piper said. Frank agreed with her.

"It's a precaution," Annabeth defended.

"That we won't need," Percy said for the sake of Leo who was looking like 'crud, why did I have to be Greek right now?'

And with that they plunged in the water.

Piper

Last time Piper had plunged into water, it hadn't been all that pleasant. Like, sharing her personal space with a giant sea monster that looked like some axolotl or whatever Quinn and Percy had agreed on. But Percy quickly got tiny of silver balls to zoom at them, or at least she assumed it was Percy- gods- what were those? They suddenly grouped around Piper's mouth and nose, and she saw that it did the same with Annabeth and Leo. She could breathe! Air bubbles!

Less work, she heard Percy say in her mind. Okay, she could read Percy's mind. Kind of odd… Okay; very odd… Especially when she started hearing about last time he'd done that trick…

She heard Annabeth hit him and suddenly it was over. Leo was snickering.

Shut up Valdez or you're not going to breathe anymore.

They started zooming towards the shore line. It felt as if Piper was surfing underwater- and actual surfing, not her pathetic excuse for it.

A flock of dolphins came and made shrill noises that Piper was sure she wouldn't be able to hear. Percy's sea powers were spreading to her through his touch. Percy made the same shrill sounds back; talking to them. A school of brightly coloured fish came by, and they swam through a coral reef. Piper saw fish in colours that she didn't know existed under the sea, plants that she'd only seen in books, creatures that she'd never thought she'd see this close seeing how dangerous they were- there was even an eel that looked at her darkly before leaving. She realised just how big of a world Percy had at his fingertips. He could just decide to spontaneously swim into Camp's beach and see this. Talk to some dolphins. See this beauty…

After a bit less than ten minutes they could all have their heads above water if they stood on their toes, their feet sinking in the sand.

"Come on," Percy said. He kicked off the ground and in a perfect front crawl, he headed for the island. Immediately Piper was soaked and her clothes were heavy, but she remembered the red cross swimming lessons the Wilderness school had got, and her arms and legs were even stronger now.

"You guys can swim, right?" Annabeth checked. They both agreed and Annabeth started swimming after her boyfriend. Piper and Leo followed. Once they hit the shallow end they just waddle there, and when they were out of the water, she squeezed the water from her braid. A huge splotch of water dripped onto the sand, as if her hair were a sponge.

"Seaweed brain, do us a favour," Annabeth called. He turned away from the skyline, and just by poking Piper in the arm, all the water in her clothes, hair and skin jumped off and leapt into the ocean. Same with Leo.

"Wow, you're good." Piper said. Percy grinned at her.

"Let's go before you feed his ego too much," Annabeth said.

They adventured into the forest, each holding their own weapon drawn. Piper was nervous. Forests were full of quicksand and trees, imperfections in the ground… The whole boat was so they could stay off of land, for crying out loud, and here they were on the tropics!

They each held their own weapons, so Piper was guessing they all felt it.

Piper stopped.

"I smell meat," she said. She could recognise the smell of meet anywhere since driving by the slaughterhouse had scared her away from it.

"You're right," Annabeth said.

"Can someone say 'cannibal island tribe'?" Leo asked.

"Sometimes you've got to keep these puns to yourself or the girl on the quest hits you." Percy whispered to Leo. Annabeth must've heard, because she hit him without looking back.

"It's that way," she decided. They followed their noses and pushed through one last tree, with leaves like green barbwire in bunches, greener than Piper had ever seen in non-magical places.

They hiked up the mountain. Piper saw a tall flagpole with an orange banner on top. It looked like a cloth pole; like you saw around runways for planes. It must be like a beacon, to show demigods running for their lives that they were coming closer and closer to a sanctuary. That must be why the shirts were orange, she realised. He'd always wondered why. Orange didn't really say 'stealth' or 'I am here to kick your butt'.

They got to the edge of the village.

"This is…" Percy said.

"I know," Annabeth said. She blinked a lot, like she was trying to get her own memories of camp out of her head so she'd see this clearly. The mess of white buildings and obstacle courses, balance beams, ropes hanging off high trees with kids trying to bring down hanging sandals…

A guy came forwards after spotting them, wearing a mix of armour and chiton or whatever the Greek version of a tunic was.

"May I help you?" He asked. He looked at their clothes frowning.

"Umm… Sure… My name is Percy…"

"Perseus," Annabeth cut. He looked at her like 'what?' Piper got it. This guy was Ancient Greek; might as well sound like they were too.

"Yeah… Perseus…" Percy said as if he got the message. "This is…"

"Athene," Annabeth decided, "And these two are Penelope and Leonidas." Piper nearly chocked. Penelope? Oh geez!

"Are you half-bloods?" He asked.

"Yes." Annabeth said. He smiled.

"I'm Seth, son of Zeus."

"That explains it," Percy mumbled.

"Right this way," he said. He led them through the camp and they crossed each other's glances wondering where this was going to go. Piper thought; not that well.

"How long have you been traveling?" Seth asked them.

"A bit." Percy said.

"Lost track," Piper said.

"Mmm. At least you found each other." Seth said.

"Oh yeah," Leo said. "These two are really thankful." He asked waving towards Percy and Annabeth.

Percy hit Leo upside the head and Annabeth kicked his chin.

"They didn't [i]date[/i] in Ancient Greece, they just got married." She said between clenched teeth. "Don't say a word."

Luckily Seth ignored them, and he brought them into a house that Piper determined to be the Big House.

"Umm, we don't separate the rooms between girls and boys here- so just a heads up for something that will some getting used to…" Seth said. Piper frowned. Was that another Ancient Greek tradition? My god, she thought.

"No problem," Annabeth said.

"Great. Chiron will be with you in just a minute." Seth said.

"Chiron?" They all said at once.

Malcolm

July 10th

He stepped into the Big House quietly.

"Malcolm- quiet was never one of your strength." A shaky voice said. Malcolm turned to Chiron in the rec room.

His paternal grandmother had died of Parkinson. It'd been quick and deadly and he remembered a month or two after the diagnosis, how much she'd changed. Wheelchair bound, laboured breathing, tired eyes, wrinkles that hadn't been there before…

Chiron was like that now; except he wasn't sick. He was just dying.

"I thought you might be sleeping." Malcolm said with a built in 'forgive me'. Chiron didn't like to be treated any different now than before, even if Malcolm saw no other solution. And since he didn't; nobody else did.

"Have any Iris-messages gone through to the Romans yet?" Chiron asked. Malcolm shook his head.

"None," Malcolm said. "But Butch said that now that everyone knows about everyone; it should work."

"What of Nyssa's machine?" Chiron asked.

"Nothing either." Malcolm said. "The senate is empty every time. Nyssa was yelling into it for three hours, but nothing happened. Nobody came."

Chiron sighed.

"I could try and contact Lupa…"

"That would be hard on you!" Malcolm said. Chiron's eyes darkened.

"Child, what good is it to keep me alive, if I am only alive to weigh on you all?" He asked.

Reyna

July 10th

She'd gotten back in your average prisoner's routine.

Wake up.

Wait for food.

Get food.

Eat. With the bonus add that now, Reyna's two hands were caught by heavy ceiling chains; meaning she was spoon fed. It was amazingly humiliating and aggravating. Sometimes she got smoothies or power shakes or whatever and someone would just hold the cup and straw for her. They'd gotten the memo about her kicking habit after she did that to two other legionnaires from the first cohort, and they now usually had someone holding her legs down too. That was pretty bad as well, but it could be her daily dose of entertainment when they held on for dear life as she tried to shake them off.

Octavian would then come. At first it was only once in a while, but after the fifth day or so of her capture, he came every day, and she didn't think that would really change.

She'd talk to him. He was actually not that bad sometimes. Every now and then he told her about what was happening outside. How Dakota and Gwen were doing, how there was no news from the gods, et cetera, et cetera. It was humane of him.

He'd leave.

Cuss him. Cuss Joan. Cuss whoever else she felt like cussing for the day. It was all in her own head after all.

She heard the conch horns that meant lunch. Only then did she know what time it was exactly. Octavian's visits were after her breakfast, and that was after the legionnaires ate because they had to eat before worrying about her; so she at least knew that. But the conch horns told her when it was muster, evening, curfew… She tried to sleep at curfew and stay up for the day.

She'd spend some time humming. Just a 'hmmm' sound so she wouldn't go crazy or freak out the next time she heard human noise. She'd learnt that with Blackbeard; the trick had kept her sane. She got shivers when she remembered Hylla's initial mental state. That'd taken a long time, and a lot of water.

She'd do flips or walk around as much as she could just to keep her muscles awake and alive, even if the lack of training filled her mouth with venom.

Wait for supper.

Get supper. Same as breakfast- her other meal.

Wait until muster, and try to remember if tonight was war games, deathball, or what (Octavian would tell her the next morning).

Curfew would sound; she'd try to sleep.

That was slowly but surely getting to her. Usually her days included a lot of exercises and moving around a lot. Doing a lot of things with or for a lot of people, and barely breathing in between. That was just part of who she was, what her duties were, and what she needed as a person. This was about as much of a polar opposite as what you could get.

As for her claustrophobia… She hated to admit it being there, but it was. Some days she'd wake up and suddenly she was panicking like she never panicked anywhere else, or she got seized by vertigo. She'd even thrown up once, but she bit her lip and gave herself the strictest orders she'd ever gotten against screaming or crying or whimpering. No. They would not know.

Some days she was okay, but others, she kept her eyes shut. As if not seeing the four walls meant they'd disappear or that they weren't there. It made her feel week and lame. But she didn't have a choice; she had to stay strong and not lose her mind. And if staying strong meant closing her eyes, humming, and keeping her memories going; then so be it.

She remembered one time with Jason, the last time that'd ever happened, after he'd come back, the night before the Argo II took off…

She knocked on his door, knowing he would still be awake. He answered.

"Rey?" He asked.

"I can't sleep." She said. So he went to get his blanket from his bed, just like she had hers, and they'd wrap themselves in their own and lie down in the grass between both houses.

Not many people knew about that, because not many people knew about her claustrophobia. They knew where she was from, but nobody seized quite how life-changing that had been to her, and how it had left its mark. But Jason did, which was why they could just lie there for hours, looking at the stars. Jason would point out the constellations Lupa had shown him, and Reyna would add those that she'd heard the sailors and pirates talk about.

Tonight wasn't much different. Unless you counted the fact Jason's arm was around her, and she had her head on his chest this time. They were openly in love now, after all. It wasn't about Reyna trying to stay solid anymore, they just were. And she liked it better that way

"Jason?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Is Venus in the sky tonight?" She asked.

"I think it's right here." He said.

"Mars Almighty, you can be so cheesy." She said. "I meant the planet."

"Maybe. I don't know, I'm not really looking at the stars." Jason said.

"Okay, maybe cheesy is good," she said when he kissed the top of her head.

Eventually, lying in the grass, in an open place with no walls, with someone she trusted with her life, she always felt at peace and fell asleep. It was just something that happened. But she slept so much better with his arm around her.

Sunrise always woke them up since there was nothing shielding the light from them, which meant that they were back inside before the legionnaires woke up and could ever find out.

They never did.

She heard a door squeak open and Octavian walked down.

That was a breach in the schedule.

Her mouth still filled with poison when she saw him there, wearing the purple cloak, and the symbols and all of it. Don't get her wrong; she hadn't changed a bit. She still wanted to do bad things to him. But… If she tuned out everything horribly wrong… She could… tolerate him.

In no time they'd gotten to a conversation that Reyna was only participating in to see if she could milk out any information about the Argo II.

Octavian didn't get that, and he just talked like she was cool to talk to. Which she wasn't, because she barely talked unless she had to, or unless she was with people she trusted. So not right now.

"Where's the Argo II?" She finally asked. Octavian's face darkened.

"I don't know."

"Have you talked to the Greeks?" She asked. "Perhaps they have means of controlling their ship. That Leo Valdez looked smart."

"No."

"Have you even tried?"

"That's none of your concern," Octavian said.

"You're wrong. It is. Because I'm always going to be the praetor, because I'm the one they chose. It's never going to be you or Joan because the people lost all respect for you. It's always going to be me. And Jason."

Octavian's face darkened at Jason's name and he just spun around and left for the day.

Suddenly with nobody there but her, her in the tiny space, the vertigo caught up to her, and her stomach lurched to the left.

Octavian sat down at the table where Gwen sat and waited for Dakota and Bobby. She looked up at Octavian with a colder eye than most people thought was physically possible for Gwendolyn Holly.

"The praetor's table is over there," she said simply.

"I came to talk, Gwen."

"That's Gwendolyn to you," she said. She met Octavian's eye and a shiver went down his spine. She knew she's nearly died because of his pilum. "Or Centurion Holly. Gwen is a nickname for friends and family, and I pride myself with being neither of them with you."

"That's cold." Octavian said.

"You're cold Octavian. What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me about Jason and Reyna." He said. Gwen lifted an eyebrow.

"They're both 16, they've known each other for about three years, they were raised on shields as praetors of Rome last August…"

"I meant together." Octavian said. Gwen sat up straighter and with a shake of her head pushed her hair behind her shoulder.

"I know nothing about it," Gwen said.

"You're her best friend," Octavian said. "Talk to me."

"They scare me," Gwen said. "And I say it shamelessly. They move together, they think together, they fight together, they understand each other… But what should scare you, Octavian, is that they love each other. They won't give up on one another, and they fight hard Octavian. They fight harder for each other."

"That's not what I wanted to hear." He said.

"Well, it's what you asked." Gwen said. "And it's the mess you walked straight into."

Octavian got up and left before anything else could be said. He bumped into Dakota.

"Are you giving her trouble?" Dakota asked him, scowling over him.

"Why I talk to the legion's centurions is none of your concern," he said coldly.

"Leave Gwen alone," he said, "Or I'll put you in such a state you'll be alone in the Underworld's fields of-"

"Back off, Whyte." A gruff voice said. Octavian turned around to see Joan standing there menacingly. Ready to support Octavian, as always.

"Who died and made you praetor? Oh yeah; that's right, you locked one in the dungeon and sent the other running so he could save the world." Dakota said.

"Dakota!" Gwen took his arm, and whispered something in his ear. It calmed him down and he accepted her leading him back to one of the fifth cohort's tables, where his cohort took him in and melted around him, ready to protect.

"What were you doing talking to scum from the fifth?" Joan asked him.

"Research," Octavian said after a second of pondering on the right word.

"On who?" She asked crossing her arms. Octavian's nose crinkled and his scowl deepened.

"On Reyna Bell." He said.