Piper McLean still couldn't believe what had happened. They had been kicked out of New Rome and had been forced to leave Jason behind with those horrible Roman demigods. They had had to leave Jason behind with that cold, dark-haired praetor whom Piper suspected had been trying to 'make a move' on Jason, who—let her remind you—was still her boyfriend.

At least Annabeth had gotten Percy back. Annabeth and Percy were doing whatever it is that they do and Leo was busy controlling the Argo II to get them back to Camp Half-Blood. Piper, however pathetic it sounded, was sitting in Jason's cabin on his bed. He had tacked up a picture of his sister, Thalia Grace, on the wall near his bed. There were a few orange Camp Half-Blood shirts as well as the purple Camp Jupiter shirt which he had been given by Aphrodite partway through their quest to free Hera. It had holes all over it and was hardly wearable, but Jason had held onto it anyways. On top of his dresser was the gladius which Hera had given him after they had freed her.

Piper picked up the weapon and sighed. The gold metal felt wrong in her hands and made her skin crawl. But still, it was Jason's. Piper didn't want to feel so heartbroken about losing Jason, but she couldn't help what she was feeling. She wasn't one of those Romans who seemed like they didn't have emotions. She was just Piper, and she was doing the best that she could.

Then, the horrifying thought entered her skull. Would Jason have stayed with me if I was more Roman? Piper hurriedly shook the thought from her head. She shouldn't think like that. Jason was her boyfriend and he really liked her. They had spent the last eight months together and he wasn't going to leave her at the drop of a hat.

But he's known the Romans and that Reyna girl for longer than eight months, her mind argued. Why would he care to return to you when he's rejoined his family? His real family which raised him, that is.

Piper groaned. Maybe staying in Jason's cabin wasn't such a good idea. But still, she didn't want to leave. The cabin reminded her of Jason. Of the Jason she had known for eight months at Camp Half-Blood.

The more Piper thought, the more unsure of Jason Grace she became. As soon as they had crossed into Roman territory, Jason had been different. His shoulders had been pulled back into some semblance of perfectly straight posture and there had been a tenseness to him which she hadn't noticed in him before. His blue eyes had seemed to get shades darker and had been far more focused and intense than Piper was used to. He didn't talk as much either, instead only speaking when necessary. He had pulled away from Piper as well. He no longer stood near her, or held her hand, or shot her worrying glances. It was almost like she didn't exist to him.

Piper sighed. She set Jason's gladius back on the dresser and walked out of his cabin. The Jason Grace whom she had known was gone. He had been replaced by a cold, harsh, and Roman boy.

As she walked out of the cabin, she grinned at the sound of Coach Hedge watching some action movie in his cabin. Piper then entered her own cabin and glanced around. Her bed had plain sheets on it, not the pink ones from the Aphrodite cabin. Her dresser was full of plain blue jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, and other random necessities. Her dagger, Katoptris, sat on her dresser. Whenever she looked into it, she saw horrible visions of people she knew. Piper didn't want to think about what terrible things could happen to them. Instead, she walked out of the cabin.

Piper found herself wandering towards the front of the ship. She looked down on the ground flying by, and grinned as she noticed they were nearing Camp Half-Blood. Piper stayed at her spot at the front until she felt the Argo II lower to the ground.

The four demigods and their satyr chaperone got off of the ship and entered Camp Half-Blood. For a moment, the campers stood in stunned silence when they saw Percy. Then, Connor Stoll from the Hermes Cabin shouted, "PERCY'S BACK!"

This shout seemed to relieve the campers from their silence. Suddenly people were running toward Percy. Some, like Katie Gardner, hugged him. Others, like Clarisse LaRue, punched him in the gut. "Don't disappear like that again, Prissy," the daughter of Ares growled. "Or I'll have to reintroduce your head to the toilets."

Percy just laughed. "Sure, Clarisse. I'd love to become 'Supreme Lord of the Bathroom' one more time for old times' sake." Annabeth elbowed her boyfriend, and he grinned. "It's good to see you too," he said finally. The two exchanged smiles, and Piper glanced at Leo in bewilderment. For as long as they'd been at Camp Half-Blood, no one had talked to Clarisse like that.

Eventually, the four demigods made their way to the Big House where Chiron was waiting. "Where is Jason?" the old centaur asked. "And the other Roman demigods?"

Annabeth opened her mouth to explain, but Percy beat her to it. "In Roman mythology, Terra is not their enemy. The gods of Rome decided not to try and destroy Gaea, so the Roman demigods won't help us."

"Will they try to go against us?" Chiron asked.

Percy nodded slowly. "I think so. The augur, he's kind of like their version of Rachel, hates Greeks and was calling for war as soon as he learned that I was a Greek demigod. Reyna, their leader, managed to keep him under control. I'm sure that she'll continue to try and keep the Legion from attacking. I think she'll buy us maybe a month before they attack us."

Chiron nodded. "We'll begin preparations to defend camp, then."

"We need three more demigods to join us," Percy declared. "Without the Romans, it'll be up to us to stop Gaea."

"I'll ask for volunteers," Annabeth said. "I'm sure that we'll get more than a few."

Chiron nodded. "Good. Leave as soon as you can. We cannot afford to delay much longer."

The demigods nodded and left. Leo returned to Bunker 9 to gather extra supplies in case they had to make repairs to the ship. Annabeth and Percy asked around for three volunteers for the quest. Piper went into the armory to find a weapon besides Katoptris. She didn't want to deal with the horrible visions of the dagger anymore. She wouldn't get rid of her dagger. No, something about Katoptris had called to her back in December, but sometimes Piper wanted to be able to use a weapon that didn't show horrific visions of the future.

She saw a sword which was longer than her dagger, but still not too big for her to use. Its weight wasn't perfect and it felt a little bit too heavy, but it would be better than nothing. When she emerged from the armory, she saw Percy and Annabeth talking with the kids of Apollo. One of them, Will Solace, waved to his siblings and then walked with Percy and Annabeth.

Then, she saw them talking with Clarisse. It seemed like Clarisse and Will would be joining the Seven, then. That left just one more demigod, right? Piper approached the four. "We should ask Thalia," she suggested.

Will snorted. "Annabeth just suggested that, actually."

Percy laughed. "Wise Girl, you have to step up your game."

Annabeth rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Percy. "Keep talking like that, Jackson, and they won't find your body," Clarisse joked.

Finally, they all went into the Poseidon cabin. Piper had never been in it, but she had to admit that it was really cool. The beds had green silk sheets, the cabin was partially made out of rock, and there was a fountain in the corner. Percy grabbed a drachma out of the fountain and threw it into the rainbow the fountain created. "Lacy, do me a solid. Show me Thalia Grace, lieutenant of Artemis."

Piper wasn't sure about the different way of calling upon Iris to send the message through, but it worked. Thalia appeared in the rainbow. "Kelp Head, I'm going to kill you for disappearing."

"Sorry, Pinecone Face," Percy replied. "We need you to get to Camp as soon as possible. There was an issue with the Romans and we need you to come to defeat Gaea with us. Can you do it?"

A young girl with auburn hair appeared beside Thalia. "Perseus Jackson, a pleasure to see you alive and well."

Percy bowed. "Thank you, Lady Artemis."

Artemis nodded. "Thalia, this is a more pressing issue than the Hunt. You are relieved from duty until you have completed your quest."

"Thank you, Lady Artemis," Thalia replied. "I'll be there tonight, guys. We're not too far from Camp right now."

Annabeth nodded. "Good. See you tonight, Thals."

"See you soon, Annie." The image disappeared.

"Seems like we have our seven demigods," Piper said to break up the silence.

"It seems like we do," Will said. Then, he looked around. "Has anyone seen Nico recently?"

Percy frowned. "I saw him when I first arrived at Camp Jupiter. But not since then."

"I have," Piper said. "In my dagger. He was stuck up to his waist in mud and was eating pomegranate seeds." The others frowned. "I'm not sure what that means."

"We'll find him. I bet that he's somewhere near Gaea," Annabeth supplied. "Now, we should get some rest and food before we set out."

Percy nodded. "I have to pay a visit to Blackjack." He grinned slightly. "He'll be so mad that I didn't get him any powdered donuts."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Only you, Percy, would be worried about that right now," she said in exasperation. "Well, I'm going to research a few things for the trip. It's…it's going to be our hardest quest yet, I think, and I want to be prepared."

Clarisse made a comment about Annabeth's research, but the two girls walked off together. Will walked out of the cabin as well, which left Percy and Piper together. "So, you're a daughter of Aphrodite?" Percy asked as they left the cabin.

"Yeah."

Percy nodded. "Hm…"

"Why do you ask?"
"Because the last daughter of Aphrodite to fight in a war was a traitor," he said suddenly. Then, he seemed to realize what he had just said. "Not that you're a traitor, Piper! It's just odd, I guess."
"I'm not planning on betraying anyone, Percy."
He nodded. "Good. Because a lot of my friends will be on that ship. And people who hurt my friends don't tend to live long." He let that settle between them for several moments. Just when Piper was starting to fidget uncomfortable, he smiled brightly at her. "Well, I should get to the stables. See you later, Piper."

Piper stared after him in shock. What in the world had just happened?

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading, please review and tell me your thoughts. So, from now on I'm going to try to have one Greek demigod's perspective and then one Roman's perspective to show what's going on for both sides of this whole spiel. The main pairing are going to be Jeyna and Percabeth, but there will be a little bit of other pairings. Have a great day/night!

~Nerd