Rome
Nico was frozen looking at Iapetus. The titan was too powerful to work for his son, which meant he was the one giving orders. So not only does Zoë's father fight us. Her grandfather does too.It does explain why so much of his plan surrounds hurting Percy. They now knew there were at least two titans opposing them. And Luke, Octavian, and how many in the Senate?
He heard a shuffle behind him. He spun to see Zoë mostly carrying a pitiful looking creature towards the exit. Nico began to roll step backwards... Into a iron rack he had not seen before. The iron shrieked as it was pushed across the floor. Nico drew his sword as the titan in front of him began to stir. He began to sprint. Noise was secondary to speed at this point.
Zoë had not made it very far with whoever the girl was. She heard the billow of loud voice. "Nico di Angelo!" How the Hades do they know thy name, Nico?
"Keep fucking moving!" Nico screamed as he closed distance with time. She heard him gasp in pain then his hand on her arm. The world went dark as Nico bent the shadows to his will and they hurtled to wherever he was sending them.
Rubicon River
Michael knew what was about to happen. There's not a damned thing I can do about this. Legios I, VIII, XIX, and XII were massed along the shores of the Rubicon River. If he crosses here it's all over. Nine out of just eighteen legions will follow without question. Four of them here, the 16th and 17th in Gaul with Gwen, the Gemini legions in Epirus with the Zhangs and I'm not sure what Reyna has told them, the 18th in Macedon and trained by Scipio and Jason disciples. So half of the legions completely loyal to him. No more than two legions loyal to any specific commander anywhere else. Maybe the Senate could convince the other half to fight Jason, but I doubt it.
Jason stepped forward to the banks of the river. He waded out into the water. The gold flashed through his eyes as he turned to the army. Michael knew what was about to happen. There was not a single thing he could do to stop it. He watched the golden eyed Jason wave his arm forward and cross the river with over twenty thousand legionnaires at his back. Four times what Julius brought across.
"Alea iacta est." He muttered as he heeled his horse across the river. I can do more for everyone from the inside. Even if it means betraying Jason Grace to the only demigod powerful enough to stop him. Betraying Rome to a Greek. The die is cast. He repeated his earlier statement, "Alea iacta est."
Epirus
"That's fucking rich," muttered Hazel Zhang. The king of Epirus was currently swearing fealty to a golden eagle and the red banner with a gold S.P.Q.R. lettering. "What republic?"
Frank stood next to her. "The Republic is dead. Rome is not. We have our duty to Rome, not its Imperator until he has proven to be the man he was. All we have done here is open the highway to Greece for him."
"There are three options into Greece from here. The coastal road through Naupaktos, the mountain pass at Heraclea, and the Hot Gates. All three are bad options."
"There is the sea also and that's even worse."
"Yes."
"We keep talking about Percy going to war, but Annabeth is brilliant and if that Ares girl is fighting she is a force to be reckoned with." Hazel nodded in agreement with her husband. "And, your brother."
Rome
"We have to stop the fucking bleeding!" Phoebe yelled. She was pressing her hand against the blood pulsing from Nico's thigh. Iapetus' spear had severed his leg from the outer edge to the bone but Nico had summoned the strength to shadow travel them all to Reyna's courtyard. The crimson of Nico's blood stained Phoebe's clothing and face, leading both to match the color of her hair. A tourniquet quickly applied by Zoë was above the slice but clearly not fully stopping the bleeding. Reyna handed her a pugio, its blade was pure white from the fire it had been sitting in.
"Boy, this is going to hurt. Prepare yourself, but it's the only way to save your life." She angled the blade to match the angle of the cut. Phoebe took a deep breath and then pressed the heated blade into the wound. The blood vessels were seared closed. Nico screamed and passed out.
Greece
Annabeth smiled as Zoë raised her sword and deflected the rapid strike from Hunter. Mere seconds later she was using a shield to counter a double knife strike from Naomi. Thalia sat next to Annabeth. She was watching with a mixture of awe and judgmental observation.
"She's good. Maybe too good. It will make her overconfident." Annabeth shook her head.
"She has too much of her father, always doubting herself." How? Thought Thalia. She was watching a thirteen year old fighting two immortal Hunters of Artemis and hold her own against them. She changed the subject.
"What's it like? Being a mother? I never had a good one, I've nothing to compare it against."
"It is nothing I can describe. Watching them grow and turn into something better than Percy and I is so powerful it almost outweighs the terrible things we ask them to do. Almost."
"Them?" Thalia looked at her with an eyebrow raised. The gray eyes turned to her blue ones. Thalia studied Annabeth's face. "Oh."
"After the stillbirth, Thals, we did try again. After a miscarriage though we decided to stop trying for that. We both took it as a sign that children of our own was not the will of the Fates. It is a hard thing to accept, that children are not to be yours. We had Zoë already, but want more. You and the other Hunters had arrived. We took that as a sign too. That maybe we were not mean to have our own children, because we were needed to care for those without." She smiled slightly at the look on Thalia's face. "We were not saying you needed parents to take care of yourself. But you all were without your goddess and we're not exactly in a time that approves of independent women. Percy and I are still aging. Gods, we're nearly thirty-five now. Our Zoë is nearly the same age as you. To both he and I you five are daughters, whatever you believe or accept from us is for you to decide. But we are here for you, despite the missions and the fights we force you into."
Annabeth began to walk away and Thalia watched her go. As she had aged she looked like her mother more and more. Thalia thought about the girl she had rescued as a seven year old. The Daughter of Zeus would have never suspected what she would turn into or the pain she would bear. Luke's betrayal, losing Percy, finding the Parthenos, Tartarus, finding herself in this new world with a new Percy and his daughter, losing two children before they were born. And now her oldest friend was less than half her age.
"Annabeth, wait!" Thalia jogged up to her taller friend. "Are you being serious? You've been motherly since we got here, but Percy sees us as daughters? I know he's made a comment or two that makes it seem that way, but really?" Annabeth chuckled slightly.
"Yes. He refuses to admit it because he is worried that due to your independence as Hunters and distrust of men, he'll lose you. He's worried about Zoë and Phoebe in Rome, here you, Naomi, even Hunter go to him with problems like he's a father, but he won't say anything until someone else does. I can promise you that."
Rome
"Piper, look at me. It's Reyna." Reyna was standing next to the door of a small room. Piper McLean had covered herself in a blanket and eaten the food brought to her, but seemed unable or unwilling to do anything else. Recognition had passed across her face when Reyna first entered, but she quickly masked in the downcast eyes and facial expression of a broken individual. Reyna placed the platter of food on the bed and excused herself. At the suggestion of Diana they never closed her door.
"When someone has been locked up for extended amounts of time, their mind does not let them leave that place if any form of reminder is there. Give her a window and let her close her own door." The prostitute had not gone into detail but Reyna was certain that Zoë had caught the unspoken memory behind the suggestion. Reyna was three steps away when the door clicked. She made her way to the dining table where Phoebe and Zoë waited. Nico was still unconscious.
"How did you get her to follow? She won't even acknowledge me."
"I cannot imagine what they did to her. She was not cared for, that much is clear. They cut out her tongue, presumably because of this Charmspeak you spoke of. She would not follow me until I said I was the daughter of Percy Jackson." Phoebe started at her statement while Reyna looked upon her in curiosity.
"He is more of a father than mine ever was. More than yours ever was Phoebe. Yes we were older when we first met him, but have you not noticed? Being away from Artemis, we are aging. He has been there for us whatever problems have arisen. He aged first though. He has a daughter who is our age now."
"First you call him king, now father?" Phoebe looked like she was thinking through Zoë's thoughts. No one else in the room could read her expression.
"If Perseus would have me, yes."
Shore of the Ambracian Gulf
"You can see for yourself, sire." Percy could and he did not like it. The soldiers had been dead before being hoisted onto crosses, at least he hoped they had been. The fifteen man patrol was in a line that clearly denoted where the king of Epirus had claimed the border to be. Carrion had feasted on the bodies at this point and none were recognizable.
"Sire," Percy turned to Brasidas. He nodded sharply and the young Spartan began to speak again. "A mile north of here, on the Epirus side, we found two camps. One is a Roman patrol, the other from Epirus. Both are large enough to have done this. Both have wounds from a recent fight."
"Which one did it?" Percy asked, giving the boy an appraising look Demosthenes had learned he copied from Annabeth.
"The soldiers of Epirus. These are spear wounds, not those of a short sword. The Romans would have thrown spears or used a sword, most of these wounds are heavy bladed spear thrusts."
"Good enough for me," Percy said. "We're going after them."
Rome
The horses were ready. A half dozen of them were waiting to take them north around the Adriatic and down the Dalmatian coast toward Greece. Zoë and Phoebe would ride next to the wagon. The boy in Drew's employ would handle the driving while Piper and Nico rode in the back. Reyna had left for an emergency meeting in the Senate house.
"You can't leave," Reyna burst through the door into the courtyard and immediately began rummaging through chests to pull her armor out.
"What's happening?" asked Nico. He was still pale from the blood loss four days prior. He had only regained consciousness the day before.
"Jason crossed the Rubicon with four legions. The army proclaimed him imperator, his army has the city surrounded."
"Then we have to leave even more." Zoë spoke calmly yet forcefully. "Even if we have Piper, at this point he will not believe it. They've had his mind for too long. We will be Greek spies and we're responsible for her kidnapping." Unfortunately Reyna knew she was correct.
"Boat," growled out Phoebe. "We have to go by boat. Down the Tiber to the sea and sail back to Greece. I'll get the sacrifices for Poseidon ready." The others looked at her. Piper nodded from her perch on the wagon. Nico grunted an agreement as well. Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"The Tiber is the only thing he will not be able to fully control. We might be able to message Percy from the ship honestly, if he's nearby." Piper tapped on Phoebe's shoulder. The two had connected more than the others would have expected. She mouthed words and used hand gestures to relay her message to the red headed huntress. Maybe it was because at this point they were opposites. Some of Piper's color had returned, but she was still dangerously thin and frail looking. Phoebe was still large and muscular for someone who had been stuck in the body of a teenage girl. She could not deny she was aging again.
"She says the river is the best option. But what is her being free going to change?" A coldness enveloped them all as a sudden realization dawned on them all. She doesn't know why she was there, thought Zoë.
Nico answered for them. "They used you to control Jason. Yes," he saw the confused expression, "he is alive. For that matter Zoë and Phoebe were dead once. They are not true daughters of Percy, but he has taken them in and cared for them like they were. Jason willingly accepted an eidolon that has been controlling him for at least eight years. He did it because they had you. I don't know what they were threatening you with, but whatever it was it was not something he could allow."
Piper looked like she was about to cry. Nico kept going Better rip off the band aid completely than peal it slowly. "That's why Iapetus had them cut out your tongue. You Charmspoke the eidolons out of people the last time. We need to get you healthy so that we can present you to Jason and prove that he no longer has to unquestionably follow the eidolon. He can fight back."
Piper motioned Phoebe closer. "Who sent you to find me? And how can we help Jason?"
"Our father," responded Zoë. "We can help him by getting thee healthy and proving to him thee are safe. Reyna will keep us apprised of his location so once thee are ready we will approach him. Anything we cannot answer now, our matér can answer in Athens."
"Matér?" mouthed Piper her eyebrows raised.
"Annabeth, the daughter of Athena. Perseus has one daughter by the Amazon queen and they have unofficially adopted the five hunters we have in Athens." Piper's face looked a little brighter at the idea of seeing another old friend.
"I don't know how long it will take to get a boat." Reyna looked at them as she fastened the last strap on her armor.
"Just find a boat that can hold us," Phoebe said, "We'll take care of getting it underway. I'll steal it if we need to, we just need out of Rome."