Hope you enjoy! Final chapter is ready just gonna wait a little to post it 3

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OO OO OO OO

We'd finally caught up to them, Octavian wasn't letting those traitors and attackers go now.

"Surrender to Rome!" He shouted as he landed with two other soldiers.

Hazel, the girl he'd worked so hard to try and help, scowled and muttered something he couldn't hear.

The one who had charmspeak raised her hands. He was pretty sure she was telling him to stop but alas-

"Can't hear you!" he yelled. "Wax in our ears—" he didn't even pause before adding vindictively "—standard procedure when battling evil sirens. Now, throw down your weapons and turn around slowly so I can bind your hands."

There was a pause where they seemed to be thinking.

"Well?" he demanded after a moments pause, the soldiers with him brandishing their swords.

Very slowly, using only two fingers, the girlfriend drew her dagger and instead of dropping it like a sensible person, she threw it into the water.

Octavian squawked, "What was that for? I didn't say toss it! That could've been evidence. Or spoils of war!"

She gave a rather annoying little smile, a 'whoops my bad' look. How was she the daughter of the wisdom Goddess?

"The other two…" he pointed at Hazel and the charmspeaker. "Put your weapons on the dock. No funny bus—"

And then the dock erupted. Water yanked at him viciously and tossed him into the bay.

He scrambled to try and swim, but he'd never been a strong swimmer... he rather hated water in fact. And he was certainly not good to swim in the waves of the harbor when weighed down by armor.

"Get me out of here!" he shouted while holding onto one of the soldiers, feeling panic creep up. "I'll kill you!"

Percy said something he couldn't here.

"What?"

They left.

Panic surged through Octavian, he was going to drown.

He was going to die in the water- he was going to die- in water- drowning- he was going to drown- they destroyed his city and then left him to drown-

The water spat them out and Octavian collapsed on the deck, gasping for breath.

He was alive- oh thank Neptune. Thank Jupiter. Thank whoever-

He didn't want to drown.

He blinked tears away and took in more strangled breaths.

He was alive.

But those filthy traitors and attackers wouldn't be for much longer.

OO OO OO OO

The storm Percy and Jason raised together was enough to keep the Roman forces away from them.

And the daughter of wisdom managed to get through their lines without too much trouble.

Damn it.

OO OO OO OO

He studied their base, looking at the maps. They needed to plan out how to target the camp.

He'd already prayed to Apollo, hopefully his ancestor would grant him guidance. He had a lot of offerings to make in the meantime.

OO OO OO OO

Octavian had barely slept in the last few weeks. He was exhausted, but his dreams were full of whispers. His ancestor guiding him and another he didn't recognize. Apollo didn't seem concerned, it was probably fine.

And they had good advice.

But really, this meeting felt dumb. What was the point of meeting with the Greeks? They'd just backstab us… again.

He rubbed his eyes and tapped one of the limited-edition beanie babies he had.

He straightened and forced the tiredness away as the door opened and the Greeks came onto the roof.

A faun was in the lead. He wore a Nature Conservancy T-shirt, no pants, and a baseball cap. He had a set of reed pipes around his neck.

Despite the way he was fidgeting, he was clearly marking the threats on the roof.

Octavian had no doubt this faun was not like the ones at Camp Jupiter.

The girl following the faun caught Octavian's attention.

She was a red-head wearing a plain white blouse and jeans. She was tapping a blue plastic hairbrush against her leg.

Something about her-

She was no ordinary person.

"You got my message?" She asked stepping forward.

Octavian snorted, obviously. "That's the only reason you made it this far alive, Graecus. I hope you've come to discuss surrender terms."

"Octavian…" Reyna warned him.

He scowled, "At least search them!"

"No need," she dismissed. "Do you bring weapons.

"I hit Kronos in the eye with this hairbrush once. Otherwise, no."

Octavian stared.

The Titan Lord-

What-

"And your friend?" Reyna nodded to the faun. "I thought you were coming alone."

"This is Grover Underwood," she said. "He's a leader of the Council."

"What council?" Octavian demanded.

A war council?

"Cloven Elders, man. Seriously, don't you Romans have nature and trees and stuff? I've got some news you need to hear. Plus, I'm a card-carrying protector. I'm here to, you know, protect Rachel."

Reyna seemed far too amused, "But no weapons?"

"Just the pipes," he said with a wistful expression. "Percy always said my cover of 'Born to be Wild' should count as a dangerous weapon, but I don't think it's that bad."

Octavian couldn't hold back the sneer at the mention of that boy. Percy.

He was supposed to be the one to save them and yet all he'd done is bring death and destruction to Rome.

Octavian didn't understand what his visions had been saying.

"Another friend of Percy Jackson. That's all I need to hear."

Reyna held up her hand but watched her dogs. The things were annoyingly good lie detectors.

"So far, our guests speak the truth. Be warned, Rachel and Grover, if you start to lie, this conversation will not go well for you. Say what you came to say."

The girl, Rachel, pulled a napkin from her pocket. "A message, from Annabeth."

Reyna read it quietly, her eyebrows creeping higher with every moment.

"Is this a joke?"

"I wish," Rachel said. "They're really in Tartarus."

"But how—"

"I don't know. The note appeared in the sacrificial fire at our dining pavilion. That's Annabeth's handwriting, she asks for you by name."

Octavian watched their conversation in bafflement, "Tartarus? What do you mean?"

Reyna handed him the letter and he read it quickly.

"Rome," he muttered. "Arachne- Athena and—the Athena Parthenos?" his head snapped up.

He looked around, how could they belief this- this nonsense? This couldn't be true.

No one could go to Tartarus. No one could survive Tartarus. It was insanity. Even Percy Jackson (the force of nature, the Godling, the savior, the destroyer) couldn't handle Tartarus. And the daughter of wisdom with him couldn't change that.

That only left one option.

"A Greek trick! Greeks are infamous for their tricks!"

Reyna took back the note.

"Why ask this of me?"

"Because Reyna is wise. She believes you can do this, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."

Reyna recoiled while Octavian jolted in shock.

The only reason he knew Reyna's full name was because he was the augur, and it was his job to know everyone in the camp.

How did this girl-

"Uh," Grover Underwood interrupted. "You mean your initials are RA-RA?"

Reyna's hand drifted towards her dagger.

"But that's not important!" the satyr said quickly. "Look, we wouldn't have risked coming here if we didn't trust Annabeth's instincts. A Roman leader returning the most important Greek statue to Camp Half-Blood – she knows that could prevent a war."

"This isn't a trick," Rachel added. "We're not lying. Ask your dogs."

Reyna looked thoughtful as she stroked Aurum's head.

"The Athena Parthenos… so the legend is true."

"Reyna!" Octavian cried in disbelief. He'd known her to be a backstabber but a traitor to Rome as well- "You can't seriously be considering this! Even if the statue still exists, you see what they're doing. We're on the verge of attacking them—destroying the stupid Greeks once and for all—and they concoct this stupid errand to divert your attention. They want to send you to your death!"

At least the Romans around him seemed to listen to reason, even if Reyna wasn't.

Rachel Dare faced the him. "Octavian, seventh grandson of Apollo, you should take this more seriously. Even Romans respected your ancestors Oracle of Delphi."

Her? The Oracle of Delphi? She may know things but that wasn't what the oracle was about.

"Ha!" Octavian said. "You're the Oracle of Delphi? Right. And I'm the Emperor Nero!"

"At least Nero could play music," Grover muttered.

Octavian balled his fists, ready to snap at them, but froze.

The wind shifted, swirling around them with a hissing sound. Rachel Dare glowed in a green aura, as if hit by a soft emerald spotlight. And then in an instant, it was gone.

He stared wide eyed.

She was indeed the Oracle of Delphi.

"It's your decision," Rachel said, as if nothing had happened. "I have no specific prophecy to offer you, but I can see glimpses of the future. I see the Athena Parthenos on Half-Blood Hill. I see her bringing it." She pointed at Reyna. "Also, Ella has been murmuring lines from your Sibylline Books—"

"What?" Reyna interrupted. "The Sibylline Books were destroyed centuries ago."

"I knew it!" Octavian crowed. She had been saying a prophecy! "That harpy they brought back from the quest—Ella. I knew she was spouting prophecies! Now I understand. She—she somehow memorized a copy of the Sibylline Books."

Reyna shook her head in disbelief. "How is that possible?"

Maybe if she'd let Octavian look for the books then they'd would know! He'd been wanting to look for them for years but no one had agreed. And yet this harpy had found them. They could still be out there! The harpy—the harpy knew the prophecies!

"We don't know," Rachel admitted. "But, yes, that seems to be the case. Ella has a perfect memory. She loves books. Somewhere, somehow, she read your Roman book of prophecies. Now she's the only source for them."

This was important. They couldn't let this pass.

"Your friends lied," Octavian snapped. Those traitorous Romans. Not only had they fled with the attackers of the camp, but they'd also conspired to hide important prophecies from the camp. The camps only source! "They told us the harpy was just muttering gibberish. They stole her!"

Grover huffed indignantly. "Ella isn't your property! She's a free creature. Besides, she wants to be at Camp Half-Blood. She's dating one of my friends, Tyson."

"The Cyclops," Reyna remembered. "A harpy dating a Cyclops …"

Why did that matter? At all? Those were prophecies belonging to Rome! That Rome needed! Octavian had been searching for them for years as best as he could. This was ridiculous, those were important.

"That's not relevant!" Octavian said. "The harpy has valuable Roman prophecies. If the Greeks won't return her, we should take their Oracle hostage! Guards!"

Two centurions advanced, their pila levelled. But the satyr played a quick jig and their spears turned into Christmas Trees.

I gaped.

"Enough!" Reyna shouted. "We've strayed from the point. Rachel Dare, you're telling me that Annabeth is in Tartarus, yet she's found a way to send this message. She wants me to bring this statue from the ancient lands to your camp."

Octavian tried to step forward, but Reyna silenced him with a look as she spoke.

He listened impatiently as the satyr insisted Gaea was rising and wanted to destroy the demigods.

Octavian knew better though, he'd heard in his dreams, his visions, he knew that Gaea wasn't doing that. Some her children were rising yes, but nothing more than that.

"Speculation," he insisted. "A distraction. The Greeks fear our attack. They're trying to confuse us. It's the Trojan Horse all over again!"

Reyna turned to Marcus, "bring me Scipio from the stables."

"Reyna no!" Octavian protested.

And he realized as she dismissed the two that had come to speak that he didn't want her to die.

He'd known her for several years and—she was a friend. He'd thought at least. Despite what he'd seen—well maybe she wouldn't. Maybe she couldn't. His vision about Jason had been wrong—

He didn't want to believe it but—

He couldn't let her do this.

Not this.

"Are you mad?" he hissed the moment the two were gone.

Okay maybe not the best opener. But it got the idea across.

"I am praetor of the legion," Reyna said. "I judge this to be in the best interest of Rome."

"To get yourself killed? To break our oldest laws and travel to the ancient lands? How will you even find their ship, assuming you survive the journey?"

She couldn't be serious. He couldn't believe she'd—

Oh who was he kidding, after everything so far… he really was the only sane one.

"I will find them," Reyna said. "If they are sailing for Greece, I know a place Jason will stop. To face the ghosts in the House of Hades, he will need an army. There is only one place where he can find that sort of help."

"This is insanity," Octavian muttered. "We're already under attack. We must take the offensive! Those hairy dwarfs have been stealing our supplies, sabotaging our scouting parties – you know the Greeks sent them."

"Perhaps," Reyna said. "But you will not launch an attack without my orders. Continue scouting the enemy camp. Secure your positions. Gather all the allies you can, and if you catch those dwarfs you have my blessing to send them back to Tartarus. But do not attack Camp Half-Blood until I return."

She really was going to do this. He couldn't let her doom Rome…

He would have to let her go on the fools quest. He couldn't stop her. But he could protect Rome, ensure it survived what was to come.

And if she was gone, he would be in the position to do it.

Octavian narrowed his eyes. "While you're gone, the augur is the senior officer. I will be in charge."

"I know." Reyna didn't sound happy about it. She didn't trust him, and that burned more than anything else. "But you have my orders. You all heard them."

She scanned the faces of the centurions, daring them to question her.

She stormed off, her purple cloak billowing and her dogs at her heels.

Once she was gone, Octavian turned to the centurions.

He wasn't going to allow this nonsense to continue.

A warmth at his shoulder, a steady comfort that this was the right decision.

Apollo supported him.

"Gather all the senior officers. I want a meeting as soon as Reyna has left on her fool's quest. There will be a few changes in the legion's plans."

OO OO OO OO

It was time for Rome to go to war.

OO OO OO OO

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review, they feed my soul.

What do you think of him and Reyna? His shifting thoughts? The way he reacted to the threats?

Come yell at me on my tumblr: Percabeth4Life
Come chat with me on discord: : / discord . gg / 3tGNJhu