The best ice cream Casey had ever had was in New Rome. But she could settle for the parlor by her house. The ice cream was a little family run joint with a little convenient store and gas station out front. The Jacksons had been going there for years. It wasn't the most amazing ice cream, but it was good enough for Casey.

"Casey, nice to see you again. What can I get for you today?" The owner's daughter, Jannet, was working behind the counter today. Jannet had a giant crush on Jase, so she'd always been extra nice to Casey and her friends. Percy and Annabeth parents had to go to the police department when they got back to file a missing person report. They'd asked not to have it put on the news, but it somehow go there anyway. Casey's phone was filling up with texts and calls from people at school asking what had happened to him. She, of course, didn't answer these. So Jannet must have known, but she thankfully didn't say anything. Jannet had worked in the ice cream shop long enough that people use ice cream as a distraction.

"I'll have the usual. A scoop of huckleberry and a scoop of cookie dough for my friends here, too."

Jannet nodded and began getting their orders ready. "The place is pretty empty so you'll get your choice of seating today," Jannet noted as she slid the ice cream across the counter. Casey smiled appreciatively and slid a ten over the glass.

"Thanks, Jannet."

The girls sat down at a window booth next to a big window in the back of the shop. They didn't talk about monsters, or quests, or missing big brothers and Valdez spawn in Tartarus. They didn't even mention the new scar blossoming behind Casey's ear.

"So are you guys still coming to Jon's game this weekend? I think he's really looking forward to this one," Kat said. Jon was on the baseball team. Usually, they got the whole family together for these events.

"Yeah," Casey responded. "But dad's going to be late. He's got a swim meet."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't you think it's a little unfair that Percy Jackson is on a swim team? That's got to be cheating."

"He doesn't cheat!"

There was a sudden sound of shoes squeaking on tile as somebody jumped out of the booth behind them and slid into the seat beside Kat. He was an ugly brute. Crazy blonde hair and even crazier baby blue eyes. His face was pale and the girls would have thought him a homeless creep if it wasn't for the ripped purple toga sash he wore. He was short and scrawny. The toga sash slipped off of his shoulder as if it were trying to escape.

"I heard you say Percy Jackson you said Percy Jackson where is Percy Jackson I need to get to Camp Jupiter immediately I need to know where Percy Jackson is," he rushed urgently. He sounded angry. Jealous, even.

"Who the Hades are you?"

The guy shook his head disbelievingly. "It doesn't matter. It is your duty to get me to Camp Jupiter as of immediately."

Casey pondered for a moment if this guy was a god. He certainly didn't look the type, but he did act like an entitled royal. Casey glanced up to make sure Jannet was in the back room. She lunged across the booth and grabbed the collar of the idiot's shirt. She pulled him forward, slamming his face onto the table.

"Tell me your name before I rip your ear off." She kept a tight grip on his ear and pulled slightly, earning herself a quick squeal.

Rose scrunched up her nose and looked away. "Disgusting. Can't you do that outside or something? I've just started my ice cream!"

"No, I cannot do this outside. If you'd like, I'll buy you a new ice cream," Casey said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Now, sir, who are you?"

"Fine! But you'll regret this. My name is Octavian Rowell. Centurian of the first cohort, augur of Camp Jupiter, legacy of Apollo. I'd suggest that you get your hands off of me now."

Casey let go and shoved him into an upright position. She laughed. "Dammit, you're not dead. You can't find the camp, right? You've been disowned, kicked out. The only reason I'm not killing you is because you look too pathetic to kill." Obviously, Casey had a much more violent personality than her father.

Rose, usually a calm and controlled satyr, suddenly lurched forward and quipped Octavian in the face with a hoof. She quickly stuffed her feet back under the table and folded her hands neatly in her lap. "That's for insulting my father.

Octavian held his broken nose and turned away defensively. "I don't even know who your father is!"

"Grover Underwood!"

"Who the Pluto is Grover Underwood?"

"My father!"

"Well I got that part!"

Kat coughed, awkwardly ending the argument. Rose glared across the table and crossed her arms.

"Is nobody going to address the fact that he died?" Casey asked.

Kat shrugged. "So did Leo."

"Leo died?" Octavian asked hopefully. Kat let the reflection of her knife glint in Octavian's face as a warning to shut up.

"He's back now."

"What? That's impossible! The doors of death are closed, the Labyrinth entrance has not been found! People can't come back from the underworld anymore!"

If Casey's dagger hadn't sunk to the bottom of the ocean, she would had stabbed him. Judging by Octavian's view on death, he had survived being fired from a cannon during the war with Gaea. What a pity.

"What should we do with him?" Rose asked.

"Bring me to Camp Jupiter! I need to rekindle my legion! We are still on a mission to-"

"Dude, that ended long ago. Your legion is gone. Any of the traitor demigods that couldn't be rehabilitated were thrown out, like you. The Greeks and Romans are allies now. Frank Zhang and Reyna and the praeters. Rachel Dare gives the prophecies."

Rose was staring at the wall in distaste and confusion. Her mouth dropped open but she didn't speak. Neither of her friends seemed to notice.

"I say we bring him back to Camp Jupiter like he asked. Let Reyna decide to do with him. Maybe her dogs will eat him for lying," Casey suggested.

"If you kill me, I'll never tell you the location of Luke Castellan," Octavian growled.