The Romans really were different than the Greeks. How? Children of Venus actually fought. True, some of Piper's siblings would fight, but only if their clothes or style was insulted. Children of Venus weren't half bad. And the difference between satyrs and fauns was almost laughable. Jason had been making an effort for fauns to have more of a role in camp affairs, but it went downhill after a faun stole some of the camp's money.

The way they dined was different too. At Camp Half-Blood, cabins sat together. No such restrictions applied to Camp Jupiter. Piper lounged on a couch with her questmates, along with Reyna, Jason, Frank, and Hazel. Piper tried not to feel envious of Reyna, despite the fact that the two praetors were holding hands. Grover muched his way through enchilada after enchilada while Leo grabbed a pizza. Lighting his hands aflame, he heated it up until it was nearly smoking. Leo ignored the smell and munched through it. Piper picked at a salad, not having much of an appetite. She had just explained their quest to her, along with why they were on it in the first place.

"Poor Percy," Reyna finally said. "When he first came here, I may or may not have tried to make him mine. He turned me down for Annabeth. They were so close…"

"It wasn't just hard on him," Grover said. "The whole camp took it pretty hard. She was one of our leaders and our best strategist." Leo nodded.

"She understood engineering pretty damn well too," he added. Piper said nothing. The group took a moment to remember their friend. Finally, Jason broke the silence.

"So where exactly in Alaska is he?"

"Likely not Anchorage," Hazel said. "Something like that would probably drive him pretty far away. If I were you, I'd go north. That's pretty sparsely populated."

"I think I might have a place," said Leo. He put a finger to his ear. A bronze earpiece rested there, allowing Festus to communicate with him even if they were far apart. "Festus has been doing a search through the Interwebs and he found something." Leo dug through his tool belt and pulled out a disc the size of a Frisbee. He tapped it and a screen turned on. It was an article about something called an Aleutian Wraith. The group read it. Apparently, a couple of hikers had encountered a "supernatural entity" while hiking outside of Nome. They went back and saw it again. The description, given by one of the hikers, described it as "big and black and terrifying. It had a light thingy in it's right hand and it didn't even have a face, man."

"Do you think that's him?" Reyna asked. Leo shrugged.

"I sent Festus to fly up that way and scan for any Celestial Bronze," the mechanic said, putting away the display. "Based off the picture, this glow right here is pretty close to a Celestial sword. I even found a video interview they gave and used a magical lie detector to see if they made it up. Nothing."

"Why Nome?" Jason mused.

"Well, it is sorta famous. It's the finish for the Iditarod. Percy would always obsess over that," Piper said. "He liked the idea of people coming together in the face of bad odds to help a village in need." Hazel nodded.

"We only went to Anchorage on our quest to find Alcyoneus. I remember he asked about Nome."

"So all we have to do is fly to Nome, find Percy, and convince him to come back? Piece of cake." Leo said. He ignited a finger and carved a smiley face in his pizza. Piper stared at the melting cheese. She remembered a part from the prophecy, prepare for failure. They were destined to fail. The next part of that was more promising. Though it will not be in vain. Why the contradiction?

"Piper?" Grover waved his hand in front of her face, snapping Piper out of her thoughts. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Spaced out for a sec." The group, though skeptical, turned the topic to something else. Piper mumbled an excuse for leaving, then headed for Temple Hill. She hiked up the trail to the Neptune temple. It was in a lot better shape than before. It was almost as big as a house. The sound of waves softly invaded her ears. She walked in and knelt at the altar, overflowing with fruits and, oddly enough, coral.

"Poseidon or Neptune, whichever, please tell Percy to come back with us. He can't be alone for this long." No reply from the god, though the waves did seem to get louder. She sighed and walked out of the temple.

"I know what you're thinking," a voice said. Piper jumped. A breathtakingly beautiful woman leaned against the doorframe. Decorative armor covered her body. She examined her flawless fingernails before turning her full attention to Piper.

"Mom, Aphrodite, Venus, whichever," said Piper, with not much love in her voice. "What do you want?"

"Nice to see you too. I'm Venus, for now. Walk with me, dear. We need to talk." Venus began heading down the hill and Piper jogged after her to catch up.

"What is it?"

"It's about Perseus and your quest to find him. It is as you feared. The quest will fail."

"You came all this way to tell me this is all for nothing?"

"If you would let me explain, you'll learn that I have more to say. When Annabeth died, I was devastated. The couple I worked so hard to get together, the perfect pair, was shattered. And with it Perseus' heart,"

"So what am I supposed to do?" Piper asked.

"Will you let me explain?" The goddess sighed. "Demigods these days. Anyway, I understand you and Jason broke up a few days ago. While I did approve of him, you two weren't meant to last. This quest, though…" Piper blinked.

"No. Not that." As she denied it, Venus simply smiled. "He's my friend!"

"Is he?" Piper glared at the goddess, who simply waggled her fingers playfully and vanished. Extremely exasperated, Piper began walking back to the Forum. The Romans were heading for the Field of Mars and the fort that was constructed there. She sighed. Wargames. Turning away, she headed to the barracks. Almost none of the Romans were there, save for a few kids who were injured or sick.

"Enjoying the view?" Someone asked. Piper turned. A legionnaire was leaning on the railing of one of the barrack porches. He picked at the wood, occasionally glancing at Piper.

"Not so much as enjoying it as noticing the differences between here and Half-Blood,"

"Differences such as…"

"Children of Venus fighting, for one. Back home, all the Aphrodite campers do is their nails and flirt with boys." Piper said. The legionnaire raised an eyebrow.

"I'm assuming you're not one of them?" he asked. His gaze swept over Piper, sizing her up, but not in a bad way. Sizing her up as if trying to determine how she fought. She shook her head.

"Nope. I'm not one for all that fashion and beauty crap, much as it may surprise you." The guy nodded and hopped over the railing, landing just in front of her.

"Andrew Quent, son of Mars." He stuck out his hand and Piper shook it.

"Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite." When she told him her godly parent, or godly annoyance, Andrew's eyebrows shot up.

"You're Piper McLean? As in one of the Seven Piper McLean? And also Tristan McLean?" His expression was nothing short of fanboying. She sighed.

"Yeah, Tristan is my dad. And yes, I am one of the Seven. If I can ask, why aren't you fighting out there?" She gestured to the wargame going on, the sounds of battle echoing across the landscape. Andrew shrugged.

"I have really bad scoliosis. Not much of a frontline fighter. I'm a medic." He sounded sheepish, as if a son of the war god being a medic was a brand of shame. Piper put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure you're a great medic. There's nothing to be ashamed of," said Piper. Andrew heaved a sigh.

"I know, but I feel like my dad doesn't like that, the medic part of me. All my siblings are these amazing fighters and Frank… the guy is a godsdammed shapeshifter."

"Quite frankly, I think medics are way better than fighters. They heal people when they're injured and…"

"Medics don't heal. They make you comfortable while you die. Doctors heal people." Andrew said, grinning. Piper laughed.

"That's sort of dark." She said. Andrew shrugged. gged. They began walking down the Via Praetoria towards the city. They two talked and laughed about random topics, everything under the sun. Andrew was nice and funny and sweet. Piper found herself wanting to be with him more. A few hours went by until curfew for the legion. Piper and Andrew walked back to the Fourth Cohort. They talked for a bit until Andrew had to go in. They hugged goodbye and Andrew disappeared through the door. Piper remained for a moment before heading back to the inn the quest was staying in.

"I see you've met Andrew," Hazel's voice said. The daughter of Pluto seemed to materialize from the shadows, like her brother. She fell in step with Piper.

"Don't you have to be back in the barracks?" Piper asked. Hazel shrugged.

"Centurions can stay out later. Not much though,"

"Huh. What do you know about Andrew?" Piper asked. Her companion stared into space.

"He's a son of Mars and extremely laid back, more so than Frank," Piper was surprised and not. Frank was pretty chill and Andrew gave off vibes like a lazy cat. "He's a legionnaire and this is his last year before he musters out. He wants to study medical science and become a doctor. And, uh, important side note, he's aromantic. Never dated anyone and never will."

"I... I don't have a crush on him," said Piper. It was a half-truth. She had literally just met the guy, but he was someone she wanted to be around. Hazel glanced at her skeptically. "I don't!" Piper said again.

"I know. It's Percy, isn't it?" said Hazel softly. Piper stopped. She stared at the ground then towards the north. She nodded almost imperceptibly. Hazel smiled sadly.

"You know he may not come back, right?" She asked. Piper nodded again.

"I know. But he has to. He can't be alone forever." Hazel took her friend's hand.

"You may think that, but as far as Percy is concerned, he might as well not exist. Annabeth was everything to him and she's gone. I did go down a few days ago and talked to her." Hazel said. Piper wanted to shake Hazel repeatedly for not mentioning that earlier. "She's concerned for him. Proserpine, or Persephone, gives her updates. Apparently, he bunked with a mortal family after the hikers that found him started giving tours and guided hikes. The middle child is clear-sighted and Percy told her about him. Us. Olympus. Everything. He left after that. You have to find him, Pipes. Talk some sense into him." Hazel turned and headed back to the barracks, leaving Piper in the dark and very much confused.

*trips and falls, face-planting onto the ground* Ow. Hey guys. Here's a new chapter. I'm gonna start updating regularly now because I only have one day left as of publishing this chapter. I'm sure some of you who have/are reading Green Eye Newbie are wondering when I'm gonna update that. Well, let me explain.

I had a BAD case of writer's block on that, but it's starting to pass. I also sort of worked out an update schedule. I'm going to alternate between updates until one or the other finishes. So, yeah! -RFA