I got an explanation from my brother about the whole teddy bear thing, which was more than a little creepy all things considered but I wasn't going to ask for more details. Reyna sent Octavian away and her centurions to prepare things for the feast and we were led into what I could only presume to be the forum. Soon I was sitting on plush cushions and couches with low slung tables in front of me whilst I listened to the wind whirl around with plates and cups clattering, making me increasingly confused until Percy explained that it was the wind spirits setting up the tables with food. Now it made sense. Everything smelled amazing and I dove straight into a large slice of pizza as Percy did the same, already hounding him to tell me every detail of the past eight months that I had missed. He started to talk about this giant wolf called Lupa who was both mean and maternal, training him how to toughen up and basically gave him a crash course in survival before throwing him out into the world where he met Medusa's sisters along the road to Camp Jupiter. Occasionally I would get a chilly feeling down my spine and the sound of disembodied voices around me that turned out to be these ghost things called Lares. The food was incredible, and soon enough I was just stuffing my face because I'd been too nervous to eat much the last couple of days, but now that I had finally found my brother all my anxieties had washed away, I was starving.
For the most part I remained silent when the opening toast was given and introductions were made where I was also introduced to Percy's new friends Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang who my brother was very eager to tell me was a descendent of Poseidon so kind of a relative of ours. I was rather proud to announce myself as Percy's big sister and daughter of Poseidon though the Romans all muttered and I got the feeling that Poseidon wasn't exactly popular around here. Or rather, Neptune. Still, that wasn't about to burst my bubble. I just ate more pizza. Jason began with recounting how he had been brought to Camp Half-Blood and the quest he had undertaken with Piper and Leo to free Hera from her imprisonment in northern California at the Wolf House. Once again I heard the weasel shriek and I had to fight the urge to throw something at him. His voice was enough alone to annoy me and I already knew that Percy felt the same way. "Impossible! That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there…"
"They would've destroyed her, and blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish." Piper interrupted Octavius and I was so glad she did, because she did so with her charm-speak so Octavian had no choice but to do as she ordered him, and it was excellent. I grinned into my cookie.
"So, that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaia. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House, he said he was retreating to the ancient lands – Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaia and destroying the gods by…what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."
"Gaia's been busy over here too," Percy agreed as all attention then turned to him. "We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face." My brother then told his own story, the story that those of us from Camp Half-Blood didn't know, how he'd woken up at the Wolf House with only one name in his memory: Annabeth's. I sent him a sisterly scowl which totally said; how dare you forget your sister who've you've known all your life? Anyway I listened to Percy talk about his journey up north to Alaska with Hazel and Frank as his quest companions, it sounded a great deal like all the other quests he'd ever been on. Suicidal and rather hopeless. Still, he'd pulled through and even managed to destroy the giant Alcyoneus, freed the god of Death, then got back to Camp Jupiter to kill another giant, though this one was meant to be the one made to oppose our dad so I was pretty glad to hear that Percy had smashed his face in with one of the Terminus's statue heads. When Percy was done, I grinned and offered him my fist whereby I felt him grin back at me and together we fist bumped.
"No wonder they made you praetor." Jason said appreciatively.
"Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!" Octavian suddenly piped up again and this time I didn't stop my arm from moving. His voice just irritated me, I couldn't explain why. So, I picked up the nearest projectile I could find, a slice of pizza, then launched it towards the voice I had honed in on. Next thing I heard was the satisfying slap of the cheesy, tomato sauce smothered and pepperoni peppered pizza sticking to Octavian's face as he gasped in shock. I cracked a smirk.
"Oops. My bad. I have a twitch in my arm, can't really control it." Around me a lot of people struggled to hold back their laughter. Percy was the only one who didn't.
"Nice one Lils." He whispered to me before raising his voice. "On the bright side, both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So, we can both tell you to shut up." I loved it when siblings pulled together. Reyna curtly announced that this problem could be solved later because right now there were more important things to deal with. "I'll step aside for Jason, it's no biggie." But clearly this was the wrong thing for my brother to say because it was enough for Octavian to recover from his pizza attack to shriek in indignation.
"No biggie?" His voice had shot up several octaves. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?" But Percy didn't even validate Octavian with a response, turning to Jason instead and making the connection between him and Thalia being siblings then noted that they didn't look anything alike. In return Jason agreed that this was indeed the case before then thanking Percy for looking after and protecting his camp whilst he was away, telling him he did an awesome job and Percy sounded rather cheerful when he returned the praise to Jason for protecting Camp Half-Blood. Boys. Honestly.
"We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it, too?" Annabeth interrupted Jason and Percy before they could get too into one another and start comparing war stories like old veteran buddies, turning the conversation back to the more important details at hand.
"We call it the Prophecy of Seven. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?" Confirming that he did, Octavian sounded hesitant to recite it but Reyna gave him the command to do just that, also making a note for him to do so in English and not Latin so that everybody could understand. He did not sound happy about it, but he did so anyway, beginning with the first two lines however I decided to show off and maybe earn some brownie points with the Romans, so I ended the final two lines in Latin for everybody to hear and sensed some surprised glances fire my way. "You speak Latin?" Reyna questioned me in surprised so I smirked and shrugged.
"I had a great teacher. Anyway, it's clear that both the Roman and Greek demigods have been given the same prophecy, which means it applies to both of us. We can't just ignore that. Some of the lines are more obvious than the others such as the fact that members of both our camps are meant to go to the Doors of Death. I think unless representatives of each go, then the quest will end in failure, and considering I'm getting tired of killing monsters over and over again with no end to them, even with Thanatos now released from his chains, those doors need to be closed." I said to everyone in the most diplomatic voice I could manage, but really all I wanted was some more pizza and cookies, because damn they were good. I wonder if they'd let me take some to go?
"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors." One of the voices spoke up and I straightened immediately, turning my attention to the source of the voice and found it to be the girl that Percy had introduced me to as Hazel Levesque. I wasn't the only one who was surprised to find that Nico had another sister, so I guessed Hazel must have been the daughter of Pluto, Hades' Roman counterpart. All I wanted to know from her was if she'd talked to her brother recently because try as I might, I couldn't get a hold of Nico and it had been several days since his last contact. I was getting worried. Seriously, what was it with all the guys around me suddenly disappearing? First Percy, then Luke and now Nico. I'm going to turn old and grey because of all this stress before I'm even twenty. "He disappeared. I'm afraid…I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him." Now that just solidified my determination to find Nico as well, because I couldn't stand the thought of him in trouble somewhere. I told him it was stupid to go everywhere alone. He needed backup of some kind. Wherever he was, he clearly couldn't take or send messages, so with a horrible feeling I wondered if perhaps he'd been captured by someone.
"We'll find him." Percy said to Hazel to reassure her, probably feeling the same way I did. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome – like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, right?" Annabeth didn't seem to believe that the death god himself had told Percy this. "Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back." Piper noted that it was like water leaking through a dam, which of course prompted Percy to make a joke that seemed to be something only he understood. "Yeah, we've got a dam hole." My brother really was an idiot. When questioned, Percy just said it was nothing but an inside joke before returning to his serious voice. "The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated."
"You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realise that the ancient lands – and the Mare Nostrum – are dangerous?"
"Mary who?" Leo questioned in confusion, only just now beginning to pay attention where he had been fiddling with things all through the meeting.
"Mare Nostrum. Our sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean." Jason supplied helpfully for those who didn't understand.
"Considering that you'll have not one but two children of Poseidon on this quest, I don't think you'll have to worry much about the oceans." I chimed in as I finished probably like my seventh or eighth slice of pizza, now sniffing out the burgers. Jeez, I was like Percy in the fact that we could eat like pigs and still be hungry. "Plus the ship will be in the air mostly, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. With Jason on board, he can manage the skies whilst Percy and I manage the seas. It's no biggie." To this I shot a look in Octavian's direction and I hoped I made him squirm.
"All the same, it will still be dangerous. The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants…and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse." Reyna explained to us with a hint of concern in her voice, and I wondered if she was having reservations about sending some of her own people with us across the water or if her reservation extended to all of us. "In any case, are you saying that you are one of the seven, Lily Jackson?"
"More of a chaperone." Giving her a smile, I laced my fingers together and placed my chin on them, conveying a sense of ease and total chillness. "I know that I'm not one of the seven from the prophecy, but I have certain leeway when it comes to these kinds of things. There are some things that I need to do across the water, people to look for and possibly even save, and of course I'd never turn down the chance to kill some really tough monsters. I need to keep myself in shape, after all." I didn't expect Reyna to find me amusing, but I heard her chuckle and listened as she answered me with a lightness in her tone that made me blink and flush slightly.
"You look to be in great shape to me." Was that…flirting? Oh my gods, I was so stunned that I didn't even know how to answer but my mouth couldn't stop itself from smiling slightly, warmth gathering at my cheeks, ears and the back of my neck as I ducked my head. Well that's pretty flattering. I don't think I've ever had a girl flirt with me before, or am I just overthinking it? Maybe she's just trying to be nice. Regardless, snap out of it Lily, we're talking about serious things here. Reyna cleared her throat as if she also had surprised herself with her own words as Percy, the loveable and rather densely clueless brother that he was, totally missed the slight tension in the air and pointed out to Reyna that she had said Alaska would be bad since it was beyond the influence of the gods and that he and his team had survived it. "Percy, travelling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there." To this Leo cheerfully spoke out and I couldn't help but grin slightly to hear him.
"Then we're good! Because we're all crazy, right? Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through." Totally true on both counts. The Argo II was the best airship around – though possibly the only airship around – and we were all completely nuts to be going on this excursion.
"We'll have to hurry, I don't know exactly what the giants are planning," Jason continued, "but Gaia is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully." There was a general murmur from the spectating Romans with mixed responses. Some understood that something needed to be done because they recognised things were steadily going downhill, but a lot resisted out of pure obstinacy, and Octavian was one of them. I got the feeling that this guy was the type that would let the entire world burn around him just so that he could rule over the ashes if he couldn't take power by force beforehand. He was the dangerous kind, which kind of made me want to just snap him in half but I doubted that would count as a peaceful political move. Shame.
"Seven half-bloods must answer the call," Annabeth recited. "It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Jason, Piper, Leo and me. That's four."
"And me. Along with Hazel and Frank. That's seven." Percy finished, and finally all seven meant to be involved in the prophecy were all gathered and identified in one place. An old twang of envy strung itself in me, sighing internally at the lost hope of glory passing me over again. It seemed like Percy was the main hero in this lifetime, and even though I had done some cool things, I doubted I'd be remembered as much as him. In fact knowing the gods, eventually they'd stop mentioning that I'd helped them defeat Typhon, that my part had been inconsequential because when my dad showed up with the Cyclopes army everything was pretty much handled, so my involvement was pointless. With that gone, what had I done of renown to be remembered? Nothing. I'd be lost and forgotten to the ages, whilst my brother would stand out for the next millennia as one of the greatest heroes of this day and age, greater even than the ones of old too. I had to physically restrain myself from feeling too overwhelmed by all this jealousy for my own little brother. It's cool. So long as Percy pulled through then that's all that mattered.
"What?" I returned my attention to the conversation as my fleeting thoughts and emotions passed over, realising that Octavian was in the middle of protesting. "We're supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Without –" Clearly this kid liked the sound of his own voice a little too much, which I for one couldn't understand because it grated on my nerves and I was so close to getting up and strangling the kid. I was pretty good at figuring people, and I figure this kid was going to be a huge pain in the ass for all of us. Thankfully my other little brother came bursting in and called out mine and Percy's names, interrupting Octavian before he could really get the ball rolling. I beamed and rose to my feet, reaching out my hand to the open air until I felt Tyson's grasp it, giving my fingers a gentle squeeze as he reached us.
"Ella is scared." He informed us both rather heavily, making me arch an eyebrow.
"Ella? Who is Ella, Tyson?"
"Ella is Tyson's friend." My big-little brother told me, so I decided to use my sight for a few moments. My vision cleared and I glanced around in front of me until I spotted something on the back of the hellhound that was currently panting and grinning rather happily. I saw a red feathered harpy who was muttering to herself, looking rather anxious and kept on twitching as she refused to make eye contact with anyone.
"N-n-no more boats. Titanic, Lusitania, Pax…boats are not for harpies." The harpy informed us all and I couldn't help but be surprised as my vision then faded again, sending me back to blindness as Tyson continued to hold my hand. Not having expected to see a harpy around here, I had no idea where she had come from or what she was doing riding around on Mrs O'Leary's back but she seemed comfortable up there in the least. I heard Leo whisper to someone, asking if Ella – though he referred to her as a chicken girl – had compared his ship to the Titanic, once again demonstrating how protective he was over his own ship. Someone answered him, Hazel I think, but when Tyson spoke I couldn't help but beam happily because it was just too cute.
"Ella is pretty, and scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."
"No ships." Ella confirmed. It sounded like Tyson really liked Ella, he only used pretty on girls that he liked and considered close friends, so I safely assumed that Tyson was extremely fond of Ella. "Bad luck. There she is. Wisdom's daughter walks alone…" Suddenly there was a rush of movement as someone large stood up and Frank Zhang called to Ella, trying to stop her as my eyebrows shot up my head. That sounded like a prophecy to me, was Ella reciting one right now? She ignored Frank and continued to recite as everybody went silent with shock. "The Mark of Athena burns through Rome. Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giant's bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail." That was a prophecy, and I'd bet anything that it was about Annabeth, who was literally wisdom's daughter. I didn't understand why everyone had suddenly grown extremely tense, but Percy suddenly leaped to his feet and I felt him brush against me as he began to speak with a rather forced brightness.
"I know! How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs O'Leary…"
"Hold on." Now Octavian spoke, but his voice had suddenly dipped several octaves so it no longer sounded sharp and reedy. "What was that she said? It sounded like…" Beside me, Percy was practically pinching the life out of my arm. Between them, both Frank and Hazel tried to pass Ella's prophecy off as nonsense.
"Ella reads a lot. We found her at a library."
"Yes! Probably just something she read in a book."
"Books. Ella likes books." But Octavian wasn't convinced, insisting that it sounded like a prophecy. Percy was now bruising my arm with his vice like grip. Okay, okay, jeez. I get the message little bro.
"You actually think a harpy of all things is capable of reciting prophecies? Does that thing look like she can see the future to you?" I spoke up though I felt awful saying such mean things about Ella, especially in front of Tyson, but if I didn't say something then I would probably lose the use of my arm forever. Thankfully Annabeth seemed to also get the memo that we were supposed to say something to draw away from the fact that this harpy could recite prophecies seemingly by heart.
"Really, Octavian? I must agree with Lily. Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?" Thank the gods for Annabeth's tact and cleverness, because now the other Roman officers were also drawn out of their shock and were now beginning to laugh rather uncertainly, also beginning to see the silliness in a harpy that could tell the future and deliver prophecies. "She's just spouting lines from some book, like Hazel suggested. Besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about." Cutting ahead of Octavian as he had begun to stammer, I smirked to myself. "Percy's right. Why don't you take Ella and Mrs O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while? Is Ella okay with that?" Annabeth had then turned to Tyson and Ella, though Ella only responded with a phrase that said that big dogs were good but seeing as she did not sound upset or begin spouting off other prophecies, it was taken as a form of agreement.
"I think I shall go too." I announced rather decidedly, because I was not about to allow Tyson and his new friend Ella to go alone out into this Roman camp, at least until I was certain that they were safe. "At least for some fresh air and to stretch my legs since I think I have eaten too much of this excellent food. If this is acceptable to you, Praetor Reyna, of course. I shall come back in a while." To this Reyna considered as befitting a leader before accepting this condition. Sending a smile in her direction, I continued to hold Tyson's hand as I moved forwards and lightly stepped my way through a collection of people as they continued to lounge until I was next to Mrs O'Leary who attempted to slather me with one of her wet kisses but I managed to dodge her tongue and scratch her neck before Tyson then lifted me up to set me upon the hellhound's back before dashing around this way and that, probably to hug everyone because he was adorable that way, before then joining us and Mrs O'Leary gave a tremendous bark before bounding away and I had to grab onto her fur in order to keep from falling off. We dove through a shadow which I knew by feeling because I had done it before with Nico. A deepness that was neither warm nor cold settled over me, and the next thing I knew we were emerging upon somewhere sunny and bright. Letting my sight come back, I turned and smiled to the harpy Ella. "Hello Ella, I'm Lily, Tyson's big sister. It's very nice to meet you, I'm sorry for what I said back at the forum, of course I didn't mean a word of it, you seem lovely."
"Tyson's sister? Yes, yes, Ella likes Tyson." A rosy blush settled upon her cheeks when she spoke about Tyson, and it seemed all the sweeter for it. Looking around I could tell that we weren't far from Camp Jupiter, in fact we were still in the surrounding hills and had emerged in the shade of a tall tree. Sliding from Mrs O'Leary's back I scratched her ears then turned to Tyson, giving him a big hug since it had been a while since I had seen him before we then sat down together so that he could tell me everything that had happened, how Percy had managed to contact him and asked him to find Ella, how they had become friends and every time Tyson talked about the red feathered harpy, he too would blush like a schoolboy. I was glad that Tyson was alright, and gladder still because it appeared that a rather sweet rosebud of affection and friendship was beginning to bloom between my little brother and Ella. It was the most adorable thing I had seen in a long time. I enjoyed talking to Tyson as always, and Ella was intriguing because she often talked in facts and quotations, though it took me a minute or two to realise that she was doing everything from the memory of the books she had read. She was a sweet thing, and I liked her very much, and so with the fact of Percy's behaviour when Ella had spoken her prophecy that it must be Ella was in danger of the Romans, not least of all Octavian, I told Tyson that he needed to keep Ella safe.
"Make sure no one tries to take her away, and especially do not let that Octavian guy get his hands on her. Ella is special, Tyson. You understand?"
"Yes Lily, Tyson understands. Tyson will protect Ella and keep that mean beanstalk away." To hear Octavian described by my brother as a mean beanstalk caused me to laugh, because judging by the kid's voice I could very well imagine it was an apt description so I grinned at Tyson and affectionately ruffled his hair. We didn't get much further in catching up, because next thing we knew, light flashed in the distance followed by an explosion that dragged our attention to the forum which was now going up in smoke. All of us stared in utter shock, because the source of the fire had come from the Argo II. Another round launched, and this time I snapped myself awake in order to react, because clearly something had gone wrong.
"Tyson, get Ella away from here. Mrs O'Leary? Keep an eye on the both of them, take them far away from the danger, I think things are going to get ugly." Mrs O'Leary whined worriedly as I reached for Amaryllis but of course I'd left the charm back on the ship, which was currently firing upon New Rome. Pressing my fingers to my lips I whistled sharply to call Snowstorm, Tyson asking me if I would be okay. "I'll be fine, you just worry about getting Ella to safety. Remember Tyson? You have to protect her."
"Yes, protect Ella. Tyson can do that." Giving him a smile before hugging him, I then bolted down the hill where Snowstorm was already flying towards me and when she landed and galloped down alongside me, I grasped hold of her mane and swung myself up in one clean movement so that in the next moment we were flying through the air, Snowstorm taking me directly to the Argo II whilst spouting off profanities in that rather eloquent manner she had. I would have laughed were the situation not so intense. Using my sight I was able to see that the legions of Rome were now fathering as shots were fired from the Argo, returning volleys in order to bring the ship down, but they were being waylaid by a blurred shape of a girl on a horse and a dragon. No, you did not misunderstand me, I really mean a dragon. I had no idea where a dragon had suddenly appeared from, however it seemed to be fighting to defend the Argo as it held of the legionnaires and grabbed both Piper and Jason from the ground to carry them up. Snow firing and I landed on the deck just as Percy tackled Leo to the ground who had been responsible for open firing on the Romans. So much for peace.
We were all flustered and confused, but one thing was clear. We needed to get out of here and now. Percy had yelled to Annabeth for her to get the ship moving however since I was the only one with any real insight to Leo's crazy design methods I raced passed her with a touch to her shoulder after leaping from Snow's back. I sprinted for the helm and instantly got the ship humming, communicating internally with the ship as well so that the Argo knew what I wanted and it responded quickly. Everything hummed and started to come to life as I grabbed the controllers and got the ship to fly higher, swinging him upwards with a lurch that caused everyone to lose their balance before guiding the Argo out of range of the Roman ballistae. The mooring lines all snapped in an instant, causing another shock and shudder to run through the ship but I couldn't worry about that now. All that mattered was getting everyone away to safety and hopefully, fixing this entire situation by continuing the quest and saving the world. Maybe then the Romans wouldn't be so pissed.