In which Percy notices Jason and Bianca's new friendship and something else and is like 'Hm, that's suspicious.'
Replies:
Thickneck: Awe! That's so cute, you should be.
Undeath9087: Yeah, they're gonna have to struggle some but it was something that had to happen, them getting back together, because that's what they'd do, Percy is trying real hard and they just want her back without realising how hard it'll be.
Guest: I hope I do good- she's definitely going to be more vicious than in canon I can tell you that.
Guest: It's how she's used to talking lol.

Leo had been eager to get back to his baby- so he was the one who, using his hoist system and some help from Bob and Damasen, took the statue out from it's temporary home and lowered it onto the hillside- and Percy had to admit that the huge statue of the annoyingly familiar goddess was impressive- her golden dress shone like molten metal in the sun.

Percy didn't like it-but maybe that was just her natural dislike for the goddess who had never cared enough for Annabeth- not for Percy's taste- what sort of mother would demand so much from a child. Yeah, Percy was not happy about that even if Annabeth had managed to pull it off.

They'd all made their way back onto the hill- they were going to eat their lunch there whilst the discussed what to do next- Percy had been carried by Luke- she still couldn't walk- though the pain had faded a lot-being picked up wasn't too painful any more.

And she wasn't the only one eyeing the statue wearily, Reyna was circling it warily, taking it. "It's incredible." she admitted, "It looks newly made- I know you said you'd do it-" that was directed at Annabeth- who was sat on the grass next to Percy, "But I didn't really believe you'd pull it off."

"You should have seen it when I first found it." Annabeth snorted, "Covered in webs from Arachne.-" she shuddered, "At least she's dead now." and Percy had to resist the urge to shudder herself at the memories of her near miss.

She forced back those memories- glancing around the odd circle that they'd formed- Bob and Damasen were munching happily on sandwiches that the magical plates had summoned up for them- and Percy did not blame them- it had to be a lot nicer than the food down in the pit- though Damasen's Drakon stew had been very nice- for food down there anyway.
When Annabeth had handed her a bottle of water Percy had downed it within less than five seconds- and she only just stopped herself from stuffing her face with sandwiches- she was smart enough to know that eating too much would only make her sick and she wasn't going to waste good food by throwing it up.

And Percy noticed that Bianca was sat closer to Jason than anyone else- which was slightly odd- and she looked very awkward- not so odd, though what was odd was the fact that Jason kept glancing between Bianca and Reyna, though he was trying to be stealthy with it.

Percy wondered what that was about. She doubted he knew that Reyna had a crush on Bianca. The Roman was good at hiding her feelings- but it was clear from the way she was stopping herself from focusing on Bianca that she was pleased to see her.

She didn't want to give any of those long lingering looks.

"Reyna." Percy called out, "I know the stupid statues important but come and sit down with us- you're probably starving."

The praetor glanced over, her dark eyebrows furrowed, as if Percy's words didn't quite compute. Percy had never seen Reyna without her armor before. It was on board the ship, being repaired by Buford the Wonder Table. She wore a pair of jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and looked almost like a normal teenager—except for the knife at her belt and that guarded expression, like she was ready for an attack from any direction.

But then she'd risked a lot to come hadn't she?

"All right," she said finally.

They scooted over to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Hazel, picked up a cheese sandwich and nibbled at the edge.

"So," Reyna said. "Frank Zhang…praetor."

Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. "Well, yeah. Field promotion."

"To lead a different legion," Reyna noted. "A legion of ghosts."

And that had been something that Frank had explained to them all as the Statue had been retrieved from the engine room- he and Jason had told them how Bianca had summoned an army of ghosts to fend of an army of monsters- and how Jason hadn't been able to control them- how he'd stepped down formally and promoted Frank.

Percy was very proud of him- though she hadn't actually told him as much- he was blushing enough as it was.

And Percy noticed the way Hazel shot Frank a proud smile.

"Reyna." Jason was smiling, "You should have seen him."

"He was amazing," Piper agreed.

"Frank is a leader," Hazel insisted. "He makes a great praetor."

Reyna's eyes stayed on Frank, like she was trying to guess his weight. "I believe you," she said. "I approve."

Frank blinked. "You do?"

Reyna smiled dryly. "A son of Mars, the hero who helped to bring back the eagle of the legion…I can work with a demigod like that. I'm just wondering how to convince the Twelfth Fulminata."

Frank scowled. "Yeah. I've been wondering the same thing."

Percy could see how much he'd grown though- he still looked like the same old Frank- and Percy had every intention of getting every bear hug that she could- literally gods damn it! She had thought it was freaking amazing when he'd actually turned into a bear just to cheer her up.

But there was something different about him- it was in the way he held himself, there was more confidence there, he looked like he felt at home in his body in a way he never really had before. Comfortable and at ease.

"The legion will listen to you, Reyna," Frank said. "You made it here, across the ancient lands- without a magical flying ship. That's pretty amazing, even with Rachel, Ethan and Grover there to help you."

Reyna flushed very faintly. "In doing so I broke the laws of the legion."

"Well some laws are stupid." Bianca spoke up- "You broke the laws to do the right thing."

"Bianca's right. Caesar broke the law when he crossed the Rubicon," Frank said. "Great leaders have to think outside the box sometimes."

She shook her head. "I'm not Caesar- and I hardly did it alone I had the others- I only did what I thought was necessary."

"Come on Reyna." Percy gave her a look, "Don't be modest. You're awesome. The fact that you agreed to come alone despite everything you're risking? That's heroic."

"As her girlfriends we're obligated to say she's not wrong." Rachel piped up "But uh- she's not wrong."

Reyna shrugged. "Says the demigod who fell into Tartarus and found her way back."

"Hey- I mean, I had some pretty badass back up-"

"Heck yeah she did." Leo grinned from where he was sat next to Calypso- who's head was resting on his shoulder, their fingers tangled together.

"Yeah, we aren't going to fake being modest." Nico remarked, "and uh- we had extra back up-"

"We're just glad we could help." Damasen smiled, "You helped us too. I see sunlight."

"And I can say hello to the stars again."

"Yeah, yeah you can." Percy shot Bob a grin, "Your fates are your own now. You guys proved that."

There were a few moments of peaceful silence as everyone ate some more before.

"So uh- I gotta ask, the twenty-million-peso question. We've got this slightly used forty-foot-tall statue of Athena. What next?"

Reyna squinted at the Athena Parthenos. "As fine as it looks on this hill, I didn't come all this way to admire it. According to Annabeth, it must be returned to Camp Half-Blood by a Roman leader. Do I understand correctly?"

Annabeth nodded. "I had a dream. My mother told me that- I mean I was on Half-Blood hill- she told me that's where she needs to go and that 'The Roman must bring me'." she pulled a face, "And as much as I'm not happy with my mom... if it can help bring peace we need to do it."

"Does that mean I can't draw a moustache on her?" that made Luke groan loudly as Leo started cackling- and the others
expressions raged from amused to horrified.

"Percy!" Annabeth lightly slapped Percy's arm, "No, you cannot."

"It does make sense." Bianca's voice was almost hesitant, "The statue- it's a powerful symbol. A Roman returning it to the Greeks…that could heal the historic rift, maybe even heal the gods of their split personalities."

Coach Hedge swallowed his strawberry along with half the screwdriver. "Now, hold on. I like peace as much as the next satyr—"

"You hate peace," Leo said.

"The point is, Valdez, we're only—what, a few days from Athens? We got an army of giants waiting for us there. We went to all the trouble of saving this statue—"

"I went to most of the trouble," Annabeth reminded him. "And Percy."

"What about Nico and I? What are we chopped liver?"

"We didn't do it for the statue." Nico pointed out reasonably, "We did it for Percy. It doesn't count-"

"Yeah-" Coach Hedge spoke up, "But- that that prophecy called it the giants' bane, so why aren't we taking it to Athens with us? It's obviously our secret weapon." He eyed the Athena Parthenos. "It looks like a ballistic missile to me. Maybe if Valdez strapped some engines to it—"

Piper cleared her throat. "Uh, great idea, Coach, but a lot of us have had dreams and visions of Gaea rising at Camp Half-Blood…" She unsheathed her dagger Katoptris and set it on her plate. At the moment, the blade showed nothing except sky, but looking at it still made Percy uncomfortable.

"Since we got back to the ship," Piper said, "I've been seeing some bad stuff in the knife. The Roman legion is almost within striking distance of Camp Half-Blood. They're gathering reinforcements: spirits, eagles, wolves."

"Octavian," Reyna growled. "I told him to wait."

"When we take over command," Frank suggested, "our first order of business should be to load Octavian into the nearest catapult and fire him as far away as possible."

"Agreed," Reyna said. "But for now—"

"He's intent on war," Annabeth put in. "He'll have it, unless we stop him."

"Vengeance." that came from Ethan, he was scowling faintly, "He wants vengeance and he's not going to stop."

Piper turned the blade of her knife. "Unfortunately, that's not the worst of it. I saw images of a possible future—the camp in flames, Roman and Greek demigods lying dead. And Gaea…" Her voice failed her.

And Percy swallowed hard- she remembered how she'd felt in front of Nyx at first-and then- how she'd felt staring down Tartarus- and she was shivering slightly, which Annabeth and Rachel must have noticed because they both pressed closer to her.

How could they face Gaea if she was as powerful as Tartarus? Nyx wouldn't come to save them a second time she was sure of that. They had to make sure she never woke up, that was the only way.

"So Reyna takes the statue like Annabeth saw." Percy declared, "And we keep heading to Athens."

"Uh, that's cool." Leo spoke up ,"But there might be some logistical issues. We got what—two weeks until that Roman feast day when Gaea is supposed to rise?"

"The Feast of Spes," Jason said. "That's on the first of August. Today is—"

"July eighteenth," Frank offered. "So, yeah, from tomorrow, exactly fourteen days."

Hazel winced. "It took us eighteen days to get from Rome to here—a trip that should've only taken two or three days, max."

And that reminder was not pleasant- eighteen fucking days- she'd not been able to keep track of time down there, but eighteen days.

"So, given our usual luck," Leo said, "maybe we have enough time to get the Argo II to Athens, find the giants, and stop them from waking Gaea. Maybe. But how is Reyna supposed to get this massive statue back to Camp Half-Blood before the Greeks and Romans put each other through the blender?"

She took a deep breath. "Unfortunately, Leo is correct. I don't see how I can transport something so large. I was assuming—well, I was hoping you all would have an answer."

"The Labyrinth," Hazel said. "I—I mean, if Pasiphaë really has reopened it, and I think she has…" She looked at Percy apprehensively. "Well, you said the Labyrinth could take you anywhere. So maybe—"

"No." Percy, Annabeth, Rachel, Nico, Leo, Grover and Will all spoke in unison.

"Not to shoot you down Hazel." Percy added quickly seeing the startled look on her friends face, "I just- that is not a good idea- I don't think Rachel is gonna be willing to leave me and Annabeth-"

"No way."

"And without her- there's no way you'd ever make it." And Percy noticed Nico gripping Will's hand tightly.

Yeah, the last thing any of them needed was to have to deal with that nightmare of a place again.