We began our march into New Rome. Piper appeared at my side, offering a friendly smile. She held my arm, silently offered me a shoulder to lean on. Piper knew nothing needed to be said, which I was grateful for.
About halfway there I noticed another Roman girl had joined Percy in the front. She was, admittedly, pretty. About 5'4", fit, blonde hair, and blue eyes. They were arm in arm, laughing without a care in the world. That used to be me. I longed for that to be me, no, I needed that to be me.
But at the same time I wanted Percy to be happy. I wasn't going to barge in and mess everything up. After all, he wasn't at fault for this. He'd get his memories back soon enough. And then, it would be up to Percy to decide, me, or her.
After a brief encounter with a rather unpleasant border god, I was informed we were entering New Rome. Aptly named, I thought to myself. The cortege weaved their way through the narrow streets of New Rome, seemingly making our way to the large dome in the center of the city. The architecture was almost enough to take my mind off of Percy. Each column, each stone, each tile; laid with perfection and elegance. At this point the Romans would've been honing their craft for over two millennia, no wonder it was near perfect.
The Senate building was beautiful. It was eerily similar to the Pantheon Marcus Agrippa constructed on behalf of Augustus in the real Rome. However, it was the occupants of the building that really stunned me. Ghostlike figures shimmered in and out of existence against the evening sunlight. Families crowded the benches and doorways. I'd never seen demigods not around my age before. There were infants and married couples. People of all shapes and sizes in one large demigod community. That doesn't sound too bad. Everyone was eager to get a view of the proceedings. Understandably this was a big deal, Greeks entering a Roman camp. The Greeks would feel the same way if the roles were reversed, everybody would want to catch a glimpse of the leaders' conversations, to hear what was being said. After all, who doesn't want to be in the room where it happens?
Leo, Piper, Jason, and I sat down in the first row, accompanied by a handful of Romans. Percy and Reyna proceeded to an elevated platform at the front of the room. Reyna raised her hand, commanding silence; the Senate building obliged.
She stood, but waited a moment, relishing in the silence. She has a touch for the dramatic, but then again, she's a Roman. What do you expect? Finally, when the anticipation in the room was about to burst, she began.
"Romans, first and foremost, Jason Grace has returned to us." Murmurs and side conversations erupted throughout the building. Once again, Reyna raised her hand. "I spoke with him on the way over. He has told me his story, and now it is time for you all to hear it as well."
Jason stood up, every eye was on him. He recounted his stolen memories, now found. His journey across the United States, of Camp half-Blood and the Greeks, and his epic encounters at the Wolf House. As Jason concluded, he gestured for me to take the floor and continue our proposal.
Reluctantly, I stepped into the spotlight. I didn't like having every eye in the room on me when I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. "Deep breaths" I whispered to myself.
"As you all know, Jason had his memories stolen and he was, um, sent, for lack of a better word, to Camp Half-Blood. Jason regained his memories over time and has learned enough to get back here and hopefully reconcile with you guys. We believe the same thing happened to Percy." Percy, who was laid back in his chair, apparently bored with this whole Senate proceeding, sat forward attentively, now eager for me to go on. So I obliged him.
"8 months ago, Percy disappeared without a trace. He was a Greek and our leader. From what I've heard, very similar to what Jason was to you guys. Has been for most of his life, anyway. The point is, we think that this happened for a reason, a swap of leadership in order to connect the camps, to unite us in the fight against Gaia." People started shifting uneasily in their seats. I looked towards the Praetors, Percy and Reyna, but was met with nothing but cold stares. I turned towards Piper, who was smiling encouragingly. She gave me a thumbs up and urged me to continue.
"The Greeks and Romans have been working together for some time now. Jason told me a story on our journey here, of the recent Titan War. He spoke of the Roman's assault on Mount Othyrus, the Titan Stronghold. Well, at the same time, The Greeks were defending Olympus in New York. Percy fought Kronos himself." The conversations were deafening. The people were yelling, screaming, at who or about what, nobody knows. I watched as Reyna and Percy engaged in a quick, heated discussion.
Once again, Reyna raised her hand for silence, but this time, she was ignored. She looked towards Jason, expecting him to help. Jason glanced at Piper and nodded.
Piper walked to the center of the room, where the acoustics would project her voice into every nook and cranny of the Senate chamber. "SILENCEEEEE" she screamed. The colloquy ceased to exist. You could hear a pin drop. Nobody seemed to think anything of it except for Reyna, who eyed Piper suspiciously. She was probably familiar with charmspeak. Now that I think about it, she seems pretty familiar, though I can't place my finger on it.
Before conversation could root once more, Reyna took center stage "There is a lot to discuss, no doubt. The Senate shall conviene to discuss these matters further. Centurion's, take the Greeks for a meal, they are no doubt famished after such a long journey."
Two younger looking Romans approach Piper, Jason, Leo, and I, introducing themselves. "Hey, I'm Hazel" a chocolate skinned girl said. She was a couple years younger than I was. The other was a large Asian kid, who looked closer to my age. He introduced himself as Frank.
The six of us pushed our way through the crowds and out the doors. The sun was finally setting. Rows of street lights lit up the surrounding areas. A mix of classic and modern, and very nicely done. We were escorted to a dining pavilion within the military camp. A handful of other Roman's joined us, but I didn't catch their names.
"So," Hazel said after we sat down. "Tell us more about Percy."
"Percy first came to camp when we were 12," I began. "Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had a pact following world war two that none of them would father children again. Naturally, that didn't turn out well. Poseidon had Percy. Zeus had Jason and Talia."
"Talia?" Hazel asked.
"My older sister," Jason commented. "She was a greek demigod, now she's a hunter. One of Artemis' loyal followers." Hazel nodded, trying to keep up with the story.
"So at the time another demigod, Luke, who was working for Kronos at the time but we didn't know it, stole Zeus' master bolt." Everyone gasped. I smiled, if they're excited by this, they'll be blown away by the end of the story. "Of course, Zeus blamed Percy, being Poseidon's son in all, and threatened war on the summer solstice if it wasn't returned. Hades' helm of darkness was also stolen at the same time and he also blamed Percy, even though Percy didn't know he was a demigod yet. Our Camp Director, Chiron,"
"Wait a minute," Frank interjected. "You mean, like, trainer of Achilles and Hercules Chiron?"
"Heracles," I replied, "but yes, one in the same. So Chiron disguised himself as a teacher to watch over Percy who was beginning to suffer from monster attacks. Hades sent the furies after him first, of which he narrowly escaped. His protector, Grover, rushed him to camp where they encountered the minotaur right at the border. Neither Percy nor Grover remember much of what happened that night. All I remember is Percy stumbling down the hill, Grover unconscious over his shoulder, and a minotaur horn in hand."
"That's awesome" Jason chided in. He had gotten the brief overview of the Percy Jackson Chronicles, so a lot of this was new for him.
"At this point, nobody knew what cabin Percy was going to be in. He didn't fit in much at the beginning, but then got attacked by a hellhound within the camp borders, followed by a quest. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Minotaur captured Percy's mom and Hades was holding her captive in the underworld. Gover and I accompanied him across the country to get her back."
I heard a muffled grunt from the blonde girl I saw talking to Percy earlier. Was it jealousy, probably."
"So on the way we fought and killed Medusa, survived an encounter with Echidna, made our way into the underworld and confronted Hades at his palace. After a failed parley with the God of the underworld, we made a narrow escape. Somehow we ended up on a beach in LA where Ares, uh, Mars for you guys, was waiting for us. Ares was sent out by Zeus to find the master bolt and return it. Ares found Luke, the thief, but Luke convinced Ares of Kronos' plan. Ares met up with us earlier on our journey and gave Percy a backpack full of supplies, but the backpack was magical, and revealed the master bolt once we entered the underworld. At this point there was a scene. Pedestrians were watching, the furies circled overhead, and Ares was in possession of the helm of darkness. So natural, they dueled."
"What!" about three Roman's screamed in unison.
"Percy fought Mars, God of War Mars, in single combat?" Hazel asked.
"And won," I added. "After that, the fury watching took the helm and told Hades the truth, while we sped to Olympus to return the lightning bolt. We prevented war and saved the day. Plus we got to go to Olympus and meet the gods."
"Epic!" Frank yelled. I just smiled. They didn't know how much more there was. "What else has he done?"
"Tons. But that's enough for today, what about you guys, tell me about some of your adventures."
Hazel and Frank recounted their quest with Percy to Alaska and their epic return to Camp Jupiter. The tale took up the remainder of dinner. I really liked Hazel and Frank. The other Romans weren't so bad, just less open. The blonde girl who probably likes Percy's name is Gwen, another's name is Dakota, the rest, I'm unsure of.
Exhausted from our journey and the time difference from New York to California, Jason, Leo, Piper, and I decided to retreat to the Argo II for the night.
