Chapter 4

The halls of the Den never have looked as inviting as they did after I'd first talked to the Greeks. But before I could relax and come up with a plan to deal with the latest mess the Romans had gotten into, I had to check on Percy and that hellhound. He apparently had volunteered to babysit Camp Half-blood's favorite mutt. I opened the large wooden doors to the Colloseum to see Jackson throwing a large round shield like a Frisbee, which the dog easily caught in her mouth.

"Oh, hi Reyna. What do you think of Mrs. O'Leary?"

I sighed and glanced at the huge hound that was drooling all over Hall Bacchus' training shields. "Is this really the best way to deal with a dangerous monster like hellhounds?" Then Mrs. O'Leary noticed the new friend who had arrived, pounced, knocking me to the floor and licking me from head to toe.

"Hey, I'm not the one who decided not to kill her." He then began pulling the dog away by the collar, scolding her all the while, and I somehow managed to slip out.

I wiped the drool off my face, "I'm not going to kill an animal that you say is harmless, even if it is a hellhound. It seemed easier to ignore 'Mrs.O'Leary's' faults anyway. Lupa drilled every Roman to only fight when it was necessary. Besides, everyone figuring out you're Greek was postponed since none of them asked for you."

He smiled mischievously, "yep, alliances first, then the delinquent boyfriend." He threw the shield again to distract Mrs. O'Leary from the dummy soldiers. "Maybe I could go talk to Annabeth, if I convince her it won't work she might get everyone else to leave."

"Sorry Jackson, there's no way I could allow you to risk revealing that you're Greek, even if you're just trying to help."

He blinked, "why? I've kept it up all this time, if no one but you and the Greeks know about, it won't cause any trouble. I can't just leave them all, including my mom, thinking I'm dead or something!"

This conversation again. Now that the Greeks are so close by there's no way he'll let it go. But if I were in his cruddy position, I'd try to meet up with them too."Let's make a deal, you promise not to talk to the Greeks unless I give you permission, you can contact your mom on my webcam."

He stared at me, "seriously?" he thought about it for a second and nodded. "Sure, whatever you think's best, I guess. But you better get Mrs. O'Leary something to eat soon or she'll eat all of those weapons." And with that he was off to Hall Neptune to make that call. I called Ceres' Captain and told her to bring a lot of meat for the Roman Army's new pet.

Then I hurried out, deciding I'd done enough for the Den for one day. People were putting their armor away or dueling amongst themselves, so I easily made it to Hall Neptune unnoticed for my unscheduled (but allowed) break. I passed Percy's room; he'd already contacted his mother.

"I really am sorry mom, a lot has happened. I…uh…really didn't mean to worry you guys for so long."

I quietly snuck past his door and sat at my desk, head in my hands. This whole thing is really stinks. If I ally the Den with the Greeks less harm will come to all demigods but then I have virtually no chance of getting the army to obey orders. And ignoring the Greeks will just delay the problem with the giants, besides whatever will happen when the Giants destroy the original Mount Olympus.

Then I heard the crunching of the stairs moving, a boy's shout, and the beep of a net being deployed. I instantly grabbed my sword, pressed that white stone hidden under the waterfall, and began hurrying down the stairs to the Lagoon.

"Need any help?" Percy was at the top of the stairs.

"Doubt it; go back to your mommy Jackson. I'll handle this."

I'm not sure what I was expecting to be trapped in that net, but it definitely wasn't supposed to be Jason. I looked around. He was alone so I sheathed my sword. He must have lost his mind, why he possibly could want to be here was beyond me.

"Uh…hi Reyna. How's the Den been doing without me?"

I rubbed my aching head, "Jason, why in the name of Rome are you here?"

His eyes said it all: he had some desperate reason for being here and since Neptune's Lagoon was the only entrance that wasn't guarded much, he came here. Guess he's officially not Roman anymore or the defense system wouldn't have reacted.

"Could you get me out, please?"

I ignored his request, "Jason, did you lose your mind in the last six months? Any Roman is supposed to drag you to the Gladiator's Jail the minute you step off of that ship to be tried for treachery."

He yawned. "And I'll be promptly executed, jailed for life, or something else equally ridiculous. Captain Hazel was happy to give me all the details. But that's the least of my problems."

"Oh really?" Maybe he hit his head on the way down and used to have a logical reason for being here.

"The gods have made it quite clear that we need to make this alliance. If we don't, the gods will be overthrown and the entire human race will be exterminated. There's no way you can say that this isn't a problem for the Army."

I voiced a dry laugh, "and you think anyone here will care at all because of that? The gods have never even attempted to deal with us except to claim us, which they sometimes don't even bother with, or to clean up their immortal messes. Usually someone will volunteer to help them anyway. But to go all the way to Greece with the Greek demigods? Not even if all the riches in the world rained down on the Santa Cruz Mountains."

We both stayed quiet for a long time after that. The tide began to come in as we pondered the position all demigods were in. He came all the way here just to persuade me. He's still as thoughtless and arrogant as ever.Then I realized that he had just as much pressure to do the right thing as me and calmed down a little.

"So was helping the Greeks really your only motive for being here?"

He glanced at me and finally started smiling again. "Nah, you caught me. The gods stole all of my memories and right now I only remember the basics. Could you fill in the blanks before you haul me off to jail?"

"Just the basics huh? Really. So what do you want to know?"

"Tell me everything."

Jupiter - Zeus

Bacchus - Dionysus

Mercury - Hermes

Venus - Aphrodite

Vulcan - Hephaestus

Minerva - Athena

Ceres - Demeter

Mars - Ares

Neptune – Poseidon

Pluto - Hades

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