I finally finished this chapter! I hope you don't hate me. I worked hard on it.

Disclaimer: I really wish I owned anything. Technically, I've never paid for anything I own. So…. If you didn't get the meaning of that, you need to get your eyes checked.

Jason POV

When Percy said that, Jason found himself pretty unsurprised. He could remember Nico, now that Percy had clarified it. But everyone else was whispering.

"What?" Reyna looked confused.

"That's right. While you've known Nico since he brought Hazel over a few months back, I've known him since he was ten. He persuaded his father to fight in the Titan war. That's one of the reasons why we won." Percy smiled. "You've known a Greek demigod and never realised it."

Although he was smiling, Percy's fingers were drumming restlessly on the side of the chair. He was uncomfortable in the Praetor's chair, Jason could tell. He'd been in that position before. Literally. That chair hurt your butt.

A murmur went through the crowd. Reyna nodded slightly and stroked Argentum's head. After a moment, she stood up. "Then we have no choice but to leave as soon as we can. We sail for Rome." She nodded, almost to herself. "This meeting is adjourned. I must speak with Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Leo and Piper in the principia. We must discuss their plans."

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Jason felt uncomfortable. Not that it was a comfortable situation to start with. Sure it was great to be back. But to have to leave so soon... what lay ahead, Jason didn't want to think about. Reyna stormed ahead, her eyes fixed at a distance. Percy was pulling at his toga; Annabeth was laughing at him. She seemed the happiest Jason had ever seen her.

Piper was the complete opposite. She walked next to Leo, looking very uncomfortable, frowning occasionally. She sneaked a glance at Jason; he smiled at her. She smiled back, but her eyes flickered to Reyna.

Jason followed her gaze and felt guilty. He liked Piper a lot-he had to admit that much-but he wasn't sure what he felt for Reyna. Thinking about her from Camp Half-Blood was painful at most; now he didn't know what to say.

Jason let his gaze slide to Leo, who was taking to Frank and Hazel. Hazel wasn't saying much, but she kept staring at Leo and biting her lip. Frank was explaining something to Leo, who looked really confused. He slowed his pace to listen to what they were saying.

"So you're saying that you knew my Grandpa Sammy? From like, seventy years ago? Talk about aging gracefully," Leo teased, but his surprise was still clearly reflected on his face.

"Well, I did know your grandpa, but I died in 1942. Nico found me in Asphodel. This is my second chance."

"She's doing a pretty good job of it," Frank added. Hazel swatted him in the arm. "It's true." He replied.

Leo noticed Jason eavesdropping. "Hey, Jason, what about that Reyna chick? Does she date?"

"Not happening, man." Jason fell into step with Leo and threw an arm over him. "As far as I can remember, she doesn't." Jason knew that Leo was prone to falling for any girl who wouldn't give him the time of day. Unfortunately. Thalia, most of the girls from the Athena and Aphrodite cabin and other smart, pretty and athletic girls had turned him down. Well, turning him down was a nice way to putting it. More like, ew, go away, pond scum.

"Aw man. Just trying my luck. Let's hope you amnesia extended to THAT part of your brain,"

Leo grinned.

Jason looked over. "Hey Piper? How you doing? Like it here?"

Piper smiled, but Jason could tell it was forced. "I'm okay. It's pretty nice here."

Jason looked at her. "Relax. It's okay. Nothing's going to happen. There are no monsters here, unlike Camp Half-Blood. Trust me, the dangerous ones here are the people. Not that you'll have a problem with that. You'll win them over, no charmspeak involved." He assured her. Piper blushed.

"Hey, don't I get the sweet talk?" Leo protested. "I'm nervous too." Jason punched him in the arm.

"Shut up, Valdez."

"Ow!"

Jason looked up at the bend in the road. "Okay, we're almost at the principia. It's just...there." Jason pointed.

Percy and Annabeth came up to the group. "I heard the Greek gods have gone silent." Percy said.

"Yeah, the place just... shut down. No gods are taking our Iris messages or anything, it's weird," Annabeth answered him.

"Hm. The Roman gods have been visiting though. Funny." Percy said.

"Not really. The Roman gods are different. "

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Reyna got everyone into the principia and sat down with a huff. Argentum and Aurum took their places by her chair. Percy looked around awkwardly before sitting down.

"So you'll be going to Rome as soon as you can. Who are you panning to bring with you?

You'll need crew. The others can stay here." Reyna asked Jason. Jason considered it for a minute.

"Are you coming with us?" Jason wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Piper freeze when he said that.

Reyna shook her head. "I have to stay here to protect this camp. I won't have it destroyed again." She glanced at Annabeth. Annabeth looked questioningly at Percy.

"Circe's island. She was one of the attendants." Percy answered. Oh, thought Jason. So that's where Reyna was from. She didn't talk about it much. Piper breathed out beside him. He kept his gaze pointedly away from her.

"Well, some of the Hephaestus bunch should come. They helped to build the ship, after all." Leo said. Jason nodded, still avoiding Piper's eyes.

"In regular circumstances the centurions would be encouraged to go, as is the Roman tradition. But it's up to you. This is not a regular quest," Reyna said.

"Yeah, we could ask some other Romans to help. Everyone here can build. Legionnaires are trained to build," he answered Leo's questioning look. "We can all help out."

"Sure. You can ask some of your centaurs or whatever." Jason rolled his eyes. Leo was fixated on Reyna.

Percy looked up. "So we're definitely going to Rome. Thanatos said as much."
"Beautiful people never lie," Piper added. Jason smiled.

"So," Percy ignored her. "Thanatos mentioned that only one kid of demigod would be able to help us find the Doors of Death."

"So who is it?" Jason was curious. He guessed it had to be one of them.

"I... Don't know. Thanatos didn't say."

"Say it's not one of us seven. Then what? Anyone could be the person. How would we know?"

"I don't know." Percy repeated. Annabeth snorted.

"This is going nowhere. I suggest we all get everyone settled somewhere temporarily and think over this again tomorrow. You will need to leave as soon as possible." Reyna said.

"Totally. We need more food, more water... basically more stuff. Weapons are done. Maybe some of those gold ones too. Then we're ready to FLY, baby." Leo said.

"Wait," Percy turned pale. "Fly? Oh no. Oh no no no."

"Dude?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "Scared of heights?"

"No. Just... Son of Poseidon. Sea God. Flying. Zeus realm. BAD idea. We took a plane once. Zeus was throwing us around. Never again." Percy looked alarmed.

"Percy, relax. We've got Jason, right? Zeus or Jupiter, whatever, wouldn't blow his own son out of the sky." Annabeth reasoned with him. It was true. Jupiter had given the Argo II a smooth journey. He hoped that his father didn't hate Percy enough to shoot them out of the sky. It was hard enough with Gaia messing with them on land. Well, you never knew with Greek gods.

"Okay, then. Well, sea I can do. No problems there." said Percy.

"Very well. Frank, Hazel, show Leo and his crew to one of the Cohorts. They can sleep in some of the spare beds."

"No need. Got that covered. We've got beds and stuff on the ship. Even super heroes need downtime." Leo butted in. Piper rolled her eyes. It brought forward the colours of her eyes.

"Give it a rest, Fire boy."

"So now it's Fire boy now? What happened to the Amazing Flaming Valdez?" Leo argued as he walked out.

"F-flaming?" Frank stuttered.

"Yep. The amazing fire starter, Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus." Jason explained.

He peered at Frank. Although his expression gave nothing away, Jason could see that Frank was turning pale. He was about to ask about it when Percy quickly said, "Frank, Hazel, why don't you guys go? You can show the Greek demigods around the camp.

Hazel and Frank hurried out of the principia.

There was a brief silence between the remaining demigods. Percy broke the silence. "So…. Our plans?"

Reyna glanced at Jason. "You do realise what will happen should you fail. The giants could overthrow the gods and destroy all demigods, as well as mortals. The wrath of Gaia is great." She turned her gaze to Percy. "If Annabeth is not If that demigod who can find the Doors of Death is not among you, you might not be able to find the Doors of Death? You might have to travel back, and it would only delay your quest." Reyna looked concerned. Jason thought that Piper looked uncomfortable. She was fidgeting, and He turned to her. "Hey, Piper, why don't you go help with the ship? I think we'll be in here for a while." Piper seemed unwilling to go, but she cast a glance at Reyna before leaving the principia. Reyna's eyebrows lifted a fraction. Jason felt his face turn warm.

Annabeth spoke first. "I think if we're going to leave, we have to leave now. We're just wasting time by staying here. We could call for some backup from Camp Half-Blood, they could come here and work with you, Reyna."

"Yes, that's a good idea. I would ask Octavian to go on the quest with you, because he is, after all, the centurion from the First Cohort, as well as camp augur, but I don't think he likes Percy." There was a glint in her eyes. Jason could understand. Octavian would probably have been made praetor in his absence if Percy hadn't come along. His status as augur made him all high and mighty.

"Okay, yeah totally. So I guess we should start loading our ship. I reckon it shouldn't take more than a few days, considering that it's a flying ship. We'll need weapons and food and stuff." Jason said. "We could also leave some of the Greek weapons here."
Reyna nodded. "All right. I think we should start immediately in order to leave as quickly as possible, maybe tomorrow. The prophecy of Seven is one of the most important ever in Greek or Roman history. We can't afford to fail."

Percy got off the praetor's chair. He almost tripped over his toga. Reyna stifled a laugh. "I guess I'll go help Frank and Hazel." He pulled up his toga and walked out with Annabeth.

Jason watched them go. Reyna was looking at him. "It's good to have you back. The Camp's been a mess since you went missing. Octavian's auguries are getting worse."
Jason was surprised. Reyna wasn't really one for expressing her feelings. And Octavian... "Well, so I think that Octavian will get along marvellously with Rachel."

Reyna cracked a smile. He stood up. "You coming?" he asked. Reyna shook her head.
Jason walked towards the door, feeling her eyes on him. Before leaving the principia, he turned. "I think you and Annabeth will get along. And it's good to be back."

YAY! I finished! I mean, sorry for taking so long, I'm busy, and I'm rather… ahem… distracted in school by things… Things, which may not necessarily be ABOUT school…