Chapter 2: Foes bear arms

All the camp councilors were by Thalia's pine waiting nervously. And since they all were ADHD they weren't even sitting; all of them attempted to occupy their time with something.

While campers were running or sparring around her, Piper was sitting on a tree's branch, leaning on the trunk and dangling her legs from it. Her eyes were trained at the west horizon from where they were to come in about half an hour.

''Stoll!'' Katie's voice sounded from bellow Piper and she sighed.

Travis was the worst flirt ever.

''Yep!'' the son of Hermes' voice sounded from a distance. ''Missing something?''

''Get back here you little…'' her angry voice faded as she was running away from the group and probably towards the boy.

Piper sighed. Camp Half-blood was her home, the place where she finally felt she belonged to. And if it wasn't for her dad she would have stayed here year-round. But she was glad she returned to L.A. the fall after she got found by Annabeth and Percy. She's so very thankful that her dad decided to send her to San Francisco to yet another boarding school. After all, if she hadn't she wouldn't have known Jason.

She wished he was here now. At least she would fell slightly better, knowing that he was with her. But of course, it was impossible. Mortals couldn't cross the camp's border lines, they couldn't even see because of the Mist. But still, a person could dream, right…?

Suddenly, something shone in the sunlight. Something golden. Piper tensed before standing up and trying to focus on the horizon. A long minute passed before she finally got down and announced to the rest of the camp.

''They're here.''

A week earlier...

The whole camp was gathered by the camp fire as they did every night. The sing-along was over but no one wanted to leave just yet so Chiron left them be, not shooing them to bed. It was louder than usual, light and carefree chatting sounded in the warm mid-June air.

Suddenly, the camp fire cracked and turned golden before a woman walked out of the flames unharmed. The campers all bowed in respect in front of the goddess and she smiled at them tightly, waiting for them to sit back.

''Lady Hera.'' Chiron walked forward then, kneeling quickly with his hooves once again before turning towards her. ''To what do we owe the honor of having you visiting the camp?''

''Dark times are on our doorstep Chiron. I'm here to warn you, to show you the right way.'' She announced before turning to the rest of the gathered crowd. ''Heroes. Most of the Olympians wouldn't like me telling you the information I'm about to share. But I believe that desperate times call for desperate measures.''

''Excuse me Lady but…desperate times? Things are calm after the Titan war last summer.'' Malcolm, one of Annabeth's half-brothers asked.

''Not for long young son of Athena. Another enemy is rising. Enemy, more powerful than anything you've face before.'' The goddess was yet again interrupted by a son of Mars.

''But Lady Hera, we faced Kronos himself. How can there be anything worse than the Titan king?''

Murmurs broke along the camp fire until Hera's voice rose again and quieted everyone.

''History is repeating. And if we want things to turn out differently, we need to make a few changes. Yesterday a battle was held in San Francisco.''

At this words Piper's body stiffened. Jason lived there. Did the battle take mortal casualties? She was suddenly listening even more eagerly than before.

''A horde of monsters attacked and almost managed to destroy a camp of demigods, children of the Roman gods.''

At this point a lot of campers started talking again.

''Romans?''

''Roman gods? You're joking!''

''It can't be, how come we never heard of them?''

Chiron's hoof clanked loudly as he tried to gain everyone's attention. The talking soon ceased but the nervousness in the air could be cut with a knife.

''The last encounter of Greeks and Romans was years ago. They weren't on the greatest terms…''

''Greeks and Romans hate each other ever since the ancient times!'' someone shouted and Hera's glare turned cold.

''Now will be different. Because if you want to win against this enemy, you will have to work together. After all, you are all children of gods, you are not so different. Their camp is destroyed that's why in a week's time they will be arriving to settle here, next to camp Half-blood.''

And with that the queen of the gods was gone. Twenty seconds of dead silence followed. And then everything went wild.

Chiron managed to send everyone to bed, saying that this would be discussed tomorrow at breakfast since this affected the whole camp. Piper, Leo, Annabeth and Percy stayed behind to try and talk to each other before bedtime.

''This sounds bad.'' Leo summed it up earning an eye-roll from Piper while Percy was scowling.

''Another enemy. Just what we needed. Can't I have one normal summer here?'' he asked no one in particular and Annabeth muttered an annoyed ''Shut up Seaweed brain'' before finally looking up at the rest.

''She said history was repeating. Do you know what followed the first Titan war? Who decided to ''avenge'' Kronos?'' she asked frantically, looking at them one by one. Piper's eyes widened with a second delay.

''The giants…Annabeth you can't mean that the giants are rising!''

''Think about it, it makes perfect sense…''

''Yes, it does.'' Chiron's voice cut their conversation and the four turned to look at him nervously. ''But that's not the only thing we have to worry about.''

The centaur looked behind them with his eyes glazed over, like he was remembering something. Something he had tried to forget.

''It's about the Romans, isn't it?'' Annabeth suggested carefully and Chiron nodded. ''The last encounter…? Is that what I think it was?''

''Yes, my child. History must not repeat this time.'' His voice sounded older, gravellier than before and Piper felt cold for some reason. ''We must prevent a second Civil war or this can be the end.''

End of Flashback

To say that the campers weren't happy would be the misunderstanding of the year. Mixed emotions were felt from the different demigods but one was in everyone. The feeling of something major happening again. Of something bad waiting behind the corner. And that something had just stopped ten feet away from them in the clearing.

The Romans were separated into five neat formations, every demigod behind the other with squeaky clean golden armour. Every formation was lead by two people, one boy and one girl, wearing something like a bed-sheet wrapped around them. Roman togas, Piper remembered. Like those her father had to wear once in a film. A person from each group was holding a pole with a golden eagle with spread wings. Piper counted four eagles. The last group didn't have one; the guy there was just holding a bird stand.

''First cohort, here!'' The leader of the first group shouted loud and clear for everyone to hear. That was followed by the rest of the leaders, reaching the slightly unsure ''Fifth cohort, here!'' coming from the last guy.

The Greeks stood there silent. They had no idea what was happening. It surely looked like some formal greeting but was it really needed? They weren't in the army after all, most of them were kids!

Just then Piper noticed the two figures standing in front of everyone else. A boy and a girl, wearing their golden armour under purple togas. They both looked calm and collected. But that's not what struck Piper the most.

''Greeting from The twelfth legion Fulminata. I'm Reyna, daughter of Belona and this is Jason, son of Jupiter. We're the praetors of Camp Jupiter. We would like to thank you for your hospitality and help.'' The girl spoke with clear voice. She seemed hesitant about who to watch since the Greeks had formed a straight line, no one in front of the other, no one above the other.

The presenting of the cabin councilors started from Percy since Thalia, the only child of Zeus, was a huntress of Artemis and wasn't around. Piper ignored most of it, her eyes trained on the male roman praetor. Because the son of Jupiter was her Jason, Jason Grace. She was gaping at him almost feeling her jaw dropping down. But he hadn't noticed her yet; he kept his poker face, examining the person that was talking in the moment in a way that made Piper feel uneasy.

''Leo Valdez, head councilor of Cabin 9 and son of Hephaestus.'' Leo spread his arms dramatically but no one from the Romans seemed to find it funny. His hands fell next to him and suddenly, it was Piper's turn to talk.

''My name is Piper Mclean.'' She said and immediately saw Jason's blue eyes widening in surprise. As soon as the female praetor nudged him though, he shook his head and composed himself, pulling up that stone mask again. Piper had never seen him this serious. ''I'm head councilor of Cabin 10 and a daughter of Aphrodite.''

Some snickers came from the gathered demigods in front of them and Piper on instinct went to find them and send the most intimidating glare she could muster. She hated being judged just because of her parentage, godly or ungodly.

After the last camper had introduced themselves to the newcomers Chiron explained how things would work until the building of the whole Roman camp. They were to stay in the cabin of the Greek counterpart of their godly parent or if there isn't one, in a specially build cabins around the main ones. The injured were to visit the infirmary first.

''Now I'll leave you children to socialize a little. Percy, Annabeth would you please show our guests around? It's good if they know some things about our camp.'' The centaur smiled and the two mentioned demigods immediately stepped forward.

The rest of them were free to go and fulfill their regular duties around the camp and Piper hurried to get away from the meadow. Everything felt surreal. She thought she had gotten away with it but then Annabeth called her back.

''Piper, can you come with us?''

The blond didn't explain why she wanted Piper to join them but the brunette trusted her enough to not question her, especially in front of the newcomers. She silently sighed and went to join her two friends, plastering a small smile on her face. She wanted to be friendly; it was just that she was kind of nervous.

''Sure.'' She said and extended her hand towards the girl first, Reyna. ''Hi, welcome to camp Half-blood.''

''Thanks.'' The dark-haired girl answered with a curt nod and then Piper's hand was pointed at Jason.

He hesitated for a moment before shaking her hand gently. The familiar electric spark shook her and she looked up in his eyes immediately. Well, at least that mystery was revealed. He was a son of Jupiter and if he was anything like Thalia, he would be able to summon lightning.

And with that the tour began.

It was mostly Annabeth who talked and explained the different buildings and areas of camp simply because she knew them best. Piper shortly understood while she was wanted around. Within five minutes a blond skinny guy with a knife and a few stuffed teddy bears strapped at his belt started rambling about how it was against the ancient rules Athena (or as he said Minerva) to have children. They calmly explained that the virginity of the goddess wasn't technically taken in the process and the guy seemed pretty unconvinced but kept quiet.

A strange feeling of dread settled in Piper. She had the feeling that this wouldn't be as easy as it seemed.

A\N: Okay, I decided to end it up here because if I didn't, I'll never end this chapter. Next time, we'll see more of Piper's feelings and maybe some of Jason's too, I still haven't decided yet. See you next week and thanks for the wonderful reviews. You guys rock!