Greetings, my friend! A chapter posted right on time at last! I apologize for being late for the last few chapters. Well this chapter was done within two days. I'm proud of myself. I finally reached my old standards.

Another thing, in the last chapter, I wrote about June being in an "amphitheater". Yes, I know in the map of Camp Jupiter, there wasn't anything like that, but it seems that there was no place for sword practice and lessons so I had to make up a place. How can a demigod camp not have a practice area, right?

This is a long chapter, which you haven't seen from us for a long time, so I won't dawdle any longer…enjoy Chapter 7!

-Amber-

Disclaimer: Yeah, I wish. All credit goes to Mr. Riordan.

Chapter 7 June

I was miserable. Though I tried to hide it, it was too tiring to pretend any longer after a whole day of emotion rollercoaster. Bobby noticed apparently, judging from the concerned looks he threw me during dinner.

All the campers returned to the camp forts from New Rome for dinner, because the praetor had something important to announce. I was included, as well. I guess Octavian had no other excuse to convict me as a spy after I was "abandoned" by the Greeks and his killing of a teddy bear didn't show him the signs he wanted. I didn't really want to go to camp, for the obvious reason that New Rome was a lot less armed than Camp Jupiter. But at least I got to get my magic pin and Landyn's pistol back from Terminus. When Bobby asked about the weapons, I told him the pin was a gift while the gun was a battle spoil. It seemed fishy, but Bobby let it go.

The atmosphere in the mess hall during dinner was obviously tense. Everyone, even the nicest campers, wore a solemn, even angry, expression, whispering to each other a lot about the Graecus. I poked my food around, having not much appetite and mainly waiting for Reyna to announce war on the Greeks and oh, by the way, finish the last of the procedures to let me into Camp Jupiter as a camper. When most of dinner was finished, Reyna stood up and barked an order: "Assemble outside the mess hall!"

Instantly, all campers dropped their food and stood up. Uniformly, they made their way around the low couches and tables and out of the hall, forming into neat ranks.

"Go stand at the side of the ranks." Bobby whispered, before pushing me towards the first rank and hurrying to the end of the last ranks.

I stood, a little away from the square the Romans formed, trying my best to feel not so self-conscious. In front of the ranks, on the steps of the mess hall, Reyna was speaking, her dark eyes flashing stormily, radiating power and confidence.

"Before the arrival of Neptune's son Percy Jackson, we live unawares to the existence of another branch of demigods. Today, we prepared ourselves for the prospect of the first union of Romans and Greeks for decades. But good fortune falls short. Argo II attacked." Reyna said gravely.

"They planned this! Treachery!" Octavian, who was standing in front of the crowd but some distance away from Reyna, interrupted.

"We don't know" Reyna glared pointedly at the Augur, "whether it was a scheme of our newly appointed praetor Percy, or a plot of Camp Half-blood, unaware to him. But..."

Octavian spoke up again: "That doesn't matter. What matters is that Leo Valdez, of Camp Half-blood, attacked us with that monster of a ship, and all the Greeks escaped afterwards. Oh, forgot to mention," he continued with an evil glint in his eyes, "There were turncoats. Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque, from Cohort Five..."

There was uproar from the crowd directed towards the last few ranks, where the members of Fifth Cohort assembled. I felt sorry for them. Bobby and Susan and the others were a nice lot.

"And of course," Octavian raised his voice to be heard, "Jason Grace, our old praetor, also chose to go with the enemies."

The campers all quieted down a little. While they were outraged by the "betrayal" of Frank and Hazel, they felt more disappointed and let down by Jason's leaving. As I recollect, Jason had been their hero, leading them through the hard times of the Titan war. I knew none of them wanted to believe Jason left, but the reality was that. Nico had told us about his doubts about how Camp Half-blood's plan would go wrong. I wished his prediction wouldn't have been so accurate. Now, there was no apparent way to cease the anger of the Romans.

Reyna called out: "Silence!" The strict rules of Camp Jupiter and also the terrible look on their praetor's face shut the campers up immediately.

Reyna glared around and continued after confirming everyone was quiet: "All the truth and facts behind this disaster are not clear, but we cannot allow those who disvalue our trust and hurt our city to walk away."

The mass of people were so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Brace yourselves, defenders of Great Rome, as it is time to avenge." Reyna finished her speech calmly. The campers erupted into roars and shouts, calling out all kinds of Latin, most likely more curses on Camp Half-blood. Octavian smiled contently in the midst of chaos, obviously happy about how well everything went his way.

"Senate meeting tomorrow morning at eight. No one is to be late. We'll discuss the deployment and main plan." Reyna waved her hand so as to dismiss the crowd. People started to leave their ranks. I suddenly remembered I wasn't introduced and accepted yet so I hurriedly took a step closer to the praetor and raised my hand: "Rey..um, I mean, Praetor? You haven't..."

I pointed at myself as Reyna turned towards me with a confused expression. After a pause, she finally remembered me and ordered the ranks to reform. "I forgot another important thing. The new recruit."

The teenagers grumbled and some of those next to me shoot me annoyed glances. It seems that war times are not good times for recruits.

Reyna beckoned me forward and laid a hand on my shoulder. "This is June Loras, daughter of Apollo, arrived in camp yesterday afternoon. Octavian? The results of your interrogation and augury?"

My scrawny distant relative stepped up and announced, somehow reluctantly: "All is well. There is no reason to reject her."

Reyna nodded in satisfactory: "Good, then who is willing to stand for her?"

"What?" I couldn't help asking. What kind of question is that? Nobody answered me.

"I will." To my surprise, Bobby stood out of his rank and said loudly. "I am willing to stand for June Loras."

Reyna raised her eyebrows but continued the procedure: "Very well. Dakota, centurion of the Fifth Cohort, are you willing to let this new recruit in your cohort?"

Dakota grinned his red stained grin: "Sure. She's a nice kid and we are short on members now anyway."

"So that's settled. You're dismissed." Reyna sounded genuinely relieved. It must have been a long day for her. The dark haired praetor handed me a necklace with a little metal plate strung on it: "Welcome to Camp Jupiter, even though it isn't in a very good state now. Bobby will show you everything. I hope you'll come to like it here. We all did." I thought I glimpsed something like sadness beneath the strong face Reyna pulled. She must know more of the truth behind everything to be blinded by the surface of events. Poor Reyna, I thought as I watched her lonely silhouette vanish into darkness towards the Praetor house. Her position was similar to mine. We both had things we couldn't talk about. I looked at the plate. It bore my name and the letters S.P.Q.R.

"It's your probation plate." Bobby's voice appeared behind me. I shook away my sentimental thoughts and put on a smile for his sake. "Only after a year of service without any serious problems, will you gain the status of a real Roman soldier. You can speed up the process if you've done something extremely important. Then you can get your tattoo." He showed me a burn mark like tattoo on the inner side of his forearm. Though I'd noticed before, it was my first close look. It bore the same letters S.P.Q.R. and a symbol of a stalk of grain and a reaper. I assumed it represented Bobby's identity as a legionnaire of Camp Jupiter and a son of Ceres. There were also five bars under the letters, which Bobby pointed out as marks of his five service years.

I groaned: "Probation? And then a burn mark? Why is everything so harsh for Romans?"

Bobby smiled: "Get used to it. Come on. We still have a night to get you used to Camp Jupiter."

"Yeah, I can't wait to learn all the rules and regulations and stuff."

"No sarcasm, June. This is serious business. If you do something wrong, I die with you."

"Really? That's what 'stand for me' means?"

"Yes, so show me some credit."

"Right, sir."

xxx

After going through a series of tough debates with himself, Bobby finally decided to take me to the sword practice amphitheater to show me some basic Roman fighting techniques because "war is upon us". Though I protested that I could shoot just fine with both my bow and the gun, he insisted it was only proper for a Roman soldier to at least know how to use a gladius. Bobby seemed to lack confidence in his sword skills so he called on Susan to help. Together, we headed towards the practice amphitheater.

The building was magnificent. It looked like one of those real architecture relics from Rome, Italy. Mom had once promised to take July and me on an extensive Europe tour so we could see all those famous world heritages...but that was before she lost her job. The only thing out of place was the glaring lights in the amphitheater that was already all open though the sun hadn't set completely.

Bobby and Susan helped me into some rusty old armor and found me the lightest gladius, a Roman sword, from the storage room. All the things were strange and unfamiliar in my hands. Bobby promised to take me to the armor and weapon shops in New Rome to buy my own set. After everything was set, Susan got a gladius herself and started telling me about the Roman ways of offense. I never imagined sword fighting could have so much to learn about, but now my head was bursting with all the must-do and mustn't-dos Susan taught me. Offense is the best defense, my instructor emphasized.

When she showed me all the moves and encouraged me to try, I kept getting things wrong. While Susan blocked attacks and immediately turned to stab, I tend to duck and slice from the side. After several attempts, Susan couldn't help exclaim: "Are you afraid of the blade? Why do you always avoid it? Romans never back away from straight on conflicts."

Her words suddenly inspired me. I wasn't afraid of the blade. I wasn't avoiding the attacks. I was just defending myself in a more trickery way. I was fighting the way I was born to—Greek style. Though I've never been trained to swordfight, I must've picked up the Greek way from all the times I've watched Nico fight with his Stygian Iron sword. I smiled slightly at the thought, but I can't keep on fighting like this. Even if Bobby and Susan didn't notice, other Romans would some day.

I apologized and we tried again. This time, I tried my best to fight my instincts and stood my ground, no more ducking—offense as defense. Though I was disarmed easily, but Susan nodded approvingly: "That's more like it."

Bobby congratulated me and I started to reply, but suddenly, I froze. A strange feeling washed over me. The back of my neck tingled, as if someone was staring at me from behind. Bobby and Susan frowned at me, asking: "June? Is something wrong?"

But I didn't hear them. The same time they spoke, a voice, much, much smaller than theirs, but so very familiar, called out my name. I whirled around.

There they were. The two faces that haunted me every second since I woke up in the infirmary room. But I wasn't so stupid that I lost my senses. With one quick swipe, I wiped the forming Iris message away.

I turned around with a casual expression masking my face just as Bobby and Susan were coming up to me.

"Hey, what were you doing?" Susan asked, eyeing the patch in the air where the Iris message was less than a minute ago.

"It was nothing. I thought I heard some kind of insect. But it turns out that I was wrong." I shrugged. "I am kind of tired, you know. My ears tend to buzz when I'm exhausted. I should've guessed."

Susan nodded uncertainly. She sheathed her sword and clapped my back: "Ok, if that's the case. Let's call it a night. You've improved a great deal. You deserve a good night's sleep. Even though our barracks are separated from the others and right beside the stables, they're still pretty comfy." With one last smile, she headed towards the exit.

I let out a breath. That was close. An image of two people floating in the air was pretty hard to miss, but then, it was just forming and blurry. I sheathed my borrowed gladius too and beckoned Bobby: "Come on. My limbs are falling apart. A shower and a soft bed is all I want now."

Bobby followed me without a word. My heart missed a beat when I met his eyes. They were uncertain and doubtful. He suspected. I waited for him to start accusing me, but he didn't. He just passed me and led the way towards the barracks. Watching his sweat plastered red hair, I felt guilty. All the time, Bobby had been a real friend, genuinely trying to help me around. He even saved me from falling to my death and volunteered to stand for me. But I was lying to him. I brought him nothing but trouble. For a second I almost ran up to him and told him everything, but I bit my lips and remained silent. I never thought I could hold so many emotions in me. It was too much. My chest hurt from all the things I had to hold in.

After Bobby made sure my new roommates would get me settled properly in the girls' barrack of the Fifth Cohort, he left with a goodbye as concise as you can get. The only person in Camp Jupiter that was actually concerned about me was now mad at me. It couldn't get worse.

I showered as quickly as I could and went to bed early. I considered putting my pin and Landyn's gun in my bedside drawer. But in the end, I went to bed with the pin still secured in my hair and the gun slipped under my pillow. I didn't fancy my roommates seeing the gun. It would just raise more questions. But the revolver was not something so easily concealed. I could only hope no one would be nearby to see it until I get to weapon shop in New Rome. After that, I could just say I bought it.

Since it was so early, the lights were still on and the others in the barrack were still chatting, surfing the net or reading. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. My body fell asleep the minute my head touched the pillow but my head was still overrun by thoughts. I tried to convince my brain to rest. It was no use. The smell from the nearby stables and compost pile was not helping. Also, he noise was too loud and more importantly I kept thinking of what happened at the amphitheater.

I was positive it was an Iris message from July and Landyn. Though the image was hard to see under the over bright lights in the amphitheater, I could still discern their faces. They looked so eager to see me. And they looked like they were in good condition. I wanted to laugh about my ridiculous worries before. Of course they would be fine. They were at Camp Half-blood, which was the safest place for Greek demigods. I wished I could speak to them. But that was unrealistic. I didn't know how to Iris message (I cursed myself for never asking July or Nico how to do it). Even if they Iris message me again, there would still be Romans to see it. And the Romans would never let me go after that. It would be almost a solid proof that I was a spy for Camp Half-blood. As Bobby now sees me, I remembered bitterly.

July or Landyn must've guessed I was transferred to Camp Jupiter by mistake. And now they've confirmed their guess. But did they know about Nico di Angelo? Did they know he fell into Tartarus…which was my fault? Tears stung my eyelids again as I reviewed once again the complete battle at the shore of Phlegethon in my mind's eye.

I recoiled to find my hand had reached under the pillow and gripped Landyn's gun. As my fingers curled around the cool metal trigger, the familiar feel calmed me down. I had to believe I would be able to give the gun back to Landyn myself, and thank him for keeping his promise of saving July. I imagined his playful grin, as if mocking me for dramatizing everything. With all the memories of the good times of our quest, I slowly drifted to sleep.

I dreamed I was in Camp Half-blood. Though I've never seen it myself, I recognized the place immediately from Nico's accurate description. It was night and the valley was dark but for the glow from the lava climbing wall and some green fire burning around a Greek styled building made of black stone in the midst of weird cabins. The camper's cabins, I guessed. There was another source of light. Lines of soft light peaked through the slits of the closed curtains of one of the simpler cabins—cabin 5. In fact, the whole cabin glowed faintly gold. With I smile, I knew this was where I really belonged—the cabin of Apollo, in Camp Half-blood. In the dream, I glided right through the solid door and into the cabin. Inside the cabin, little nightlights shone merrily at every bed side. Apparently, the phobia of darkness is a distinguished trait for children of Apollo. On the end of the girl's row of bunk beds, in the last bed, right under one of the huge windows, lay my twin sister. I didn't even have to see her face. I recognized her just by the figure under the covers. She had always liked to sleep curled in a ball. I felt happy and content for her. The cabin was fabulous. Her roommates looked all very nice and easy-going. She was definitely in good hands.

Then, I was swept out of the Apollo cabin and into an over-sized Barbie house. At least that was what I thought it was. In this cabin, everything was neat and pretty. On the boys side of beds, someone wasn't asleep as he should have been. Landyn sat on his bed, which was also next to the window, with his arms around his knees. His brown hair was tousled and his eyes vacant. As I drew closer to him, I saw he was staring at his hand. He rubbed his right wrist absent-mindedly. Slowly, a crease formed between his forehead, an expression of anger and regret took over his former poker-face. Was he remembering what happened at Phlegethon? I suddenly realized. Did he blame himself for my failing to escape to the right camp? I would reassure him and tell him it wasn't his fault, but this was merely a dream.

Merely a dream? A blood-chilling voice resonated in my head. I watched in terror as the face of the sleeping goddess formed in the trees outside Landyn's window. Landyn showed no signs of seeing Gaea, but I was frozen with fear and paralyzed in fury.

I managed to yell: "You planned it all! It was you who made Leo attack, wasn't it?"

The Dirt Woman smiled softly: "The children of the gods will slaughter each other. It has already begun. The Romans will march to Camp Half-blood in the matter of only weeks. But what do you plan to do, young one? You will be forced to fight for Rome."

"I will not fight the Greeks." I growled. "The two camps can't go to war!"

"So you will refuse the orders of the praetor? Or you will try to go to the Greeks? Either way, you will be sentenced to death. No, ignorant child, there's nothing you can do to save both camps. This is the beginning of the downfall of the gods."

I trembled in anger: "I don't care! I will make them see the truth!"

Gaea rippled as the leaves of the trees rustled in the wind. "Why so consistent? Why hope? Let me show you something to teach you to despair."

My vision blacked and when it cleared, what I saw shattered me like stone breaking glass.

Your quest leader lies as well as dead, how's your hope now, my dear? Gaea's voice laughed in my mind.

"No!" I murmured, terror drowning me.

With a jolt, I woke. The barrack was absolutely dark. Before I took another breath, fear of the dark took over me. Frantically, I fumbled around my bedside drawers until I found the flash light. In the risk of waking everybody in the room, I switched it on. The bright beam soothed my pounding my heart a little, but nothing could erase the things I'd just seen from my mind. Somehow, I had a feeling I was not the only one who was exposed to this cruel reality this night. The rest of the night was spent in extreme uncomfortable conditions as I held the flashlight with the covers over my head so the light wouldn't disturb anybody else. In the heat of the closed space and the way too bright light, I hardly slept a wink.

xxx

It was a relief when morning arrived. When Susan saw me, she looked me up and down and inquired: "Did you survive a battle with the pillows in the night? You look terrible."

I yawned tiredly and replied: "Uh-huh."

"Hurry up and get ready, I think we'd better get you all your equipment set before Dakota comes back from senate meeting. In case the plan says we have to set out immediately. Romans never wait." Susan said as she tried different methods to make my hair look more "becoming" but in vain. She herself had got up 5 in the morning and was long prepared. In fact, everyone was ready, except for me.

Bobby didn't join us for my equipment shopping, which wasn't a surprise to me, though it made me sad. In low spirits, I got all the standard Roman soldier necessities (a set of Roman armor, a gladius, a javelin, a dagger and a shield), with the helpful and scrutinizing eyes of Susan. Once the shopping was done, Susan ushered me back to Camp quickly. Thanks to her, we were just in time.

As we hurried back to the barracks of the Fifth Cohort, Dakota was just assembling his Cohort members. Strangely, Octavian was there too, besides a very flustered-looking Bobby. With the permission of the centurion, I dumped my things on my bed and ran back out as fast as I could. Seeing I was finally in place, Dakota cleared his throat and began:

"The senate has decided. We will track down the Greeks who assaulted on our city and the betrayers who sided with the invaders. Meanwhile, we will travel to Camp Half-blood and avenge the honor of Great Rome. Here is the deployment of the Fifth Cohort."

Dakota took out a scroll and unfurled it: "Soldiers of the Fifth Cohort will form the team of trackers to follow the trail of Argo II under the leadership of their centurion. It is our task to bring those who violated the rules of Rome back to receive the punishment they deserved. Our targets are: Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Piper Mclean, of Camp Half-blood; Jason Grace, Percy Jackson, former praetor, and Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, formerly of…of the Fifth Cohort."

Dakota looked miserable as he finally spoke out the names of his former acquaintances. Everyone else was shaking their heads and frowning. Susan whispered to me: "I still can't believe Frank and Hazel went with the Greeks. Jason, I can understand. He must have been corrupted during all the time he spent in Camp Half-blood. I also can't believe the senate gave such an important job to us. Shouldn't it be the First or Second Cohort, according to routine? Everything just seems wrong!"

All I could think of was now I would never have the chance to contact July and Landyn. I had hoped if we were traveling to Camp Half-blood, I might be able to sneak a night off and somehow reach my sister. But my luck didn't allow me to have anything my way.

Octavian looked as if he couldn't care less about the scandal. Instead, he stared at me in a sort of gloating way.

Dakota continued: "This is a very important job, given to Cohort Five and Cohort Five only. We must not fail. We will not fail."

He closed the scroll and said: "We have until lunch to prepare. After lunch, we will set off. Remember to pay your respects to the gods at Temple Hill before the leave. Dismiss."

The campers immediately started discussing the extraordinary task and went into the barracks. Octavian quickly walked towards me, with Bobby following, whose face was growing redder and redder. I stopped my tracks and looked at Bobby questioningly but he refused to meet my eyes.

"Hello, sister, ready for your first task? Aren't you lucky to be offered such a good chance to prove yourself? You should thank me on that part. Reyna felt it inappropriate but I convinced her to give the Fifth Cohort a shot." Octavian smirked as he reached me.

"Yes, I'm quite prepared and I feel extremely honored. But I'm not your sister. I'm your great-great-great-great-… aunt." I answered civilly. There was no way he let Cohort Five take on this task for good reasons. Cohort Five was the weakest, even I knew. Octavian wanted to keep me away from Camp Half-blood and to see if I had enough loyalty and ability to complete this task. Also, he planned this to let people who were former friends to fight each other, so as to deepen the hate between the Romans and the Greeks.

The smile on Octavian's face slipped off. He narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice: "Watch yourself, Loras, I don't trust you. Neither do the Lares. According to Bobby, something strange happened last night at the amphitheater."

He paused, obviously enjoying the look of disbelief I couldn't help giving Bobby.

"Don't worry, I'll find out what's about you, Graecus or not. We'll see how you feel then once I do." Octavian sneered and left briskly, leaving me to stand fuming.

"I-I-I'm sorry, June. I just-just thought it was s-s-strange and I had to report it." Bobby stammered, his face a well shade redder than his hair. I wanted to get angry at him but I couldn't. He was just doing what he was trained to do. If I had to blame someone, I could only blame myself. I failed to escape and now I got myself stuck in trouble knee high.

I managed a smile and reassured Bobby: "It's Ok, Bob. Don't apologize. You did the right thing."

Bobby looked up in surprise: "You…you mean you are a spy?"

I looked innocently at him: "Of course not, Bob. Why would you think that? It's just that you were mistaken. It'll be all right once Octavian finally sees I'm guilty-free."

Oh gods, how could Bobby be so bad! It seems that he is a rule follower before he is a loyal friend! But don't hate him. He's just being honest.

Ah! I'm so evil. Now June has no real friends at Camp Jupiter at all!

Anyway, how did you like the chapter? Please read & REVIEW!

(Reader: "You want a review?"

Me: "Yes, yes, yes, please!" *puppy face* "I promise to post on time!")

-Amber-