Ha! I updated on time at last! How long was it since I updated on time last time? Hehe…too long to remember. Anyway, this chapter came out a little unexpected, but I suppose in a good way. I have monthly exams for two days starting from tomorrow and an English competition next weekend, which was why I was so anxious to get everything done this weekend. Anyway, all this is boring. Let's just get to the chapter. :)

-Amber-

Disclaimer: The PJ series and HoO series belong to Rick Riordan…Gah, I'm tired of saying this! It's obvious!

Chapter 10 June

Before we assembled to set off, Susan took me to the Temple Hill to pay our respects to the gods, with a fidgety Bobby following. In my perspective, Bobby still didn't know what to make of me and the Iris message incident, but he also didn't want to get in bad terms with me since he's still responsible for me—at least for the time I'm in probation. I tried to ignore the glue-thick tension between us.

The sun was bright on the sun, scorching the back of my neck as we climbed up the small slope up Temple Hill. Great, I was already sweating before we even started on our task. Thankfully, the hill wasn't really big so soon, amazing alters and vaults started appearing along the crazy trail. Statues of immortals stood towering several feet over people's head among the buildings. First, we stopped at the Bellona's Temple, as tradition before leaving for war. A spear was driven into the ground in the middle of the Temple, demonstrating Camp Jupiter's condition at war. Both Susan and Bobby grew grave and grim, obviously taking this seriously. I tried to act genuine too, but how could I when I definitely wasn't planning to battle? I couldn't wait to leave.

After the Temple of Bellona, we paid visits to Susan's father Mercury's crypt and Bobby's mother Ceres' temple. When we passed Poseidon, I mean, Neptune's little building, I silently put in a prayer to the sea god. Praying that Percy can save Nico. A lump grew at the back of my throat but I pushed it down and quickly caught up with the others, who were leading me to Apollo's temple. When I saw my father's temple, I caught my breath. It wasn't much bigger than Neptune's, but it stood at the edge of a small cliff of the hill, completely bathed in sunlight. The snow-white columns and temple top seemed to glitter and glow. Stricken with awe, I stepped up and touched the solid walls. It was warm, soaked in the sun. As much as I didn't hold any respect to my irresponsible playboy father, I couldn't deny the relieving sensation of security and sanction the moment my skin contacted with Apollo's temple.

"There you go, the Temple of Phoebus, or Apollo, if you prefer. Go in and do whatever, we'll wait outside." Susan grinned, seeing my expression. Even Bobby couldn't hide his smile. I gave her a grateful smile and let myself in. Inside, the temple was just as satisfying. Open up and spacey, it didn't have much adornments, like all the other Apollo buildings. At the far end of the room, in front of an opening towards the cliff, a tall marble Apollo statue stood. On the altar at the feet of the statue, someone had put a bowl of fresh fruit, a couple of arrows and a lyre. I walked slowly, taking my time to enjoy the soothing wind blowing through the columns. Pausing right in front of the statue, I studied its face, deciding that it was fairly well made, though the jaw was too square. As I stared at the blank marble eyes, I wondered how I was ever going to get myself out of this mess.

Please, Dad, help me out. Tell me what to do. I thought. He didn't answer, of course. I turned and strode out of the temple before the emotionless, unfeeling stone of my father started to creep me out.

"All right! So all that needs to be done is done. Let's have lunch and we'll be off." Susan said cheerfully. I nodded in agreement and the three of us headed back towards the camp.

xxx

Lunch was a blur. Legionnaires wolfed down their food, rushed around asking each other last minute questions about packing and basically just panicked. Some of them even had their gear on already, trying not to poke themselves with sharp points while eating. I could guess they didn't really face wars, or rather, wars on fellow half-bloods, often. Chaotic as it was, a legion of prepared Roman demigods in uniform purple and denim were standing in crowds according to tasks at the clearing in front of the mess hall at last. Reyna gave a brief pep talk to the Cohort leaders and called out: "Soldiers of Rome, we will fight and avenge our honor."

The crowd cheered.

"There's not much to say. Let's just get going!" She ordered.

The crowd erupted into yells and roars, troops gathering and heading towards the Decumanian Gate, where people usually go through to leave New Rome. I quickly followed Dakota down the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I realized we were heading the opposite direction.

Much to my surprise and irritation, a familiar snooty voice answered: "Oh we're not going the usual way. Our task is special."

"What are you doing here?" I growled at the scrawny blond boy that materialized next to me. Dakota frowned at the sight of the augur but just took a swig of red Kool-Aid. I couldn't blame him, since Octavian held a considerably high position in the legion, after all. Octavian shrugged, smirking: "You didn't expect us to really let Cohort Five take on this task alone, did you? While Praetor Reyna will lead the way to Camp Half-blood, I'm going to supervise this hunt after the Graecus."

"And by the way spy on me." I muttered.

Octavian slapped me on the back, flashing a great fake smile: "That's right, Loras. I also have the responsibility to keep an eye on our newest member."

I was about to think up a retort but Dakota suddenly jerked into a stop, making me plant my face into the back of his over-stuffed backpack involuntarily.

"Oof." I stumbled back, rubbing my nose. "What's the brake for…?" The questions died in my throat as I looked past Dakota and saw what was in front of the troop. It turned out that we had reached a hill top, where more than a dozen of huge eagles were waiting. The creatures were beautiful. Their wings had a span of over two meters each, covered with steely feathers that glistened bronze under the sunlight.

"Hope you're not afraid of heights." Susan grinned, coming up next to me. I looked at her incredulously: "Are you serious? I'm a daughter of the Sun god; I'm supposed to love heights!"

So, according to Dakota, and an interrupting Octavian, the Fifth Cohort was supposed to travel with the eagles, as the fastest and most accurate way to track down ArgoⅡ．But since there was only about fifteen eagles and about 20 campers, a huge chariot was added. Dakota assigned his legionnaires to eagles quickly, instructing me to the chariot as I had never done any "flying training" before. In the chariot also, was Dakota himself, Bobby (because he was scared of heights) and a few others who I still couldn't recognize. Oh, forgot to mention, the ultimate brat Octavian butted in too. Mostly to keep a closer eye on me, I bet.

"So…how are we supposed to know where the Greeks have headed?" I asked Bobby, trying to break the ice between us. Since we were going to be in the same chariot for the rest of the task, I figured we'd better be in at least talking terms.

Bobby shrugged, shifting his armor over his purple camp shirt. "Our eagles are excellent trackers. They can catch scent of monsters and demigods alike."

I raised my eyebrows, "Cool." Silence fell again. I hated the awkward feeling. In the past, I never felt uncomfortable for the reason of no conversation. Even if no one else would talk to me, I could always talk to July. Suddenly, I found myself wishing for Landyn to be here. He could make everything lighter. He would cheer me up, like those times in the Underworld. Angry for no special reason, I turned away from Bobby, determined not to try making him to talk with me any more.

Eventually, everyone was ready. Dakota climbed in the chariot at last and yelled: "Cohort Five, set off!"

Instantly, demigods with the eagles cried out commands and the eagles buffeted their golden wings, creating wind storms so huge I felt I was going to be blown off the cart. The eagles rose into the air, each with a demigod clutched in their huge claws. I didn't think it would feel really comfortable, to be holding onto a cage made of claws. Not before long, our charioteers, the other two guys whose names I didn't know yet urged our eagle into the air too. With a lurch, the chariot shot into the sky, almost making me tumble out if it wasn't for Dakota's strong grip on my backpack. Octavian made a squeaking sound like a strangled mouse and grabbed Bobby to steady himself.

Once we were steady in the blues, I was captivated by the sensation of flying. We were soaring smoothly across the crystal blue sky, with the warm sun blazing over head. Holding my hand up to block the sun, I remembered that my father drove the Sun Chariot over the world like this very day. Now, I could totally understand why Dad could have stuck to this job for several millennia.

"Where are we heading?" I had to shout to be heard over the winds.

Dakota looked back and said: "From what I can see now, we're passing the Central California valley. I can't really know where the eagles are taking us since no one can understand bird language, of course."

"I'm guessing the Great Salt Lake." The charioteer with deep tan and buzz-cut black hair said. "The ship should be suffering serious damage, last I've seen it, so the Greeks will need supplies to fix it. The nearest location where there are materials demigods need to build stuff is the Great Salt Lake."

I couldn't help exclaiming: "Wow. With only one look, you can make such an educated guess? That's awesome."

The other charioteer, who was dark skinned and curly haired, piped up too. "It's not so awesome, really. He's Rick, son of Vulcan. Fixing and building is in his blood. You're the new girl, right? June…something."

"Loras." I offered.

"Loras." He grinned sheepishly. "Welcome to the Legion. I'm Howard. My Dad is Mercury."

"Oh! So you're Susan's half brother!" I nodded. I wondered if there were any other children of Apollo in the Cohort. Even thought they would be Roman and I was Greek, it would still be nice to have pretend half-siblings. In the dream I had about Camp Half-blood, I had quite a few of Greek half-siblings waiting for me there.

"Are all the friendly greeting over yet?" Octavian sneered. "We're slowing down. Competent Roman soldiers should be now getting ready."

I glared at him but didn't respond. There's no use talking sense to him. Instead, I peered over the chariot. He was right. We were gliding over a beautiful lake that reflected like a silver mirror. Some way ahead of us was a small island with a salt-white shoreline. Our chariot was ahead of most of the other eagles, diving down into the small town on the island.

We found an empty football field to land in. After all the demigods were assembled on the ground in front of our chariot, Dakota boomed: "It's not certain whether our targets are here or not. I and the others in the chariot will scout the town. All the others, circle the island in air and watch out for disruptions."

The other eagles took off again with their poor handlers holding onto their claws again. Dakota decided we should spread out so we split in three groups. Howard and Rick went together, Dakota took Octavian and I was left with no other but Bobby. I groaned inwardly but there was no choice.

The two of us wandered in the town, passing mortals going on with their daily activities, blissfully ignorant to neither the second Giants War nor the second Civil War. No words were exchanged between us. We just walked on, looking around for suspicious teenagers and attracting stares with our matching Camp Jupiter mission outfits.

It was when we were passing a roof repairing shop that Bobby suddenly pulled me back by my backpack shoulder straps.

"Shhh! Look!" He hissed, hiding besides the store exit, motioning me to follow suit. If it was me to say, I thought hiding was no use because his red hair was a natural signal flare. But still, I stepped back and peered into the store. My heart missed a beat when I saw a familiar tall slender guy with wind swept black hair at the counter talking to the storekeeper.

"Percy Jackson." I whispered. I couldn't believe our luck.

Bobby nodded, wiping sweat from his brows. "And Frank. The Camp Half-blood girl is there too."

Indeed, besides the son of Poseidon, a big Asian guy and a pretty blond girl inspected buckets of steaming sticky black goo.

Bobby explained: "That's tar, I think. It's for the ship. I guess Rick was right."

I nodded. But what I was really thinking was: I'm so not going to attack them. They hadn't really done anything wrong. And Leo didn't fire on New Rome on purpose, as I had seen it with my own eyes. But if they were caught, according to Camp Jupiter's rules, they are bound to suffer an excruciating punish.

I was pulled back to reality when Bobby said: "Ok, I think I can control the racks." The buckets of tar were stacked neatly on a display rack made of wood. "While I stall them, alert the eagle." We were all given a golden whistle whose sound will notify the eagles of our position. "He will take Dakota and the others here. There should be other Greeks, but we can't risk letting these getting away."

"No! Wait…" I started. But it was too late. Bobby was already concentrating on the wood. I watched in horror as the rack started to tremble and shake behind the three unnoticing demigods. Whoosh! The rack burst into thick plant stems, sending the buckets of tar flying into the air, spraying the stinking goo all over the place. Annabeth screamed, jumping aside to avoid the tar rain, but a chunk still hit a patch of her hair. Percy and Frank whirled around, each getting a full embrace of tar on the chest.

"Ow! Ow！Hot!" Percy yelped as he swiped away as much tar as he could.

"Tar monster!" The baby-faced Asian cried out in horror.

I had no time to see how our "targets" were fighting with Bobby's live tar bucket rack. Bobby had noticed I wasn't using the whistle, which was hanging around my neck, as I was supposed to.

"What are you doing? Call the eagles!" Bobby urged, at the same time trying to stay out of sight.

I shook my head violently, clutching the golden whistle so hard the cold metal cut into my palm. I had to think up a plan. And fast, before Percy and the others realize it was not a "tar monster" and find us. I didn't know whether it was because of the chaos inside the shop or the fact that I had been pushing the limits of my lying ability, I couldn't find any excuses.

"Hurry!" Bobby forced through clenched teeth, his face reddening in the attempt to keep his wood creation functioning. "What's wrong with you?"

I drew a shaky breath. There was only the last straw left. I fought down tears and said: "I can't."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm one of them."

Bobby's expression was of pure shock. His concentration broke and the wooden racks shuddered to a stop, much to the astonishment of the demigods inside. Bobby stared at me wordlessly. I pulled him behind a huge advertisement board to hide as Percy ran out of the shop lugging a full bucket of tar he saved from the remains. The other two sprinted after him, calling out apologies to the bewildered store keeper and anxious to escape in case of the resurrection of the tar monster.

Bobby seemed confused. Subconsciously, he pulled out his whistle to blow. I pushed it down and looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry. But I can't attack the Greeks."

The uncertain mist in Bobby's eyes finally cleared away to reveal his anger. "What are you talking about? It was a chance in a million! We could've caught the traitors! We could've really done something great!"

I felt I was being punched. Bobby was just trying to follow our task, trying to avenge his camp, trying to bring honor back to New Rome, but I ruined everything for him. I knew it was time to spit out the truth. I owed it to him.

"Listen, Bob." I said, keeping my voice level. "All of this, ArgoⅡ attacking, me showing up at Camp Jupiter, it's all a mistake."

Bobby's eyes narrowed in suspicion. But I pushed on: "Leo didn't attack the city on purpose. He was possessed. I was there and I saw everything."

He widened his eyes but still had his guard on.

"Do you really think the Greeks are all bad guys? Are you convinced they would attack Camp Jupiter just because the two camps follow different aspects of the gods? This isn't right. The Giants War has started, and demigods should reunite to win this war."

"But how do you know?" Bobby finally spoke, arguing. "You're not them. Who knows what the Greeks are planning!"

I sighed. "I've never been to Camp Half-blood. Yes, that's the truth. But I'm Greek. That's the truth too." I paused, watching Bobby's face.

The color had drained out of his usually red face. "You…You are a spy!"

"No. I'm not a spy. I have no previous contact with Camp Half-blood before speaking with Percy."

But Bobby was so panicked he wasn't really listening. He stuttered, looking utterly lost: "I should report you to Octavian! His guess was right! I should…"

"You should shut up and listen!" I snapped, patience running thin. "Trust me! Camp Half-blood wants war no more than you do. As I said, they were set up. I think Gaea did this to tear the two forces of demigods apart. As the Great Prophecy goes…"

"You know the great prophecy?"

"Yeah, but as I was saying, the Great Prophecy indicates that we will never win this if the two camp don't unite. We can't war on each other. Don't you understand?" I finished exasperatedly, hoping with all my might that Bobby could see some sense.

Frowning, he remained silent for some time. At last he said softly, "So…why didn't you tell anyone?"

I almost cried in relief. He's starting to understand. "Because no one would believe me. If Octavian hears me, he's make me a conspirator. I'll be probably killed and Camp Jupiter will still war on Camp Half-blood."

After another period of silence, He said: "I believe you."

"Really?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"Yes. You don't seem like that kind of people who would want the end of the world. I'm sorry I doubted you." Bobby looked down, playing with the hem of his shirt.

I couldn't help breaking into a smile. "Thanks Bobby. I'm sorry I lied."

"Nah. I wouldn't dare tell the truth too if I were you. Just know I'm your friend, Ok? I'll help you out. But, one last thing: Can you tell me why you're so sure Camp Half-blood isn't really full of lunatics that don't care about Gaea destroying the world?"

I smiled. That was easy. "Before I came here, I was questing with three other people. The quest leader is from Camp Half-blood and I trust him."

"You were questing? Then where are the other guys?"

"Two of them are at Camp Half-blood right now. The other, our quest leader, he's… well, Percy's going to save him."

Bobby looked confused, but that was all what I can say.

"Oh damn. It's past the time to meet up. We have to hurry. I hope Dakota won't get too angry." Bobby checked his watch. He ducked out of the advertisement board and started to run, gesturing me to follow. "Come on!"

I grinned and ran after him. It felt good to tell the truth again.

So… what do you think? I just love to create plots for my characters to participate in the original story but still remain unseen or unheard of so it doesn't contradict with the original povs!

-A-