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I'm doin' great, thanks.

(This chapter is still Roman. Come back for the next chapter at CHB.)

Reyna

"You mean you saw what?"

"This guy, maybe seventeen, has these freakishly freaky powers over water! And then they have harpies as slaves to clean up during the night, and tons and tons of cohorts! I mean, I always thought five was a lot, but they have, like, twenty or something!" Jason explained/exclaimed. "And they have this huge forest full of monsters, and an entire ocean to use to their disposal, and a whole whack of other stuff, like a climbing wall with lava—we have to get one of those, by the way—an amphitheater... oh, and they actually use bow and arrows. But there was no town; just the camp."

"This sounds like a very dangerous group," another senate counsellor commented.

"Let us prepare for war!" cried Octavian. "I'll—"

"Consult with the gods first," finished Reyna. "You know the rules, Octavian."

"But—"

"Octavian."

Grumbling, Octavian said, "Fine…" He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest in displeasure, fuming to himself.

"But we must be cautious," Reyna continued. "I believe Camp Jupiter must not be held in the dark of this information. We shall tell them after the War Games next Friday."

"I believe that that is a good plan," agreed Jason.

"All in favour?" asked Reyna.

Seven hands rose.

"Then it is agreed," said Reyna. "This meeting is now closed."

-o-O-o-

On Friday, after the War Games, everyone gathered at the mess hall for dinner. They usually had dinner before the games, but Reyna had tweaked that rule just this one time for the very same reason she was announcing.

Halfway through supper, Reyna and Jason shared quick nods and stood up in unison. Reyna tapped her goblet with her metal spoon gently, calling for silence.

"Some of you may know that Jason and I left last week for a monster hunt," said Reyna. A few people nodded to their friends. The rest nodded to themselves, now knowing why their praetors were missing for a few days. A few immature daughters of Venus cooed loudly as if knowing that Reyna and Jason had been using the monster hunt as the cover needed for an extended vacation/date. Reyna shot them a sharp glare that made them shut up immediately.

"Well, we weren't actually on a monster hunt," explained Jason. The girls of Venus giggled amongst themselves. "You see, we had some leads on another camp in New York."

The daughters of the goddess of love pouted as if expecting news of Reyna and Jason getting married or something but being disappointed.

"Like, New York the state or New York the city?" someone from the third cohort asked.

"City," said Jason. "We went to investigate, and it was there all right."

"Now, we aren't sure if this is just an unrecorded legion that we do not know about or not," Reyna continued for Jason. No point telling them it might also be Greek. "Octavian will finish consulting the gods to see whether or not these unknowns are a threat to our camp, legion, or New Rome."

Octavian stood up from his spot at the first cohort. He had done the tricky part of the offering at the temple; now all her had to do was finish. He took a stuffed toy from his belt—a cat, Reyna saw—as well as a knife. He cleared the plates off his table and laid the cat there. He chanted something for a few seconds, and then slit his knife across the toy's throat. He picked up the two pieces, quite a bit of stuffing falling out and landing at his feet, and held them above his head, still chanting.

After a minute, he lowered his arms. "The gods have spoken!" he cried out dramatically. "And they have told me…" He paused for a theatrical effect that made Reyna roll their eyes but had everyone else sitting on the edge of their seats. "They are not from a legion or even Roman. They are GREEKS!"

No one spoke for ten very long seconds. It was so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping would have sounded like a nuclear missile attack.

"Are you sure, Octavian?" Reyna asked to clarify, the vow of silence being broken.

"The gods have spoken," repeated Octavian, lying down the two pieces of cat down on the table once more. He pressed his hands together as if he were in prayer. "And that is what they have said."

"All right, then," said Reyna awkwardly.

"We must prepare for war!" Octavian yelled quite loudly, shedding off his humble Mr Innocent act. "We defeated the Greeks once many millennia ago—we must do it again now! All of New Rome is at risk! We must attack before they do! We—!"

"Octavian…" warned Reyna.

"We can take 'em!" some kid in the fourth cohort shouted.

"But before concluding the decision we must have a—" Jason started.

"Senate meeting?" finished Octavian with a tinge of smugness. He pretended to be bored by faking a yawn. "Been there, done that. Now is the time for war! Even the new prophecy says so!"

"But the rules say—" started Reyna.

"Even when our race, our culture, our very Roman ways are at risk, all you can think of are the guide lines?" Octavian demanded. He smacked a fist into his other hand. "This is an issue that involves every Roman citizen, so we shall have our 'meeting' here." He turned to the rest of the camp. "All in favour of going to war with the Greeks, raise your right hand and yell AI!"

Nearly every right hand in the room rose with a chorus of voices yelling 'ai'. Jason and Reyna just stood there, unable to protest against that.

"Octavian, need I remind you that we are the praetors of this camp, and so we make the decisions?" demanded Reyna in a tone that said, If you defy me once more you will end up like that poor cat you just killed.

"Of course," said Octavian. "But, Reyna, need I remind you that your entire raison d'etre is to protect the legion and New Rome? Do what is best for your camp's safety?"

"And declaring war on possibly hundreds of harmless Greeks is safe?" demanded Reyna. "More than just a few people could die. And I'm saying both Greeks and Romans. We don't know their strengths, or strategies—heck, we hardly know if they even are Greeks."

"The gods have—"

"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Jason. "The gods have spoken or whatever. But Reyna has a point. Just marching up there with weapons ready isn't a good idea."

Octavian started to say something snappy back, but caught himself, and self-composed. "Of course, you are correct," he said politely.

"We are?" Jason asked. Reyna knew better than to believe Octavian had given up that easily.

"What are you planning, Octavian?" she demanded, hands on hips.

"An infiltration!" Octavian declared with raised arms. "Spies among the campers! We'll send a couple demigods into their camp to learn their ways! After all knowledge possible is acquired, we shall attack!" He turned to the rest of the occupants in the mess hall "All in favour?" he asked Camp Jupiter's campers.

This time, every demigod hand in the building rose.

Except for two.

"Octavian, this is insane," said Reyna.

But Octavian paid her no attention. "Who wishes to be the two demigods to pretend they are Greek?"

A few brave hands rose.

"We aren't agreeing to this," said Jason, crossing his arms.

"Four, then," said Octavian, ignoring him. "One from each cohort! I mean, five, then. I almost forgot to include the last one!" He laughed along with the rest of the cohorts with the exception of the fifth. "And past the end of the second month, we shall attack! Those Greeks won't know what hit 'em!"

The campers roared in approval.

-o-O-o-

The Romans are clueless,
Simple-minded and carefree.
But their next 'great' strategy
Will stir up trouble indeed.

Oh, thy prophecy! What does it mean? I don't know! Actually, I do know, but I'm not telling you!

*cue the evil laughter!*

MUAHAHAHAHA!

(Disclaimer: I don't own HoO.)

Now go to the review box or to my poll!