Chapter 4 Roman, Phoenix Arizona

"Come on Luna! You got this!" Roman shouted at his sister as she dashed forward past the other competitors, her braid flying behind her, flapping in the wind. He pumped his fist in the air cheering his sister's name as loud as possible, almost positive that she could hear him. He watched as his sister got her normal last moment burst of speed, sending her surging forward past the person in first place. He smiled proudly as his sister took the gold in the state track championship in the 100 meter run.

He hopped over the railing of the bleachers with ease, having done gymnastics and acrobatics his entire life. His sister was bent over and panting heavily, from the 1/4 mile run. Her hands rested on her knees as she took in deep breaths. He noticed at her choppy brown hair with multiple blond streaks laced through it had started to come apart out of the braid as he walked closer. He wondered why she hadn't put a feather in her hair like he and their mother had. Sure the streaks of blond weren't natural but the fact that she hadn't embraced their native American heritage bugged him a little, though he'd never tell that to her face.

"Luna! You did great!" he beamed as he got closer to his sister. Luna looked up, her electric blue eyes locking with his constantly changing color ones. His parents had always told him it was a weird genetic thing; his mom had the same eyes, the colors changing with her emotions like his did. For some reason the two were perfect mixes of their parents, Roman inheriting his father's blonde hair and his mother's eyes while Luna had their father's eyes and their mother's choppy brown hair, though she had put the blond streaks in honor of their dad and Roman, jealous of how they had the blond gene.

"Thanks," she breathed out, still trying to regain both her energy and breath, "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"Dad's teaching a lecture at the college about mythology and Mom's teaching one on script writing," Roman explained. He knew his younger sister was a little resentful towards their parents, blaming them for not coming to any of her events, he only wished that they had a logical reason why.

"Of course they are," Luna spat angrily as she walked over to her bag and stuffed a few loose things into the gym bag. She sat down on the bench, bending over to untie her running sneakers. She tugged them off and threw them in her bag before pulling on her Jesus sandals.

"Luna. They have to work to make sure we can continue to do our activities," Roman reported. This seemed to piss his sister off even more.

"You don't think I don't know that! I understand that! What I don't understand is why they can't afford to come to even one of our events! One of your gymnastics comps! They didn't even come to state finals for this! That's the problem," she spat.

Roman sighed and ran a hand through his hair pushing the shoulder length locks back, "I know Luna... I just... Can we not talk about this right now?" he asked.

"Sure. Like we ever talk about it or ever will," she mumbled zipping the bag up and sliding it onto her shoulder before turning towards Roman. She tugged a loose bang behind her ear and let out a sigh, "Let's just go home," she stated walking past Roman towards the parking lot.

"Don't you want your metal?" Roman asked.

"No. I have 3 more like it at home," she grumbled, "Why would I need another one when they don't even truly matter?"

Roman sighed and ran his hand through his hair once again in frustration. He knew he couldn't get his sister to understand just like that, he just hoped that one day she would. The two made their way to the 2011 Mercedes glk that waited for them, the silver coating shining in the sun. Roman climbed into the driver's seat while Luna climbed into the passenger seat.

He knew that Luna blamed their parents for not being there, he had at first too. Over time though, he'd realized if they came to every event, and missed teaching, he and Luna wouldn't have a roof over their heads along with all the activities they did. Still he did agree with his sister that they could come to one every once in awhile. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and jammed them into the ignition, and turned them to the right.

The car sputtered for a moment or two before it fully started. He looked around before pulling out of his spot, and driving quickly towards their house. As he drove he glanced over at Luna, her body tensed in anger towards their parents. She was watching the scenery of Arizona pass by, not even trying to strike up a conversation with her brother. The 30-minute ride home was like that the entire time, silence filling the air. He sighed and continued driving, pulling into their driveway a couple minutes later.

Roman pulled into their driveway, noticing that their parent's cars weren't parked in the garage like usual, they were probably still at their lectures. He also noticed that a package was stationed behind the door, the label looking like the FedEx one.

"You expecting a package Ro?" asked Luna as she slid out of the car using the nickname she'd given her brother years ago.

"No. You?" He replied, walking over and picking it up. Luna shook her head no.

"Must be a wrong address or something," Luna muttered as she walked past him and into the house, "Either that or Mom and Dad ordered it."

"It has their names on it... ours too," he explained closing the door behind him as the two made their way into the house. He set the box on the kitchen counter and examined it. "I'll leave it here for them to open."

"Wait. If it has our names on it, we have a right to open it. Maybe they're hiding something from us Rome, what if this is it?" Luna suggested angrily, stalking towards the package. She grabbed a knife from the counter and stabbed it into the box, ripping the tape as she cut through it like it was butter.

"Luna! We could get in trouble!" Roman exclaimed, trying to rip the package from her grip. She gave an exasperated look as she agilely dodged his attempts and quickly opened the box. Inside was not what she expected.

There were only 3 things in the box, the first thing was a golden coin, it look old and rusted. The second thing was an old bronze dagger, worn and blunt like it hadn't been cared for in a long time. The last and final thing was an envelope.

Luna automatically grabbed the envelope and dagger.

"Why the hell would someone send these to us?" she asked lifting the envelope up to the sun, trying to see what was inside.

"How should I know?" Roman answered picking up the coin and turning it over in his hands. He rubbed the face of the golden coin, feeling the bumps of metal under his hand. It felt so light yet so heavy to him for some reason. He quickly took note of the writing on the coin, Ivlivs.

"What are two doing?" Stated a voice from the doorway. They looked over to see their mom, with her ever-changing eyes filled with harsh curiosity. She strode into the kitchen and plucked the dagger out Luna's hands.

"Where did you get this?" she barked, demanding to know, once she had taken a good look at the dagger. Her voice was stern and commanding. Roman almost wanted to tell her, as did Luna. They both stayed quiet. "I asked you a question. Now tell me. Where did you get these!?" their mother ordered. Roman broke down first.

"Someone left it on the doorstep. It had all our names on it so we assumed we could open it." He stammered under his mother's glare. She nodded and walked over grabbing the coin away from Roman. "Was there anything else they came with these two things?" she asked. Roman was about to tell her about the letter but faltered under his sister's glare.

His mother snapped her head in the direction of Luna, "Luna. What else was there," she demanded to know. Roman was sure that their mother already knew there was something else in the package, and he also knew that if they didn't tell her they would be grounded till the next century.

Her mouth flapped open and closed like a fish before she looked down. "There was also this letter," she muttered, handing it over.

Their mother nodded in satisfaction and took the letter from her daughter's hands before opening it up. Roman watched as she pulled a piece of paper from the envelope and unfolded it, reading what it said. He watched as her eyes widened in shock, as she dropped the letter.

"Mom?!" he panicked rushing forward. He was so concerned with his mother that he didn't notice Luna picking up the letter.

"Mom… What's Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-blood? And what's this about a prophecy?" Luna asked letter in hand. Her mother looked at the floor, her mouth moving but no words coming out. Roman could hear her muttering something but he couldn't make it out.

"Mom... please you can tell us..." Roman pleaded, trying to persuade her.

"They're the old camps your father and I went to... we thought they were destroyed…" she muttered. They were so concerned they hadn't heard another car pull into the driveway and the door to the house open again.

"Piper? What's going on?" Came their father's voice. They all looked to the kitchen doorway, where he stood looking at them in confusion and concern. Their father quickly noticed the dagger and coin that rested on the kitchen counter and his eyes widened. "Those were destroyed," he stammered.

"So we thought," Piper replied, staring listlessly at the dagger on the grabbed the letter from Luna's hands and read it quickly, his eyes widening as he reached the end of the letter, he quickly recomposed himself and looked to his kids.

"Go and pack everything you need. We have to go," he ordered.

The two nodded but on the way out Roman grabbed the letter to read it for himself.

Piper, Jason, I'm so sorry I haven't written sooner but it's started. The prophecy is finally happening. Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-blood aren't dead, we've merged and become a single camp. The address is clipped at the bottom of the paper as is the prophecy.. But you two need to come back, we need you and the others to destroy this threat. Please come quickly.

-Camp

15 years after flames emerged,

The camps will be disturbed,

Son of doubt will follow afoot

following the path his father took,

Daughter of Judgement cursed upon birth

will have to unearth

what daughter of death denies the truth

the daughter of curiosity easily sees

What the Son of trust will have to prove

to all the gods and children too.

Old friends defying death must band together

to conquer the past, burying it forever,

In the dark ash of recklessness and mischief.

Next Chapter, Samantha "Sammy" Zhang