***Hi all! So this is a really short chapter, but I hope you enjoy reading it. I promise the next two are much longer and have more action. Chapter 17, featuring Piper's POV, will be up Wednesday, April 30 and Chapter 18, featuring Annabeth's POV, will be up Friday, May 2. Thanks for reading and, once again, I'm not Rick Riordan, I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit.***

XVI. PERCY

Percy hated waiting. For one thing, he was ADHD, which meant sitting still wasn't one of his strengths. But more than that, he liked action. At least in a fight, he knew where he stood. But waiting for a fight or, worse, waiting for someone else to come back from their own battle, was torture. Especially when it was Annabeth he was waiting for.

Percy remembered other times he'd had to wait for Annabeth to come back from something dangerous—when she'd visited the old oracle of Delphi in the attic a few summers ago, when she'd led a raid on a monster stronghold during the Titan war, most recently when she'd gone to meet Helen and Paris, and, of course, when she'd gone on her Mark of Athena quest. Considering that last one had gone epically wrong, even for them, when they'd fallen into Tartarus, Percy felt he was justified in being worried about her. He knew better than anybody that she was completely capable of taking care of herself, but still, he preferred being there to watch her back. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to enter the cave.

The barrier won't let someone pass with a Roman tattoo.

Percy examined the tattoo on his forearm, the symbol of Poseidon, or Neptune, whichever, with the single line underneath representing his first year of service. He'd never been resentful of the tattoo. To him, it represented belonging at Camp Jupiter and in New Rome and what that could mean for his, and Annabeth's, future. But he had never considered the fact that it might mean he didn't completely belong with the Greek demigods anymore.

"You alright, man?" Jason asked. He was sitting on the grass a few feet away from Percy, also watching the mouth of the cave their girlfriends—and Leo—had disappeared into.

"Just questioning my identity," Percy replied. "No big deal."

Jason laughed ruefully. "Been there. It was kind of a blow when the centurion ghosts wouldn't listen to me in the House of Hades. Apparently I'm not fully Roman anymore."

"And I'm not completely Greek, according to that stupid door," Percy said, gesturing to the offending entryway.

"Is that a bad thing, though?" Jason asked. "Why can't we belong both places? I mean, even though Camp Jupiter was my home for so long, I like Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp Half-Blood basically is my home, but yeah, I liked Camp Jupiter, too" Percy admitted. "And—and New Rome."

Jason's blue eyes were piercing and for a moment Percy was strongly reminded of Thalia when she was trying to extract information from him. But Jason didn't press him about New Rome. He just said, "There has to be a way to make peace between the camps. If Reyna, Nico, and Hedge can get the statue back, it's got to help."

"They'll manage it," Percy said. "Reyna's pretty tough. So is Nico."

Jason gave him a sideways glance that Percy couldn't interpret, but before he could ask what that was about, Jason said, "Do you still have that bad feeling about Eleusis?"

Percy hadn't thought about it much since they'd entered the first tunnel; he'd been too busy running from the giant bull, getting trapped in a closet, panicking in that weirdly silent room that drained their powers, and reliving some seriously craptastic memories in that stupid river to worry about any other weird feelings. But now he focused and realized the ominous feeling was still there, like a buzzing in his ears that made his heart race and his stomach churn.

"Yep," he said. "Still getting a really bad vibe from this place. You?"

Jason nodded. "Weird that it's just you and me, though. I wondered if it had something to do with the storm part of the prophecy. I mean, everyone kind of assumes that part is referring to either you or me."

"So maybe Gaea has a plan to go ahead and remove us from the equation while we're here?"

"Maybe."

Percy really didn't like that idea, especially since it sounded plausible. "If we hadn't already killed Polybotes again, I'd think it was him waiting for me here. Unless it's that giant king guy who's supposed to replace your dad."

"Porphyrion is the leader of Gaea's armies. I doubt he'd leave Athens just to kill us. We're not that special," Jason said with a dry smile. "Have you personally irritated any other monsters?"
"I have personally irritated an army's worth of monsters," Percy said. "I'm assuming you have, too."

"It's possible," Jason admitted. "What was it you said, though, about Polybotes and the other 'defeated ones' tracking you guys through Tartarus?"

An unpleasantly familiar voice spoke from behind them. "He probably said something about how these so-called 'defeated ones' were waiting to get revenge on you lackluster demigods for completely ruining their show!"

Percy and Jason both whipped around. All Percy got was a glimpse of a tattered leotard before something hit him on the head and the world went black.