Chapter 22 - Camp Jupiter
Kronos had refused to take them across the state.
It had irritated Luke initially, and it still did a week later when they finally entered California. The two-day long journey had been extended due to the sheer number of monsters after the three demigods, and Luke couldn't drive continuously either.
Monsters were reforming slowly, but the demigods couldn't stay in an area after a monster attacked, so breaks were short.
As if that weren't enough, Jason was so nervous about meeting his Roman friends again that he kept sparking and short-circuiting the car.
"Alright, Roman," Luke said. "Show me how to get there."
"Kronos?"
"He'll come when I ask," Luke promised. "But don't expect him to play along any further. He's a Titan, not a pet."
Jason frowned. "I don't want him attacking them."
"You'll have to ask nicely and hope he's in a good mood," Luke said flatly. "An offering or several wouldn't hurt either. Especially when it's from you. Might be a good start for an apology."
The son of Jupiter scowled at him. "It was war. He lost. I'm not apologising because you fought for the wrong side."
"The wrong side is debatable," Luke retorted. "I'd have said you fought for the wrong side."
Jason's scowl darkened. "The Titans are evil."
Luke's hands tightened on the steering wheel. He had the urge to crash the car – since he still had the Curse of Achilles he'd survive, even if the other two didn't. Luke took a calming breath, remembering what Kronos had divulged to him. Not now – wait for the right moment. "In my opinion, the gods are evil."
"Don't," Piper snapped from the back. "Don't start this again."
Luke ground his teeth. "As long as he remembers not to expect too much, that's fine. I'm only here to keep Kronos from starting another war."
"Luke."
Luke rolled his eyes. "Fine. Roman?"
Jason pointed towards the Caldecott Tunnel. "There. But we'll have to leave the car and walk to avoid blocking the traffic."
"Fine by me," Luke drawled as he left the car on the edge of the road. "I quite like hiking."
Luke had met some Roman demigods in the war, and killed many more under Kronos' orders. He wasn't quite sure what Jason wanted to achieve by marching him and Kronos into the Camp, but the instant it looked like there was treachery intended, he wasn't going to hesitate. He hadn't been present when the Roman War Machine had crawled up the sides of the mountain and assaulted the fortress, he had been too busy in Manhattan trying to stop Kronos from mating with Percy Jackson. But the few demigods who'd survived the assault of the Legion had told him what had happened. If it wasn't for Kronos' army still trying to regroup, Luke would have happily returned the favour.
Luke's eyes narrowed as he eyed the two Legionnaires standing guard at the entrance to the Roman Camp. Both in Roman armour with those purple shirts underneath, they looked particularly bored until the three demigods started towards them.
They both gaped open-mouthed. "Jason?" The girl's eyes reminded Luke instantly of Kronos, only far softer. More like honey than the molten gold of the Titan's eyes, but there was still an odd resemblance. She looked surprised to see him, but quickly recovered. "I mean – Praetor Grace."
Jason looked more like a homeless kid than a Praetor of the Roman Legion, but he straightened up at the title. "Probatio Levesque," he greeted, then glanced to the other kid. "Legionnaire. Hazel, you wouldn't mind escorting us into Camp, would you? I have news."
"Of course not," Hazel agreed, looking rather pleased that she'd been chosen over the other kid.
And so it was that the three were led into enemy territory.
Luke wasn't nearly as impressed as Piper. While she'd never seen Camp Jupiter before, Luke had. In fact, he'd often spied on the Romans himself during the war and had marked out every inch of their camp for future reference.
As they entered the camp, word spread ahead of them of Jason's return until there were dozens of Romans watching them. Jason didn't seem too concerned, instead keeping his head high as Hazel escorted them straight to the Via Principalis and from there through the Pomerian Line – where their weapons were taken from them by a talking, armless statue – to the Senate House where the other Praetor Reyna, Luke guessed, was ready and waiting for them along with the Senate.
"Thank you, Probatio Levesque, you are dismissed," Reyna said flatly.
Hazel turned and left the Senate House.
"Praetor Grace," Reyna said, "who have you brought home with you?"
"Luke Castellan and Piper Mclean," Jason said.
Luke inwardly rolled his eyes at all the formalities of the Legion. Honestly, they just wasted time. "Praetor," Luke greeted.
"Graecus," a voice muttered from amongst the gathered senators.
Jason's jaw clenched. "I have news," he announced. "There is a new enemy gathering their forces."
"Graecus!"
"Not the Greeks," Jason firmly said. "They're our allies in this new war."
"Allies?" A scrawny senator spoke up. "They've invaded!" Luke raised an eyebrow at the senator who'd spoken, the one who could almost be his double. If not for him being scrawny and built vastly different from Luke, like a scarecrow. He was Luke, but without years of weapons training to hone his body.
"Octavian," Reyna sighed, "we have convened to hear where he has been. Not to spread baseless accusations."
"Thank you, Praetor," Jason said. Reyna's lips twitched as Octavian grumbled, but sat back down. "Lady Juno took my memories," Jason said, "and traded me for a demigod called Percy Jackson. I have spent the last few weeks with the Greeks." Angry mutters started amongst the senators, but Reyna seemed remarkably composed. "The threat that is rising had managed to kidnap Juno, and we had to save her. We succeeded."
"What is the threat?" Gwen – the centurion for the Fifth Cohort – asked. "Saturn?"
"No," Jason said firmly. "No. Kro – Saturn – isn't the threat that I'm talking about." Luke noted that Jason was careful to specify that he wasn't the threat. "Terra," Jason said. "Mother Earth. She's raising her giant army. She's the one behind the increased monster activity, and the monsters not dying. We're not sure how yet, but she's definitely behind it. It's why the gods have gone silent – they know that she's rising, and they're preparing. We need to do the same."
Reyna was frowning as she looked at Jason, even as the other senators made various horrified sounds that made Luke smile. The Praetor had picked up on something that Jason had wanted her to – his slip had been intentional. "Saturn. You mentioned him in the present tense. He's gone – he faded back into Tartarus after we toppled his throne."
Luke noted that all the scars from that war were still fresh, something that gave him immense satisfaction. At least they'd made their mark on the Roman Camp in return. "He hasn't," Luke said. "And he's called Kronos. Word of warning? Start calling him Saturn and you'll find that you're hung from the top of the Senate House by your own intestines."
Reyna scowled at him as several of the Senators made exclamations of anger.
"Luke," Piper snapped.
"What?" Luke lifted his head to look Reyna in the eyes. "Just something that could save your life."
"How do you know him enough to say that?" Reyna demanded.
"Luke was-"
"His unfortunate camp-mate for the past few weeks," Luke said, cutting over Jason before he could tell the Roman Senate that Luke had hosted the Titan and tried to destroy the gods. He assumed that wouldn't go down well. Luke had heard horror stories about Legionnaires being sown into a sack with weasels and dumped into the Little Tiber for punishment. Luke was rather fond of not drowning.
"Praetor Grace?"
Jason took a deep breath. "While we were scaling Mount Othrys and toppling the black throne, the Greeks defended Olympus from Kronos' direct assault."
"Why are we only just hearing this now?" Reyna demanded.
"What – Annabeth hasn't told you?" Luke asked. "Yeah," he said in response to the sharp look Reyna gave him, "we know you have her."
"Kronos is an omega," Piper said, her voice calm and soothing enough to stop Luke's animosity in its tracks.
Reyna seemed surprised at that knowledge, as did the rest of the Senate. Octavian snickered as if it were the best news he'd heard all week. "I can see where this is going," he sneered.
"Piper's right," Jason said, "Kronos is an omega. I'm not entirely sure of the details myself, but the Greek hero I was traded with – Percy Jackson – is an alpha, but more importantly Kronos' alpha. The gods decided that with Kronos now bound to a Greek demigod, they could keep him sworn to Olympus. So Kronos isn't the threat."
"Prove it," Octavian called to Jason. "Prove he isn't a threat."
"And this Percy Jackson," Reyna said. She spat out Percy's name almost like a curse, causing Luke to raise an eyebrow. "The Greeks think we have him?"
"You're holding Annabeth," Luke pointed out. "If you have her, why can't you have him too?"
"We know you don't," Piper said, "but we were hoping for Annabeth back. She's an important part of Camp."
Octavian rose to his feet. "I'd like proof regarding Saturn."
"Kronos," Luke corrected. "Trust me, you don't want to call him anything else."
"If he's an omega," the Roman alpha said, "I'll call him whatever I wish and he'll accept it."
From the look on Jason's face, he was suddenly unsure about following through. "Luke?"
"It'll be entertaining at least," Luke said. "Last chance to decide otherwise."
Several of the Senators seemed in agreement with Octavian, though more likely because they wanted to see Kronos when he was 'harmless'.
"You can guarantee that he won't harm us?" Reyna questioned.
"No," Luke said honestly, "but I can ask nicely and hope he'll agree, though if any of you piss him off," he looked pointedly at his Roman not-double, "I won't be able to stop him." He won't want to either. "The only one he'll really listen to is his alpha."
"Octavian," Reyna said, "perhaps you'd like to wait outside?"
"I'd rather stay, Praetor," Octavian said curtly.
"Very well," Reyna said, before she nodded slightly at Luke. "If he'll come, then please ask. It seems that we require verification that what you claim is true."
Luke smiled. Lord Kronos – we're ready for your grand entrance. There's another me here who thinks he's the Emperor of Rome though, better watch out for him.
The reply came unsurprisingly fast. Even Emperors know to fear me. Luke grinned.
"What?" Piper asked when she saw the lunatic smile.
"He's coming," Luke said simply.
"Legionnaires," Reyna said, raising her voice so the demigods outside could hear her. "Could one of you retrieve Annabeth Chase and bring her here."
"Ave, Praetor."
Luke assumed that meant yes. "Thank you," he said. There were sudden shouts from outside the Senate House, and Luke raised an eyebrow.
Above them, one of the glass windows shattered, raining shards down over the gathered Senators. They all looked up, and golden eyes peered down at them in turn.
Luke raised a hand. "Kronos," he greeted.
The Titan's gaze flicked to Luke, before fixating on Reyna. "You must be that daughter of Bellona I've heard so much about."
Reyna swallowed. She put on a brave face, but knowing she was meeting Kronos and actually meeting him were entirely different. "Are you going to come down off the window?"
"No." Kronos' wings were arched out behind him beyond the window. "I'd rather not be surrounded by Roman alphas." He sat along the window sill. "I rather like it up here."
"Percy Jackson is your alpha?"
"Unfortunately. He seems to have gotten himself lost. You wouldn't happen to know where I may be able to find him?"
"There's no demigod called Percy Jackson here at Camp Jupiter," Reyna promised him.
Fortunately, even Octavian was cowed now that he was face-to-face with the Titan Lord. Kronos had that effect on demigods.
Kronos grunted. The Senate House doors opened and Annabeth was marched in. Her eyes widened when she saw the Greeks and Kronos. "Luke?" She asked, looking completely baffled to see him there with the Romans.
Luke grinned. "Hey, Annie. We're your rescue party."
Annabeth looked remarkably healthy for someone who'd been captured by Romans. Luke had heard all sorts of horror stories about Roman captives. The look of relief on her face at seeing him had anger bubbling.
"We can't trust them," Octavian snapped. "They're Greek."
"It's the prophecy of Seven," Jason snapped at him. "It's started and we're going to need the Greeks if we want to survive."
"He's lying," Octavian growled.
"Octavian," Reyna said sharply. "Are you accusing a Praetor of lying in a Senate session?"
"Regardless," Kronos said, "we Greeks were here first. Yes, I'm sure it would please Jupiter if we were to be killed, but it would displease Zeus. We're stronger than you Romans, since we're older. The older we are, the more power we tend to accumulate over the years. The Greeks would win, Roman – you can't win."
"The Legion stopped you."
"Actually," Luke drawled, "that was the Greeks. They fought him, you guys fought a mountain and destroyed a chair. Bravo. Well done." Of course, that was putting it lightly. While the Romans had, essentially, toppled Kronos' chair, they had also defeated the sizable force that Kronos had left at Othrys to defend his seat of power.
Octavian bristled at the implication that the Legion had done nothing to stop Kronos. "Listen here, Greek-"
"Senators," Reyna said loudly over the Augur. "Do you have anything to add?"
Kronos' eyes narrowed down at the gathered Senators, causing several of them to shift uncomfortably in their chairs.
"If this is all true," Gwen said, "then it would be a good idea to ally ourselves with the Greeks," she said. "If we're going to stop Terra from rising, we need all the help that we can get."
"A quest!" A Lars called. "Give them a quest to judge their worthiness. They will either fail or succeed."
"All in favour?" Reyna questioned.
The Senate unanimously decided to send the Greeks on a quest. Luke stared around at the raised hands and had the sudden urge to chop them all off. But up on the windowsill, Kronos looked particularly pleased at the outcome.
If his Lord was happy, then Luke was happy.
"Brilliant," Kronos said. "I have a suggestion."
Reyna pressed her lips together, debating whether it would be helpful or not. "And what is your suggestion, Kronos?" No title, but at least she hadn't called him Saturn. Kronos bared his teeth in a smile.
"The only evidence of Gaea's awakening so far was the capture of Hera," Kronos said. "I'd say you all need your own evidence that what they claim is true."
The Senate mumbled agreement.
"What's he doing?" Piper hissed at Luke, but the son of Hermes merely shook his head. He wasn't one to ask Kronos questions about his plans.
"Send the Greeks to find evidence. If they succeed and come back alive… then you have your proof and they've shown their worth. If they fail, then they'll die and you will be free to stop more Greeks from invading your precious Roman borders."
"Quests require prophecies," Octavian said. "We can't send one without a prophecy. I'll have to consult the Auguries-"
Kronos growled. "I have one for you," he said.
"Sired by fire, Blessed by earth,
the false giant has proven his worth.
Deceived by lies, trail of smoke,
One to suffer a fatal stroke.
Three shall find the stolen staff,
but fail to have the last laugh."
"Is that a real prophecy?" Annabeth asked. Octavian looked ready to protest following a prophecy issued by a Titan.
Even Luke was surprised with Kronos suddenly spouting prophecies. The Titan glowered at them. "Yes, it's real. Titan of Time – it allows me a degree of power over prophecy. There's your prophecy, Romans." He stood, spreading out his wings. "Now. When Percy Jackson shows up, if I find that any harm has come to my alpha, there will be consequences."
With that final threat, Kronos jumped back as he flapped his wings, shooting up into the sky and shattering every other window in the Senate House with the blast of air from his passing.
"Three of us," Annabeth said. "That's the three Greeks."
"Great," Luke said tiredly. "I hate quests."
"You will leave immediately," Reyna declared.
"Good luck," Octavian snickered. "It sounds like you'll need it."
This chapter may be the last one for a while. I'm going to pay far more attention to plot details from here on out (which will take a while for me to completely plan out (fun fact: I already know how this HoO arc will end, and it will be horrible for everyone involved)), and I'll be putting little hints into chapters. There's even one in this one somewhere - wait, two (one's a hint regarding the ToA arc of this story, but it's really subtle). Who's the false giant mentioned in the prophecy? You shall find out next time.
Matt: I just don't have the time to update anything other than CbD and this fanfic right now.
Ghostfall: Yes. You should be worried about Percy. Things will be very different this time. Yeah, you'll never get Kronos in a car with that many demigods around him.
Guest: Thanks! It's always nice to hear that I've improved.
ShadowsClaw: Wrote a little slower this time :). Things are probably only going better because I've moved out away from everything during the week... but hey. It's quite nice here.
