Chapter 21 - Missing

The day after the quest, Leo took everyone to Bunker 9, set deep in the forest in Camp Half-Blood. Between Kronos spilling the secret of Romans to the Camp and the old maps of the American Civil War in 1864, Jason can piece together what little remains of his slowly-returning memories.

He's still not certain where the Roman Camp is, but he's sure it'll come back to him eventually.

When Rachel returns to Camp, it's not with good news. "It's Annabeth," Rachel had said to Chiron. "Something's happened to her."

"Annabeth?" Jason echoed in bewilderment. "What do you mean something happened to her?"

Rachel shut her eyes. "I think she found the Roman Camp."

Jason swallowed. "What happened to her?" He asked.

"Let's take this inside," Chiron suggested. He cast a glance over the younger campers. "Out of their earshot."

Once they were safely within the 'war room' and the Camp counsellors gathered, Chiron turned to Rachel. "What happened?"

"I had a dream," Rachel started. "Annabeth stumbled upon the entrance to the Roman Camp, and the border guards – they took her to see a girl called Reyna."

The name sparked a memory for Jason, a dark-skinned girl wielding a spear against the Titan army as they stormed the fortress. "Reyna," he echoed, frowning slightly. "I recognise that name. Is she… is she okay?"

Rachel stared at Jason. "I'd assume so, considering she was able to give the order to have Annabeth kept in the barracks under armed guard and immediately turned to her senators to start planning a defence against the 'Greek invasion'."

"Oh," Jason said quietly. "That's…"

"Bad," Leo finished. "Very bad."

Chiron sighed. "I tried to warn her," he murmured. "Told her to wait. Was Percy there at least?"

"That's the other thing," Rachel said. "He wasn't. Percy wasn't there."

"But it's supposed to be a trade," Jason said, completely baffled. "Percy… he's supposed to be there, right?"

"Yes," Chiron mused.

"So… why isn't he?"

"The greater concern right now is what will happen to Annabeth," Chiron said. "Wherever Percy is, I'm sure Hera's aware."

"We're supposed to trust her?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"I have never doubted Hera's loyalty to her family, and to Olympus," Chiron said firmly. "Rachel, do you know anything of Kronos' whereabouts? Perhaps he knows something we don't."

"I'm sure he knows lots of things that we don't," Rachel grumbled, but she shook her head. "Absolutely nothing from him."

Chiron frowned. "That's concerning," he muttered. "Especially due to Gaea being behind the scenes. I doubt that she hasn't reached out to him at this point. No doubt the gods are keeping a close eye on him."

"He helped against Porphyrion," Leo pointed out.

"From what you said he didn't help much," Clarisse pointed out.

"That's not the point," Jason said sharply. "Chiron – what… what can we do?"

Chiron's tail flicked. "We can send a quest to the Roman Camp with you, Jason. Try to bargain for Annabeth's release-"

"But what about Percy?" Travis Stoll demanded.

The centaur shook his head. "We have to trust that Hera knows what she's doing. I'll see if I can find a way to get word to Kronos, wherever he's wandered off to again. Honestly – he's terribly difficult to keep track of. Perhaps he can help."

"Do you want to send a peaceful quest to Camp Jupiter or a declaration of war?" Jason asked sharply. "Bringing Kronos into the Camp will not be a good idea."

Chiron smiled. "Ah, perhaps it may seem. But, Jason, you should know yourself what the Roman opinion of an omega is."

Realisation dawned on Jason then. "Oh. That… that may just work."

"What will work?" Clarisse questioned. "Because if Kronos is going to be starting a war with the Romans, I want onto that quest."

Jason shook his head. "Greeks tend to view omegas as important, vital. For Romans, omegas are more of a sign of an alpha's dominance. A sign that the alpha is powerful. The stronger the omega, the stronger the alpha. Bringing Kronos into Camp Jupiter will make them listen to us, even if it's only that they're hesitating to attack. But introducing him as an omega mated to a Greek demigod? We'll be taken seriously. More importantly, if Percy does turn up there, he'll be recognised as not only a Greek – which could get him killed – but the Greek demigod whom managed to mate with a Titan. It could save his life."

"So we've got to find Kronos," Piper summed up. "Again."

Chiron sighed. "I'll see if the gods might know where he is. If only they answer this time. In the meanwhile, Jason, it seems that you'll be having another quest. Since Leo and his cabin will need to work on his Argo II, you should perhaps choose someone else."

"Right," Jason agreed. "Sorry, Leo. But we're going to need that trireme."

Leo nodded. "I know," he assured the Roman. "Don't worry, I've got it."

"Luke," Travis quietly suggested.

Jason frowned. "Why Luke?"

Katie Gardner nodded slightly. "That's not a bad idea," she mused. "Luke's close to Kronos. Since – I'm assuming – that Kronos won't particularly enjoy being dragged over to Camp Jupiter-"

"We're assuming that we can find him, then?" Lou Ellen questioned. "When not even Artemis could find him before?"

"It's the best option we have," Katie said sharply. "But anyway, Luke was always keeping an eye on Kronos. If it'll make Kronos more comfortable – so he doesn't start a war between us – then Luke should go with you, Jason."

"That makes three," Connor said. "Plus a Titan." He turned to look at Chiron. "Immortals don't count, right? In quests, they don't count towards the three person limit?"

"That's correct," Chiron said. "Though they are mentioned within prophecies, they don't count as a quest member."

"The difficult bit will be getting Kronos to agree," Piper said. "What's the chance of him agree to give us a lift across the state?"

"If you can manage that it'll be a miracle," Clarisse drawled. "He's not going to agree to being the transport. Getting him to join the quest will be difficult enough."

"There's also the concern over it being Gaea rising. Kronos' long absences…" Chiron mused. "He knows something that he's not telling us."

"He has no reason to," Piper said quietly. "He doesn't care for us, I could tell that much when I met him."

"Were you expecting him to?" Clarisse questioned. "He has no reason to even like us. The only reason he doesn't kill us all is because of Percy. And with Percy missing…"

"Luke has a driving license," Travis said. "He can get you across the state if Kronos won't."

"Let's assume that Kronos won't and go from there," Jason suggested.

"Luke will be able to contact him," Chiron added. "He always seems to be able to."

"Alright," Jason said. "When should we leave?"

"Wait until you've recovered first," Chiron said firmly. "I don't want more problems caused because you've left before you're ready. You won't be able to help Annabeth if you're not rested. In the meanwhile, I'll see if I can get in contact with Lupa and warn her you're coming. Perhaps she can warn the Romans so they don't assume it's an invasion."

"Lupa?" Travis asked. "Who's Lupa?"

"She's the Roman version of Chiron," Jason remembered. "All Romans find her and are sent on to Camp if they pass a test."

"What if they fail?"

Jason hesitated. "They die," he said.

"You sure she's like Chiron?"

"Maybe not," Jason admitted.

"What if this doesn't work?" Clarisse questioned. "If the Romans get any ideas of conquering us?"

Chiron's tail flicked. "We must prepare for that possibility," he admitted.

At that, the mood became decisively sombre. Jason shook his head. "It won't come to that," he firmly promised. "We'll stop it."

"Honestly?" Malcolm mused, speaking in Annabeth's absence. "Going into Roman territory with a Titan, a Roman and two Greeks sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"There's no other option," Jason said firmly. "We can't just leave Annabeth there. If Percy's there, he'll probably be killed along with her."

So, now things are starting to change. Because realistically, once Annabeth knows the general area of where Percy might be, she's not going to stay at Camp Half-Blood. Kronos spilling the beans earlier than in canon would have caused her to race off to find Percy before the quest returned. And, of course, the Romans wouldn't take kindly to a random demigod from Athena (a goddess whom in their Roman form, doesn't have kids and isn't particularly worshiped) appearing out of nowhere. As Octavian would say, 'It's a Greek Invasion!' xD. And I'm not even going to mention that SoN takes place 6 months after the end of TLH, so Percy is still hidden away by Hera somewhere.

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Ghostfall: I'm not dead yet, don't worry.