Act I Chapter XXXVI: The Demigods Hail a Cab

"Are you ready?" Annabeth asked as she looked down at Reyna. The demigod nodded and took a deep breath. Annabeth looked to her side. Luke had his hand holding down Reyna's good shoulder. Percy stood off to the side and watched them nervously.

Annabeth studied Percy for a moment. A son of Poseidon. How could she not see it before? Of course he had to be special. Why else would he have a sword that could turn into a pen? Not to mention how well he picked up sword fighting in general. Or how his eyes were green like the sea.

It also explained why Lupa had them on the move much more, and it wasn't just because of the hellhounds attacking them. Annabeth frowned, she figured the big guy downstairs was after them because they were the last of the demigods. She just didn't realize it was because a son of Poseidon, a possible child of the prophecy, was with them. It explained so much.

Including how the Three Furies tried to kill Percy at the art museum. And how Kampê knew exactly what cell they were in. What other dangers would Percy face? Annabeth wasn't sure, but she knew that she didn't want Percy to face it alone.

Annabeth moved her gaze to Luke. While she did want to tell him Percy's secret, she had made a vow. Annabeth did not intend to break it. Instead, he would help Percy become comfortable enough with Luke to tell him of his own volition. Same with Chiron. Granted, Chiron could already know. It wouldn't be the first time he hid something from Annabeth.

Then, there was this prophecy. Annabeth only knew that it had something to do with a child of the Big Three that would save or destroy Olympus, but there had to be more details in the prophecy. If only they could find them.

Annabeth was going to help Percy save Olympus. It didn't matter what they had to do or what monsters, or even immortals, they had to face. Annabeth would be by his side, and she had no doubt the others would fight just as hard.

"Annabeth?" Luke asked. Annabeth blinked back to reality and looked at him. "Do you need help?"

"No," Annabeth answered as she adjusted her grip on Reyna's shoulder. The Roman tensed. Annabeth just hoped she didn't mess this up and cause Reyna more pain. Or cause another injury. "On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"

Annabeth went to pop Reyna's shoulder back into place. Instead, she froze up. What if she screwed up and did more damage? Why did she agree to do this in the first place? She had never set someone's shoulder before. Annabeth hesitated before letting go.

"I might need you to," Annabeth began as she looked at Luke. He nodded, and the two of them switched places. Annabeth gently placed one hand to Reyna's back and another to her good shoulder. Reyna shook underneath her touch, but it was tough to tell if it was from the pain or the cold. Or both. "I was just worried about doing more damage."

Luke had his hand on Reyna's shoulder, but he froze upon hearing that. Luke hesitated and then let go, "Damn it. Now, you have me thinking that."

"It can't be that hard, can it?" Percy asked. "Don't you just pop it back into place like snapping two Legos together?"

"I wish," Luke commented. Reyna sighed and hung her head. She cradled her injured shoulder. "And, we don't know if your collarbone is broken too. It might be smarter to-"

A sick crunch interrupted Luke, and Reyna's jaw visibly clenched as a muffled noise escaped her. Reyna lowered her hand and let out pained breaths, "-or you can just put your shoulder back into place yourself."

"You were taking too long, idioto!" Reyna spat impatiently as she slowly stood. Annabeth tried to hide her glare as she steadied the Roman. Her gaze moved to Luke, who looked unfazed by the insult. "We should get going."

"You need to rest," Annabeth argued. "We can find you somewhere to sleep while we go to Camp Jupiter."

"No," Reyna declined. "Let's just get this over with and return the bust. Do you even know where Camp Jupiter used to be?"

"No," Annabeth admitted. Reyna raised an eyebrow, and Annabeth decided to ignore it because she knew that Reyna was in a lot of pain. "I have a good idea of what's near it, though. Lupa talked about some tunnel: the Caldecott Tunnel."

"Is that far from here?" Percy asked.

"Only one way to find out," Annabeth said. "We need a taxi."

"I'll get it," Luke offered. He walked away from the bench. Annabeth slowly looked around. It had been easy enough to connect back with their tour group, especially since they evacuated the building because of what sounded like some kind of explosion. From there, they took a ferry back to the shore.

Annabeth's back was feeling slightly better, but the back of her head still ached from crashing into the water from such a large height. The ambrosia helped, and she just needed a day or two to feel completely better. She could rest when they were back with Chiron.

Reyna slowly cradled her arm close to her chest. Annabeth studied her and tried to keep her anger in check. Not only did Reyna disregard Luke's order and get the attention of a monster that nearly killed all of them, but she also snapped on them when they were only trying to help. They would talk about it when they were somewhere safe.

"I think you're going to need a makeshift sling. I can make one using your jacket," Annabeth finally said as she pushed her annoyance and anger to the side. "If you want."

Reyna glanced at her and slowly unzipped her jacket. She carefully took it off and handed it to Annabeth. Her hand instantly shot back to her shoulder. As Annabeth made the sling, she found herself examining the demigod in front of her. She couldn't remember the last time that she had seen Reyna without a jacket.

"That's a bad dent," Percy commented as he stepped towards them. Annabeth winced as she saw Reyna's armor was dented at the breastplate and pauldron. Reyna hesitated before slowly starting to take her armor off. Percy quickly helped.

As they finished removing the armor, Annabeth helped Reyna put on the makeshift sling. Reyna carefully grabbed her backpack and opened it. She started to put her armor inside, and Percy quickly moved to help her.

Annabeth studied Reyna. She was wearing a black shirt that had a few holes in it. And, she was really fit. A lot more muscular than Annabeth was expecting. Maybe, Reyna wasn't lying about training when she disappeared when she was supposed to be sleeping.

"Is that helping any?" Annabeth asked as she grabbed Reyna's backpack for her and slung it over her shoulder. Percy studied them and carefully picked up the bust.

"It is," Reyna answered. "Thank you. And Annabeth, I'm sorry about earlier."

"I'm sorry too," Annabeth replied after a few moments. She was still suspicious about Lupa, though. The wolf goddess knew too much and just didn't share it.

"Lupa doesn't train any Romans in secret," Reyna explained with a sigh like she was reading Annabeth's mind. She looked out at the water. "Lupa told me that the gods have Greek and Roman personalities, with the Roman one being more... strict. The Romans adopted a lot of Greek religion, and that included the gods. They adapted Roman ideals to their personalities, and this split the two into different pantheons.

"As far as I know, the gods know exactly what happens no matter which aspect is in charge, but that all changed when the demigods went to war. It caused a fracture that only got worse and worse," Reyna continued. She slowly looked back at them and focused on Annabeth. "When the gods lost themselves, most of them clung to one aspect, one personality. The Greek one. So many of their kids would be Greek. Lupa thinks I'm one of the last Romans."

Reyna looked away and stared at the water. Annabeth watched her quietly and processed the information. Percy spoke up, "If we bring the camp back and help the gods, will they still be split like that?"

"If a demigod civil war was one of the reasons for the split, it sounds like Greek and Roman demigods working together to bring the gods back will heal that divide in their personalities," Annabeth theorized.

"Or killing all of the Roman demigods," Reyna muttered. "Can't have a split if there are no Romans."

"We wouldn't do that," Percy said quickly.

"We wouldn't," Annabeth agreed. "And if anyone tries, we would protect you. That must be why Lupa never told us. She was worried that you would be in danger."

"It doesn't help that you have such a blatant hatred for Romans based on stories that you heard," Reyna stated. Annabeth glared at her, and Reyna just met her gaze. Annabeth finally looked away.

"What happened is in the past," Annabeth said. "We have to work together now and in the future."

"Agreed," Reyna tacked on. Annabeth turned her head as she saw that Luke was walking toward them at a quick pace. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"I got a cab," Luke announced. "He looked at me like I was crazy when I mentioned the tunnel, but he changed his tune when I showed him some money."

"We should get going then," Annabeth remarked as she gingerly took off towards the taxi. Her back was starting to ache again, and it would be so nice to sit in a car and get off of her feet. The demigods walked towards the cab, and Annabeth found her gaze shooting around for threats.

There was always a chance that a monster would attack them, especially since they had a son of Poseidon with them. Not to mention Annabeth probably had a pretty strong scent too, and Luke had to be right behind her with being a son of Hermes.

They sat in the cab, and Annabeth was careful to give Reyna a little more room with her injured arm, so she ended up pressing against Percy. Annabeth glanced at him and spoke, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Percy whispered. Annabeth looked back at Reyna and saw that her gaze was focused out the window, but her head was slowly drifting to the side like she was going to rest against the glass. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Back still hurts," Annabeth replied. She leaned forward slightly and stared at her feet. They were really going to where Camp Jupiter once stood. Annabeth wasn't sure what they were going to find, but part of her felt like there had to be some kind of answer. Something to tell her what truly happened all those decades again.

"But, I'll be fine," Annabeth promised as she looked at Percy. "Are you okay?"

Percy nodded, "Do you have any ideas for what that hole they were talking about was?"

"Not really," Annabeth admitted. "I haven't heard of anything like that, but Chiron might know. We'll just have to ask him about it when we get back."

"Step one is almost done, right?" Percy asked as a hopeful grin touched his lips. Annabeth smiled back.

"Step two," Annabeth corrected. "Step one was finding where Camp Half-Blood used to be. Step two is returning the bust."

"What's step three?" Percy asked quietly.

"I don't know," Annabeth confessed. "There's a lot of logistics for us to figure out after that, but I'm sure Chiron can handle some of it. We'll make a plan not long after we get back."

"Alright, Wise Girl," Percy teased. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you'll have a great plan for us."

Annabeth smiled again and looked ahead once more. For so long, she had sat back and just waited. She trained and honed her skills, waiting for the moment to be able to start a quest to save the gods. Annabeth wasn't sure if they had one shot at this or not, and it didn't matter. They would not mess this up. They would save the gods. And the world.