Annabeth stared down at the gleaming of collection buildings that appeared as the Argo II descended from the clouds. She could spot some of the landmarks that Jason had informed them of. The Roman coliseum, the many temples, all clustered around one hill, and a plethora of houses and parks. It was a small city.
Although it was far from the majesty of its namesake, Annabeth could tell even from this high up that New Rome was an architectural masterpiece.
She could also tell that they had just had a big fight, due to the many craters littering the city, and the torn down buildings.
Romans piled out of the cafes and shops, as their ship flew into view. Kids from what could only be the Senate wore togas and surged outside to get a better view of their warship.
That was when the statue appeared.
"Preposterous!" a statue, that had not been there before, declared indignantly. "Weapons are not allowed into the Pomerian Line! Graecus even less so!"
Annabeth glanced at Jason, who only sent her a look to stand backand let him handle this.
"Terminus, it's me, Jason Grace. You remember me, don't you?"
The statue turned to him, sneering, "Ah yes, Jason Grace. I remember you. I would think that even after your time gone you would still remember not to fraternize with enemies of Rome!"
"We're not your enemies," Annabeth cut in, deciding that Jason wasn't going to be able to solve this on his own. "We all want to-"
"Silence!" the god snapped. "And drop that weapon of yours!"
Annabeth dropped her knife, letting it thud onto the wooden floor. She then held her hands up to show that they were empty. "I'm Annabeth, daughter of-"
"I know who you are," the god once again sneered. "Daughter of the Greek form of Minerva. A maiden goddess! Do you Greeks have no shame? At least us Romans know of that goddess' proper place."
Proper place? "My mother is-"
"Terminus," Jason interrupted. "As you can tell," he pointedly looked up at the white flag on their sail. "We're on a mission for peace. So we'd like to land. We need to talk to Percy and Reyna."
"This abomination of a ship-" Terminus attempted to start.
"You did not just call my ship an abomination bro," Leo interrupted.
"This abomination," Terminus again said, "is a giant weapon! It shall not be allowed to land!"
Leo raised his Wii controllers as if to throw hands with the border god. Jason opened his mouth as if to intervene when Annabeth spotted someone down below.
Relief flooded through her as she spotted an olive-skinned girl with brown hair. Bianca. Her best friend was alright. To her side was a familiar-looking raven-haired boy with a purple cape, the mark of a praetor. That must be Percy. And- was that Hazel?
"Leo, enough!" she snapped. To her relief, he shut up. "Stop the ship."
Leo flicked the Wii remotes, and the ship stopped in place.
She then turned to Terminus. "There's no rule on hovering over New Rome, is there?"
The god stared at her, seeming to be mulling the idea over. "There isn't…" he grudgingly responded.
Annabeth smiled. "Then we'll just hover over the city and go down by the rope ladder. Technically, our ship isn't touching Roman soil. It's just above it. Does that suit your terms?"
Terminus looked consideringly at her. "The technicalities… I suppose it would."
"All of our weapons, of course, would remain on our ship. As long as those Roman reinforcements will keep theirs out of the city limits too?"
Leo looked as if he wanted to protest that term, but didn't when she glared at him.
Terminus looked offended at her comment. "Of course they will."
"So are we at an agreement then?" she asked expectantly.
"Fine," Terminus huffed reluctantly. "Just… don't destroy my town."
Two teenagers around Annabeth's age led the Romans. Jason had told the crew of the two teenage praetors leading the legion. Percy and Reyna.
Percy had been walking over with Bianca and a girl who was definitely Hazel but seemingly had split with them, joining Reyna. The two praetors together held a distinct aura of power. Even if Jason hadn't told her of the two, Annabeth could have distinguished that they were the leaders. The way they held themselves, and the way everyone else scattered before them, making way, it reminded Annabeth of how Bianca had been to the Greeks, and what Annabeth was to the Greeks now.
Strangely, both praetors looked familiar, although Jason had never been able to show them pictures. It was like Annabeth had seen both of them somewhere before, but she just didn't know where.
Annabeth brought her fellow Greeks to a stop in front of the two praetors, her gaze going to Bianca, who had her arm slung over Hazel's shoulder, just behind them.
"Jason," Percy breathed in relief. "You're alright."
Annabeth allowed herself to truly study him for the first time. She had been preoccupied with the fact that Bianca was alright, before this moment.
Annabeth stared. And stared.
Sea-green eyes. Raven black hair. He was six, almost seven, years older than the last time they had seen each other, but Annabeth could still tell that it was him.
Infuriatingly, he looked unfazed, and almost amused at her shock, as he stared back at her as if he had expected her to be here. Then again… Annabeth's gaze slid to a grinning Hazel and to Bianca's knowing expression. He had been warned well before this moment.
"Jason, when you said that your cousin's name was Percy, you made no mention that his last name was Jackson," Annabeth tersely breathed out.
"Hey wait, if I didn't tell you, then how do you even know his last name?" Jason protested. "And what're you talking about? Am I missing something?"
Percy Jackson, Roman demigod, praetor of the Twelfth Legion, and her childhood best friend, smiled lopsidedly at her. Even after all these years, she could still read him well. Beneath all of his bravado, he was nervous to see her. Nervous and apprehensive, but also excited.
"Hey Wise Girl," he lightly laughed. "Long time no see."
For a moment, she was speechless.
She sprang into action after that, sprinting forward to pull him into a tight hug.
"You stupid idiot," she laughed into his shoulder. How was he so tall? "Six godsdamned years. You left me alone in that place!" she furiously continued. "You know what it was like for me there."
From where she was, she could see Percy smiling sadly, hands gently placed around her reassuringly. "I know Beth," he said, his voice cracking on the nickname. "And I swear, it wasn't my choice. If I'd had the choice, I swear I would've gone back to you and Mom, at least to say goodbye."
She believed him. That didn't mean she was happy about it, though.
Suddenly aware of the crowd of demigods, and her own traveling companions staring, Annabeth reluctantly pulled away.
"I-" Annabeth paused, rubbing away at the wetness of her eyes. She took a deep breath, composing herself. "We have a lot to catch up on, don't we?"
Percy grinned brightly at her. "Yeah, we do."
"Wait!" Jason cut in, "That girl in the photo you carry around with you." He looked wildly between the two of them. "That's Annabeth?"
Percy smirked at him. "Yes, Jace, that's Annabeth."
Reyna cleared her throat, stepping forward from where she had stood, watching them. "Well then, how about some introductions?" she said, giving Annabeth a weird look. She resolved to ask Reyna about it later.
"Right," Annabeth nodded. She turned to the crew, pointing out each of them. "You all already know Jason, that's Piper, a daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus for you, Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, or Vulcan, and Will Solace, son of Apollo."
Bianca's head snapped to her, having been studying the Argo's crew, looking for someone. "Annabeth? Where's Nico? I don't think anything could've stopped him from being here," Bianca nervously laughed.
Ah. How could she explain to her best friend, that her little brother was missing? And had gone missing, looking for her? Annabeth glanced at Will, who seemed seconds away from falling apart. He'd only left his cabin to greet Bianca.
"Nico and Will went looking for you while you were missing. Nico told Will to stay on the surface, while he searched the Underworld. He never came back up."
"You're joking right?" Bianca asked, wildly looking at the crew's faces, as if daring one of them to break character, and tell her that it was all just a joke. Annabeth wished that it was.
Bianca worridly twisted her ring. "I had a dream last night. It showed my brother in a bronze jar, in a death trance. I'd hoped that it was wrong, that it was just Gaea lying to manipulate me. But that really was him, wasn't it?" The daughter of Hades was looking at Will as she spoke, who stared at the ground forlornly.
"Bianca," she hissed. "This isn't the right place to have this conversation." Annabeth pointedly looked at the crowd of legionnaires, all not-so-subtly trying to eavesdrop on the conversation.
Bianca turned her glare onto Annabeth. "Fine," she gritted out. "But we'll finish this conversation later. And we are rescuing my idiot of a brother on our quest."
Annabeth cooly responded to her stare. "When was that ever a question? Of course, we are."
Percy awkwardly stepped in. "Well then, now that that's over with, I don't think any of us want the legion to stand at attention any longer. Let's convene for lunch." He smiled at Jason. "I think some catching up has been long overdue."