Two legionnaires of the Third had been on tunnel guard duty when the commotion had occurred. Percy and Reyna quickly called the legion together to face the threat, only to see skeletal warriors converging on two gorgons, seemingly commanded by one girl. The skeletal warriors beat the gorgons back again and again as they continuously reformed until the monsters dissolved into golden dust for good.
Percy took hold of the Little Tiber, mentally apologizing to the river god while doing so, making a note to burn an offering to them later today, using the water to sweep the remains into the water, keeping them gone.
It was then that he noticed the goddess the girl who had controlled the skeletons had been carrying.
"Well, that was a truly wonderful experience," the unknown goddess said. "Thank you, Bianca di Angelo, for bringing me to Camp Jupiter."
He and Reyna exchanged glances - her in apprehension and him in expectation. Bianca. That had been the name of the girl who'd been with Annabeth.
"Bianca di Angelo?" he asked. Bianca turned to him, as if expecting a familiar face.
The goddess, because what else could she be, laughed in delight. "Oh, you three will have fun together!"
She began to glow then, changing her form. In the place of the elderly woman was a seven-foot-tall goddess in a blue dress, with a cloak that looked like a goat's skin over her shoulders, her face stern and stately. She held a staff topped with a lotus flower. Juno.
Percy and Reyna knelt, setting the example for the rest of the legion.
"Juno," he said. The only one still standing was Bianca.
"So you're Juno?" Bianca said. "Since I passed your test, can I get my memories back?"
Juno smiled at her. "You will in time, Bianca di Angelo. As long as you succeed here at camp like you have done today. Maybe there is hope for you yet."
Juno then turned to them. "Romans, I present to you the daughter of Pluto. For months, she has been slumbering, but now she is awake. The Feast of Fortuna comes quickly, and Death must be unleashed if we are to have any chance in battle. Do not fail me!"
Juno then shimmered and disappeared. He and Reyna stood.
"She's the girl who unleashed the pirates," Reyna murmured to him.
"You think she knows where Annabeth is?" Percy asked, keeping his voice down.
"I'm not sure," Reyna responded. "It's been years and they might have split up. And she said she doesn't remember anything. But with Juno having announced her presence in this way… it can't be good."
Reyna stepped forward, examining Bianca warily. "Another daughter of Pluto, who has come to us with the blessing of Juno," she coldly said. Percy inwardly cringed. She obviously hadn't gotten over the destruction of her home.
"Another?" Bianca said. "And look, my memories are kinda, if you didn't hear, gone? So I have no idea what's going on right now. Have we met before?"
Percy cut in. "We have another daughter of Pluto currently in the legion. And no, we haven't met before."
Well, he hadn't met Bianca before. Reyna had. But if this daughter of Pluto had some common sense like her sister, then she would know better than to question them in front of everyone.
Bianca studied him, then fell silent, proving that yes, she did have some degree of sense. Good.
"Let's bring this meeting to the principia," Percy suggested. "It would be better to speak away from so many ears." Reyna nodded in agreement.
Percy led the way then, letting Reyna disperse the legion. He glanced back at Bianca, who was trailing behind him.
She was looking around, seemingly in amazement. Percy smiled in amusement then. That was common with those new the legion. He remembered his first time walking these roads. The gleaming buildings with the many small shops and stores full of anything a demigod could need had seemed amazing to him back then, after months of training with Lupa. It was then that she caught sight of the Lares. Percy had never seen them so scared before. Not even around Hazel.
"Graecus," they hissed, agitatedly.
"Are you from Greece?" Percy asked her.
She shook her head. "I think…" she seemed to pause, thinking. "I think I'm Italian? But I'm not sure. My memories are gone."
"I see. The Lares are unusually unsettled. This has never happened before, not even around our other child of Pluto."
"Lares?" Bianca asked.
"They're House gods, ancestral spirits," he responded.
Outside the principia was a crowd of curious campers who had heard of what happened. "Back to your duties!" Percy commanded. "Reyna and I will update you during Evening Muster later today. Nothing has changed as of now."
The campers dispersed, then, some of them muttering comments on what would happen.
"Another daughter of Pluto? She can join the other in the Fifth," one of them laughed.
"Greeks with geeks," another agreed.
He glared at them all. They left quickly after that.
He led Bianca into the principia, taking a seat in one of the chairs behind the desk.
Bianca remained standing, eyes darting to Argentum and Aurum. "So uh-"
The two automaton greyhounds growled.
"Easy boys," Percy chuckled, grabbing two jellybeans, and tossing them to the dogs.
"They won't attack unless you try and steal something or if you lie. They're Reyna's dogs, a gift from her mom," he explained to Bianca. "Their names are Argentum and Aurum."
She nodded, still cautiously glancing at the pair. "Silver and gold," she commented.
He nodded, settling back into the chair.
Bianca stared at him. "I… you seem familiar to me. Have we met before?"
Percy shook his head. "No. As far as I know, we haven't. I've only been here and in New York City. That's it."
"You still seem familiar," Bianca insisted. "Like a photograph or something…"
A photograph. His mind flashed to the many he and Annabeth had taken together. "Does the name Annabeth Chase ring a bell?" he asked her, carefully gauging her face for any response.
Faint recognition flashed through her eyes. "It sounds familiar to me, but I don't remember why," Bianca said, frustrated. "Just like Reyna."
"We have met before," Reyna confirmed, stepping through the door to the principia and taking her seat next to him.
"Is everyone back to their duties?" Percy asked her.
"Do you think I would be here if they weren't?" Reyna dryly responded.
Bianca nodded. "I had a feeling we have. Do you know who I am then?"
Reyna hesitated. "Why don't you tell us what you remember."
Bianca told the usual story, of how she had woken up at the Wolf House to Lupa, and had been taught and trained by her how to be a Roman demigod for weeks. Eventually, like the rest of them who had survived Lupa, she had deemed her satisfactory and sent her off south to join the legion.
"And you remember nothing," Reyna asked, studying Bianca.
"I… everything is fuzzy. I only remember a few bits and pieces."
"What you're talking about is common for most Roman demigods. We either find our way or are taken to the Wolf House. Lupa then trains us there and when she deems us fit for the legion she sends us south. That's what happened to me. My father took me from my mom when I was 10 and sent me to Lupa," Percy commented. "But I've never heard of someone losing their memories in the process."
"Your dad?" Bianca asked.
"Neptune," Percy responded. "God of the Seas."
"You're sixteen right? That's old for just joining the legion. You should be dead by this point if you've spent this long on your own," Percy continued. "You're a daughter of Pluto, which means your aura is strong. It would attract all kinds of monsters."
Bianca nodded slowly.
"So you must have been somewhere before the Wolf House," Reyna added.
Bianca only shrugged.
"Well the dogs haven't eaten you yet," Reyna sighed, almost disappointedly. Percy shot her a slightly questioning glance. She smirked.
"Potential legionnaires don't normally come with an announcement from the Queen of Olympus. That means you must be important," Percy observed. "There've only been legends of this happening."
"Medusa's sisters haven't been seen in thousands of years, and they suddenly appear now? You wear strange symbols - your shirt, those beads on your necklace. They have to have come from somewhere. What do they mean?" Reyna asked her.
Bianca looked down to the tattered orange shirt that she was wearing. There had been letters on it at one point, but that must have been long ago. She felt some strange feeling of attachment to the shirt. And the necklace. There were four beads on hers, and they all had different symbols. One had a skull, the other a golden fleece, a third a maze, and the fourth a building with names.
"I don't know," Bianca murmured, shaking her head from side to side.
"Your sword?" Reyna asked.
Percy looked sharply at Reyna. Bianca did as well. A sword?
Bianca twisted the gem on her ring, revealing the sword that had been hidden. It was stygian iron black, with a diamond on the hilt.
Percy whistled.
"Stygian iron," he commented. "I've only seen it mentioned in books. Only children of death wield those blades, although ours doesn't. You must have gotten it from somewhere. Have you met your father before?" Percy asked her.
"I. Don't. Know!" Bianca hissed. "I don't remember anything and you guys are asking all of these questions. How did you know that I even had this sword? I didn't show it to anyone."
Reyna ignored her question. "Your sword isn't Roman at all. It's a Greek design, and the metal is rarer than the Imperial gold the legion uses. And your arm."
"My arm?" Bianca said, inspecting hers.
Reyna held up her forearm, and Percy too. On Reyna's arm was a tattoo. It had the letters SPQR, a crossed sword and torch, and four parallel lines like score marks. Percy's also had the letters SPQR but had a trident and five lines.
"All members of the legion have them," Percy explained. "So you haven't been in a legion before. You must have been a loner this entire time. Have you seen a demigod named Jason? He's a son of Jupiter, has a purple shirt, blonde hair, blue eyes?"
Bianca shook her head. "No, I haven't. That description doesn't even sound familiar to me. Who's Jason?"
"My cousin," Percy responded, expression dark. "He disappeared a few months ago, in October. Normally each cohort has two centurions, and Jason was one of the best. He was the centurion of the Fifth cohort. They still haven't replaced him."
"October? That was eight months ago!"
"He could still be alive," Percy responded, steel in his voice. "He was like a brother to me. I am not giving up on him that quickly."
"The Fifth are allowed to manage their own affairs. We are to let them pick and choose their Centurion. Jason was the best they had and it's not surprising that they're reluctant to replace him," Reyna said.
"But not for long. If they aren't able to figure it out by the Feast of Fortuna in five days, we will interfere, although I'm hoping it doesn't come to that," Percy darkly said.
"The Feast of Fortuna… fortune? The gorgons mentioned that. It's in five days?"
Reyna glared at her. "You must not let anyone know. This information could send the rest of Camp spiraling into chaos," she responded, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"We've talked enough for now," Reyna ordered, striding toward the door. "Percy can take you to Temple Hill to meet Octavian so you can undergo an augury. He'll answer your questions on the way."
"I will?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question.
Reyna turned to stare at him.
"Oh of course I will," he hastily said, grabbing Bianca's arm, heading past Reyna and out the door, muttering, "Whatever the queen desires, it's not like I have anything else to do like, I don't know, running the legion as well?"
"I heard that!" Reyna shouted. "And it's not like you enjoy doing the paperwork. I end up doing most of it anyways."
Percy nervously laughed in response, tugging Bianca behind him a bit faster.
"Come on. If Octavian's quick, we might even meet Hazel. She's the other daughter of Pluto we keep mentioning."