Chapter Text
It's such a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the grass is a nice dark green, and the only thing the sky was a giant bronze flying Greek trireme, and it was slowly descending. The Roman legion of demigods and legacies were sounding alarms and getting prepped for battle. The blonde weasel of a human being, also known as Octavian, was directing them.
“Man the catapults! Get into formation!” he yelled. “Be prepared for any Greek trickery!”
“Is he seriously going against Reyna’s orders?” I asked rolling my eyes.
“Did you really expect him not to?” Hazel asked. “He’s paranoid. Paranoia makes people over react.”
I rolled my eyes again. “He’s such a twat though, right Perce? Uh, Percy?”
Percy wasn’t in earshot. He was walking towards the ship. I can’t say I can blame him, his girlfriend Annabeth was on there. If I was in his shoes, if I didn’t see my girlfriend for ten months after pretty much getting together after a four-year war of divine beings, I’d be excited to see her too. I am also curious as to who exactly is standing on the bow of the ship. He was holding a gold sword that reflected the sun and he was wearing a purple cape that was fluttering with the wind. That must be the Jason Grace, who was switched with Percy.
Reyna, the other Praetor of Camp Jupiter, was standing by. Her purple cape was billowing in the wind. Her two metal dogs, Aurum the gold and Argentum the silver, sat by her side, looking like solid statues. She was staring right at the ship and looked tense.
“Tsuna!”
I looked over and saw one of my few actual friends here at Camp Jupiter. Anthony, the son of Ceres broke ranks and ran over to me. He gave me a smile that reminded me of Will.
“Hey Anthony, what’s up?”
“I just wanted to tell you that I believe you, you know, about that ship up there. That it’s full of your friends.”
“Thanks.”
“I also want to say that I won’t fight your friends. I know that they’re good people.”
“That means a lot Anthony, it really does.” I said. “But you’re probably already on Octavian’s target list as it is for speaking up for me earlier. You shouldn’t do anything to draw attention to yourself right now, okay?”
“I can do that.” Anthony said. He waved as he turned around. “See you later Tsuna.”
Hazel and Frank walked over to Percy and watched as the ship stopped moving and I was able to get a better look at it. It was about two hundred feet long, give or take a few feet with a bronze plated hull. It must be Celestial Bronze to ward off monsters, although where did they get enough of the stuff? There was a series of oars that lined the sides of the ship. From here on the ground I could just make out what looked to be a couple of large crossbows. But the eye catcher was the figure head. It was a bronze dragon head that was spouting fire.
A ladder was thrown over the edge and people started to climb down. The Romans started to gather around, lined up in their formation. Hannibal the Elephant brought up the rear. As I walked towards the ship I could feel the stares of the Romans. Their eyes were boring into me. It made me uncomfortable, but I can kind of understand why they are doing it. I am a Shinto Demigod with Greek blood in my veins who also is the right-hand man of their newly elected Praetor. Despite what I did to help them in yesterday’s battle, most of them still don’t trust me.
In all honesty, I shouldn’t be hurt or surprised. From the moment I met Frank and Hazel I got the distinctive feeling that the Romans aren’t entirely trusting. I bet you could turn their entire city to gold and that still wouldn’t be enough to buy their trust. I just decided to simply ignore them and move on.
I felt this chill at the back of my neck. I quickly turned to see what could have caused it, but no one was behind me. It was such a strange feeling, like someone walked over my grave. A shiver ran down my spine, but it faded quick.
Running up to catch up with Percy I saw that he was smiling like a goofball. Following his line of sight, I saw why. Annabeth was halfway down the ladder, her blonde hair pulled into a pony tail.
“You’re excited.” I said.
“I haven’t seen Annabeth in months.” Percy said. “What memories I did have of her since I woke up are what kept me going. My training with Lupa, putting up with Hera, the Quest to Alaska and yesterday’s battle, the very idea of seeing Annabeth again gave me strength.”
“Trust me, she missed you too. You should have seen how distraught she was when I first saw her after you vanished. I never thought I’d see Annabeth so…broken. It just proves how much she loves you.”
“You’re not going to be…you know…” Percy gestured with his hands. “When you see her?”
I simply stared at him blankly before looking back towards the ship, where Annabeth just touched the ground. “You might want to be in the room.” I took a calming breath and smiled at Percy. “But until then, go to your girlfriend.”
I patted his back and gave him a little push. Percy smiled and gripped my arm in thanks before walking to Annabeth. The sea of Roman demigods parted like the Red Sea revealing the daughter of Athena herself. Percy started to walk a bit faster. And then they locked their gazes. They were both frozen for a moment. Other than the murmur of the surrounding Romans and Reyna talking to the purple caped blonde, it was quiet. That is, until Percy and Annabeth broke out in a run towards each other.
They wrapped each other in their arms and held each other as close as possible. Annabeth shook against Percy’s shoulder while Percy buried his face in her hair. They just held each other for a moment before pulling away. Annabeth grabbed Percy’s face and pulled him close. They kissed, and from what I could see not even an asteroid could stop them at that moment.
Percy pulled away smiling. “Gods, I never thought-”
In the blink of an eye Annabeth grabbed Percy’s wrist and judo flipped him over her shoulder. As his back landed on the ground with a loud smack I winced. I didn’t expect her to do that with the way she was acting the last time I saw her. Then again, that was months ago…
Once I got over my shock I started chuckling. It was hard to keep it in. Frank looked back at me as if I was being crazy, but I took some breaths to relax and calm down. It was then that I noticed that the Romans were trying to get battle ready.
“Hold!” ordered Reyna. “Everyone stand down!”
As the Romans backed up a little bit, Annabeth climbed on top of Percy to hold him to the ground. “If you ever leave me again, I swear to all the gods-”
Percy laughed. “Consider me warned. I missed you too.”
Annabeth let out a shaky breath and helped her boyfriend up off the ground. I decided to stay hidden behind Frank and Hazel, not wanting to ruin the surprise. Now that she and Percy got their reunion out for the way for now, my annoyance at her is building up again.
The blonde guy coughed. “Uh, so yeah…It’s good to be back.”
From over Frank’s shoulder, I looked at the blonde. I had this feeling that I should know him. But why? This would be the first time I’ve ever seen him, since he hasn’t been in Camp Jupiter for months. But there’s this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I knew him.
“Reyna, this is Piper, my girlfriend” Reyna stiffened at that. Piper is admittingly pretty. Even with her tattered jeans and her Hello Kitty tank top, she made it work, and her Native features enhanced it. “And this is Leo. He built the Argo II above us.” Leo, the Latino guy with a tool belt around his waist, didn’t stop bouncing on the balls of his feet as he flashed Reyna a peace sign. I’m getting an Impulse vibe from him. “And this is Annabeth. Uh, she normally doesn’t judo flip people.”
Reyna looked at Annabeth, sizing her up. “Are you sure you’re not Roman? Or an Amazon?”
“I only attack my boyfriend like that.” Annabeth said and offered her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Reyna clasped her hand firmly. “It seems that we have much to discuss. Centurions!”
Several Roman soldiers rushed to Reyna’s side. Meanwhile, Frank and Hazel rushed to Percy’s side, almost in a protecting manner. I don’t know why they would think that Percy needs protecting. I mean, Annabeth can be intimidating, yeah, but she’s not a threat.
“…tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen.” Ordered Reyna to her soldiers. “Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And, Octavian—”
“You’re letting these intruders into the camp?” asked Octavian. “Reyna, the security risks—”
The two of them started arguing. They went back and forth about letting Annabeth and the others into the camp, and it was getting old real quick. I think they were coming into an agreement about having a large picnic of a feast.
“Uh, wow, okay.” Leo said. “This is awkward.”
“You’re telling me.” Piper said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anybody go at it like that.” Piper walked over to me and smiled. “Hi, I’m Piper. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Tsuna, Tsuna Noble.”
“Wait, did you say ‘Tsuna’?” Leo asked. I nodded. “So, you’re the guy Will keeps talking about.”
My face felt warm. “Will talked about me?”
“Wouldn’t shut up about you.” Leo said. “He sounded worried about you, always muttering under his breath about you.”
“Note to self, contact Will ASAP.” I thought.
“Uh, you still with me ese?” asked Leo.
“Yeah, I’m here. Leo, was it?” I responded. “So, you built that ship? Amazing craftsmanship.”
“Gracias amigo!” Leo said. “You’ve got a good eye on you. The Argo II, my pride and joy.”
“I’d love a tour later, would you mind?” I asked.
“No problema.” smiled Leo. “I can give you one after lunch. Man, I’m starving.”
“Reyna, I don’t think you understand.” Octavian raised his shrill voice. “There is a warship right over our heads, and four Greeks, the enemies of Rome for millennia, are here in our Camp. Oh, and don’t let me forget that Shinto whelp over there.”
“Did he just call me whelp?” I asked Leo.
“He sure did.”
“That asshole.”
“Octavian, I’m going to need you to shut up.” Percy said. “Do what Reyna says without being such a brat for once in your life and go burn your bears.”
Octavian glowered at Percy before turning to say something to Reyna. “You have your orders.” She said. “Go.”
Octavian shot Percy a look of absolute, pure, unfiltered loathing. It’s as if he thought he could do anything to the Praetor himself. And I really didn’t like the way he was looking at Annabeth, in that creepy ‘I’ve got my eye on you’ way, but he finally stomped away.
“Don’t worry about Octavian.” Percy told Annabeth, slipping his hand in hers. “Most of the Romans are good people—like Frank and Hazel here, and Reyna. We’ll be fine.”
Annabeth looked to the Argo II and back to Percy, nodding. “We’ll be fine.”
“Excellent” Reyna said. She turned towards Jason, her gaze softening a little. “Let’s eat, and we can have a proper reunion.” On her orders, Romans brought out couches and low tables. As the Romans started to set up, Annabeth finally noticed me and covered her mouth.
“Oh my gods.” She said, eyes wide. I glowered at her, arms crossed. “T-Tsu-Tsuna—”
“Oh, so you do remember me.” I growled out. “Thanks Wise Girl, that…that hurts.”
“Di Immortales, Tsuna, how are you—” she started. “I mean, I- I’m sor—”
I raised my hand to silence her. “Yeah, just…no. Save it. You’re going to listen to me, and you better listen well, because this is your one and only warning. You and I are going to have a LONG talk, in private. You got that?” She nodded. “Good. Oh, and spoiler warning: it’s going to get loud.” She gulped, like, she actually gulped in fear.
“Uh Tsuna, maybe you should calm down a bit.” Percy said, uncomfortable laughing in his attempt to break the tension in the air. “I mean, we’re supposed to be friends here.”
“I gave you fair warning Percy. I’m also going to let you be there when I let Annabeth know how I truly feel.” I said. “But for now, fine. I’ll remain calm and let you and Annabeth have some time together.”
“Thanks.” said Percy. He took Annabeth’s hand and led her away. A smart decision since I probably would have let out all of my frustration out right here and now.
“Well that was, uh, weird.” said a new voice.
To my right was the blonde who was talking to Reyna. Jason, his name was. And holy crap, he looked like your ideal ‘All American Boy’. He wore a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans underneath a purple cape. His gilded hair was ruffled by the wind and he had such commanding sky blue eyes. But there was that itch in the back of my head that screamed that he was familiar. But why though?
“Sorry about that.” I said. “Annabeth just got on my bad side.”
“How, exactly?”
“She never mentioned you to me.” I explained. “And she never contacted me once since I went looking for Percy…I’m Tsuna by the way.”
I offered him my hand. “Jason Grace, son of Jupiter.”
“Yes, I figured. Nice to meet you though.”
“So, if it’s okay to ask, who are you exactly?” wondered Jason.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, who are you? Will talked about you sometimes, so you must have stayed at Camp Half Blood at some point. And—”
“Okay man, cool it a bit, will you?” I said. “You Romans are way too untrusting. Must be in all of you guys’ DNA. But I’ll indulge you. I’m a friend. A friend of Annabeth, Will, Chiron, Frank and Hazel, yada yada yada, so on and so forth, ad nauseum. Jason, you can trust me. I convinced your entire Camp, more or less, to trust me, I mean, look.” I showed him the tattoo that was burned onto my arm. “I’m a member of the Legion, just like you are.”
“I see that.” He said. “Sorry about being so upfront man. I didn’t mean to come off as a jerk.”
“Trust me, I’ve been treated a lot worse lately.” I said.
“Let me guess, Octavian?”
“How’d you know?” I sarcastically asked.
“He’s been a pain in the neck for as long as I can remember.” Jason said. “But uh, could you tell me what he meant by you being a Shinto?”
“Oh, that. I’m a Shinto demigod.” I said. “Son of Susanoo, god of the sea.”
“There are Shinto demigods?” asked Jason.
I blew out a breath. “Yes. Yes I am.” Gods I was annoyed about having to recount this tale over and over again.
“Uh, okay. Wow.” Jason said. “Shinto demigods are a thing. Cool.”
“If it makes you feel better I’m the only Shinto demigod.” I said. “Long story, I can talk to you about it later.”
“Sure thing, if you want to I mean.” Said Jason. “It seems like you’ve been doing that a lot lately.”
“You have no idea.”
“Well, I’m here for a little bit before we take off.” Jason said. “It was nice meeting you.” He smiled, and it was a really nice smile. But then I noticed something on his upper lip, a small scar.
It was at that moment I knew why Jason looked so familiar to me. He was the boy who saved my life in San Francisco years ago. He looked a bit different back then, but there was no mistaking that scar. Seinaru jigoku! Jason grew up really nice.
“See you.” I said, feeling my face start heating up. Okay Tsuna, calm down.
Pretty soon the Romans finished setting up the forum for the feast. Romans lounged on benches or sat on blankets in groups of ten, maybe twenty. The wind spirits-Aurae- flew above us delivering food. Everything ranging from assortments of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, burgers, grilled chicken, cold drinks and some amazing fresh baked cookies and brownies. I have to admit, being a demigod has the great perk of the constant exercise, otherwise I’d never be able to prevent myself from gaining so much wait with all this fantastic food around.
Lares, the ghostly embodiments of previous legionnaires, drifted through the crowd wearing purple togas and legionnaire armor. The Satyrs-I mean, the Fauns- were going around asking for scraps. It made me feel bad seeing them being ignored and treated like they were nuisances. It made me wonder how Grover and the other Satyrs from Camp Half-Blood would react if they ever find out about this.
Hannibal the Elephant was playing in the field with Mrs. O’Leary. My dog was having a ball playing with someone as big as she is. There were some younger children playing tag around them and the statues of Terminus that make up the city limits.
There was so much going on. While there was still that feeling in the air of distrust (especially with the Argo II hanging over head), everyone seems to be having a good time. Well, I say everyone, but Octavian, who recently came back from burning a teddy bear looked miffed.
I joined Percy, Annabeth, and the others with Reyna and Octavian at the head table. Jason was talking excitedly with Piper, pointing to areas in the distance. From what I could hear, it was about the places that he wanted to show her. I noticed that Frank and Hazel were staring at Leo, but I don’t think the Latino Elf took notice. He was fiddling with something in his hands absent mindedly. I sat next to Percy and Annabeth, eating a grilled chicken salad. Yatagarasu was sitting on my shoulder looking around. I fed him some of the chicken and he nipped my fingers.
“I want to show you around New Rome.” Percy said to Annabeth. His smile was so genuine and filled with hope. “The place is incredible.”
Annabeth nodded, but it seemed like she was distracted by something. With how much she loves architecture, you’d think that she would love to see how New Rome was built and designed. All she did while Percy talked about New Rome was stare at him and nod.
“Okay. Sure.” She said.
“You know, I’ve been thinking.” started Percy. “I…I had this idea—”
“Romans!” yelled Reyna. All the noise around the feast stopped on a dime. Reyna stood to her full height. “Today, we welcome residents of the Greek Camp. Piper McClean, the daughter of Aphrodite. Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus. And Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena.” The crowd murmured at the end. What was that about? “With them, they have brought us back our other praetor, our friend and most loyal warrior, Jason Grace, son of Jupiter!” The crowd cheered. Jason stood and waved to his Roman friends, although his face looked a little red. “Let this show that the Greeks are not our enemies, but our allies against the forces of Gaea. Let this be the beginning of a new era of friendship! To our new friends!” With a raise of her goblet, everyone raised their own and cheered. Who knew that it only takes this for trust to be formed.
Octavian fake smiled after the crowd’s cheers died down. “So, our dear Jason, can you tell us what happened to you all this time?”
“Uh, sure.” Jason said. “One day, I woke up with no memories on a school trip bus to the Grand Canyon. Juno took me and altered my mind, placing me on that bus just so I could meet Leo and Piper. She gave the three of us fake memories of friendship and…other things…” he glanced over at Piper. “We were picked up after fighting Venti by Annabeth and a couple of other demigods, where we were taken to Camp Half-Blood. We were all claimed by our parents, and not long after we were sent on a Quest to save Juno, who had been captured by Gaea and the Giants. We traveled all the way to Mount Diablo and fought Enceladus, the bane of Minerva. Right after we defeated him, we had to go to the Wolf House, where Juno was being imprisoned. Her lifeforce was being used by Gaea to raise her son Porphyrion, the king of the Gigantes, and the bane of my father.”
“Impossible!” Octavian broke in. “That is our most sacred place. If the Giants had imprisoned a goddess there—”
“They would’ve destroyed her.” Piper said. “And then blame it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camp. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish.” Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Now that’s a superpower, making Octavian shut up.
“We fought, but we weren’t able to destroy him and he ran away once we freed Juno. During the journey, I was regaining my memories.”
“Then why didn’t you return to Camp Jupiter afterwards?” Reyna asked.
“I…I felt that I had to stay at Camp Half-Blood.” Jason said. “Juno even told me that I had to wait until after Leo finished the ship. And I was hoping that I could help mend our two cultures for the better.”
“That makes sense.” I said. “For whatever reason, there is this animosity between the two groups, but if we all work together, then Gaea won’t stand a chance.”
“Tsuna’s right.” Percy said. “She knows that if we work together our chances of winning are so much higher. She’s going to do everything in her power to keep us separated.”
Jason nodded. “It was there that we found out about Gaea being the one who has been freeing monsters from Tartarus and raising the Giants. Porphyrion said as he fled that he was heading to the Ancient Lands – Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea there and destroying the gods by…what did he call it? Pulling up their roots.”
‘Pulling up their roots?’ What does that mean? And how exactly will that kill the gods? You can’t kill the gods, they can Fade, or their essences are spread so thin that they can’t reform. But technically they are still alive that way. But killing them? What exactly does that mean?
“Gaea’s been busy over here too.” nodded Percy. “We had our own encounter with Dirt Face.”
“Perhaps you should regale us with your story Percy.” Reyna said. “Bring our new friends up to speed.”
Percy nodded. “I woke up a few weeks ago without any memories at the Wolf House, just like Jason. But, there was one thing that I remembered, one thing that drove me this entire time.” Percy looked over at his girlfriend. “One name—Annabeth.” The blonde girl stiffened a bit with a small gasp. The look in her eyes looked as if she was stopping herself from crying. “Not long after being trained by Lupa, I was chased by Medusa’s sisters all the way here. Frank and Hazel helped me out and accompanied me to free Thanatos in Alaska. When we got to Seattle, Tsuna found me, all by himself.”
“Well, I did have some help.” I said.
“But you found me, and that’s all that matters.” Percy said with a smile. He gripped my shoulder tightly. “Despite me not remembering you, even with Hera’s curse she placed on you, you accompanied the three of us to Alaska and helped us free Thanatos as Frank and Hazel defeated Alcyoneus. We then took as much of the Imperial Gold weapons and armor as we could along with the lost eagle standard and brought them back here right as Polybotes was attacking. We fought as hard as we could until I killed Polybotes.”
Jason whistled appreciatively. “No wonder they made you praetor.” He indicated to Percy’s robes.
Octavian snorted and crossed his arms. “Speaking of which, that means that we have three praetors! The rules state that we can only have two!” I rolled my eyes at the annoying blonde.
“On the bright side,” started Percy, “Both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we both can tell you to shut up.”
Everyone started laughing. I had trouble breathing as Octavian turned as purple as the Roman Camp Jupiter T-shirt. Jason leaned over and gave Percy a fist bump. And remarkably, even Reyna managed a genuine smile.
“We’ll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later.” She said. “Right now, we have more serious issues to deal with.”
Percy shrugged. “I’ll just step aside for Jason. It’s no biggie.” I laughed really hard at Percy’s easy-going attitude at giving up his Praetorship.
“No biggie?” Octavian choked. “The Praetorship of Rome is no biggie?!”
“Calm down Plushy Killer.” I said.
“What did you just call me?” Octavian was seething with anger.
“You heard me.” I said as I sipped my cup of green tea.
“Why you little—”
Percy interrupted the blonde rat. “So you’re Thalia Grace’s brother huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” Jason said. Was it just me, or did he look bummed out for second there? I couldn’t tell because he instantly perked right up. “Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job.”
“Back at you.” Percy said. “Ow!” He leaned and started rubbing his leg.
“We should discuss the Great Prophecy.” Annabeth said. “It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?”
Reyna nodded. “We call it the Prophecy of Seven.” She looked over at Octavian and made her tone clear. “Octavian, have you committed it to memory?”
Octavian scoffed. “Of course I do.” He said. “But Reyna—”
“Then recite it. Please.” She ordered. “In English, not Latin.”
I saw Octavian glare at the back of Reyna’s head, but he sighed. “Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—”
“An oath to keep with a final breath,” continued Annabeth. “And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.”
It was as if all the sound was taken away from our table. Nobody said anything, there wasn’t the sound of people chewing. The only one making any sound was Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and he was trying to stick it into the passing wind spirits.
This is the first time I’ve heard the prophecy. I’ve had to deal with my own life altering prophecy last year, when I had to go to Japan to gather the Sacred Regalia and kill the Orochi. I know firsthand how hard it is to interpret them (although looking back mine played out pretty much like how it was said.) But there’s something about this prophecy that I don’t like.
I think it’s the storm line. To storm or fire the world must fall. It had to be talking about Percy, or maybe even Jason since he’s the son of Jupiter. Storm clearly mean Poseidon or the King Ass himself, so one of those two had to be the key to defeating Gaea. And I say Gaea because she is the world. But the rest of the prophecy, I’m going to need time to think.
Frank sat forward and stared at Annabeth. “Is it true that you’re the child of Min—I mean, Athena?”
I saw how Annabeth’s physicality became more defensive. “Yes…why is that such a surprise?”
“If you’re truly a child of the wisdom goddess—” scoffed Octavian.
“You might want to think carefully about how you finish that sentence.” I warned him.
“Enough.” snapped Reyna, clearly irritated. “Annabeth is what she says. She’s here in peace. And besides…” She looked Annabeth up and down again before meeting her eyes. I think there might be a glint of respect in her own black eyes. “Percy has spoken highly of you.”
Percy quickly looked down at his cheeseburger, a blush on his cheeks. Why would be embarrassed of talking about Annabeth? There are times when you couldn’t get him to shut up about her. But then I saw how red Annabeth’s face got, and how she was glancing between her boyfriend and Reyna, and I figured it out. Reyna had been trying to attract Percy, and he turned her down because of Annabeth.
“Uh, thanks.” said Annabeth. “At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear.” Oh, of course she has parts figured out already. “Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death…that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those Doors.”
Hazel pockets a something before speaking up. “My brother, Nico, went looking for the Doors.”
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Nico. It reminded me of what he went through. Of what he is going through.
“Wait,” Annabeth said, “Nico, as in Nico di Angelo? He’s your brother?” Hazel nodded, not understanding what was Annabeth’s issue. “Okay…you were saying?”
“He—” Hazel started, having a hard time saying the words.
“—was captured.” I finished.
Everyone turned to me. “How do you know that?” asked Annabeth.
“Because I had…a vision-dream thing, a little gift from Mother Earth herself.” I said.
“Visions from Gaea?” Octavian asked, intrigued. I did not like that glint in his eye. “And you said that you weren’t her ally?”
“In what world does her sending me threats make me her ally you ass hat?” I asked.
“How do we know that it was a threat?” asked Octavian. “She could be giving you orders, you could be relaying information to her.”
Okay, I’ve had it. “Octavian wa nanidesu ka? Watashi wa anata ga mite iru subete no hito ga tekidearu to omotte hontōni byōki ni natte imasu, anata no tekidesu. Anata wa gōman de, riko-tekina yatsudesu. Anata ga ima made no yō ni watashi o chiryō shi tsudzukerunaraba, watashi wa anata ga iru basho ya watashitachi ga iru basho o shirasemasen. Watashi wa anata no tawagoto no anata o tsureteiku!”
I stood up and stared down at the gangly weasel. Yatagarasu was cawing right at him, his wings flapping and feathers puffed out. Octavian stood his ground, but he was shaking a little. I could tell that he had no idea what I said, but the meaning of my words were quite clear.
Percy stood up and grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. “Calm down.” He said. “You too Yata. No one is accusing you of anything. Everyone knows that you’re our friend.” I let out a breath and sat down. “And Hazel, I promise we’ll look for Nico. We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we’d find both answers in Rome—like, the original Rome. That’s on the way to Greece, right?”
“Thanatos told you this?” Annabeth asked, looking confused. “The death god?”
Percy took a bite of her burger and nodded. “Now that Thanatos is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open they’ll just keep coming back.”
“Like water leaking through a dam.” Piper spoke up.
“Yeah, we’ve got a dam hole.” smiled Percy.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, inside joke.” Percy said, shaking his head. “The point is we’ll have to find the Doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It’s the only way we’ll stand a chance of defeating the Giants and making sure they stay defeated.”
Reyna stayed quiet for a moment, examining the apple she plucked from a passing a tray. “You propose an expedition to the Greece in your warship. You do realize that the ancient lands—and the Mare Nostrum—are dangerous?”
“Mary who?” Leo asked.
“Mare Nostrum. It means Our Sea.” explained Jason. “It’s what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean.”
Reyna nodded. After taking a bite of her apple, she explained how the Roman Empire was not only the birthplace of the gods, but for monsters, Titans, Giants, and everything bad from the pantheon. She stated that being a demigod here in America is nothing compared to being one back in the Mediterranean.
“You said Alaska would be bad, and we survived that.” Percy said.
Reyna shook her head. “Percy, travelling the Mare Nostrum is a completely different feat in of itself. It has been off limits to Roman demigods for many centuries. No hero…no person in their right mind would willingly go there.”
Leo smiled and clapped his hands. “Then we’re good!” he said. “Because we’re all crazy, right? Besides, I designed the Argo II to be to be a top-of-the-line warship. It has every defense a demigod could ask for. She’ll get us through.”
“We’ll have to hurry.” added Jason. “I don’t know exactly what the Giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious and powerful each day. She’s invading dreams, like Tsuna said.”
“What’s odd is that she didn’t even mention about anything about Polybotes’s death.” I said.
“Really?” Frank asked. “After everything you did?”
I shrugged. “Her exact words were ‘You’re assistance won’t change anything in the end.’ As far as she’s concerned, I’m just an interloper who’s no real threat. I can’t wait to see that smug look fall off her face.”
“Okay, as I was saying, Gaea has been appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters to her side. We have to stop the Giants before they can wake her up fully.”
“Seven half-bloods must answer the call.” Annabeth said with a shudder. “It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. That’s four.”
“And me.” Percy said. “Along with Frank and Hazel.”
“I think you’re forgetting someone.” I said.
“What are you talking about Tuna Head?” asked Annabeth. “Percy, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and me. That’s seven.”
“Yes, I know how to count.” I snidely said. “But you’re forgetting one important factor. Me.”
“You?” asked Jason. “You think you’re coming with us.”
“I don’t just think it, I know it.” I said. I turned back to Annabeth. “You know who I am Annabeth. You know what I carry. And I think the idea ran through your head the moment you saw me. So do the math. Besides, I have to go.”
“Tsuna, it’s going to be dangerous as it is with the seven of us.” She argued. “Despite the protections the Argo has, we figured that we’ll be attacked constantly, but with eight of us—”
“I don’t care.” I said. “I’m going.”
“But—”
“Annabeth, you’re not going to win this.” Percy said. “Tsuna is going, and we can’t stop him.”
“Why though?” Piper asked. “Why would you come with us?”
“I have my reasons.” I said. “One of them is that I refuse to let Percy out of my sight after all this time. I think you can understand that feeling Wise Girl. The other…I have to save Nico.”
“And who are you to decide that?” Octavian asked. “You might have been voted Jackson’s right hand but you don’t have any—”
“Shut up!!” the three praetors screamed.
“Praetors…” Octavian hissed out of grit teeth. “I must insist. Are we just supposed to accept that seven demigods, both Roman and Greek are to go to the forbidden Ancient Lands? And that this pest has the audacity to just force himself to go along? All of this without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Without—”
“Percy! Tsuna!”
Oh, thank you Poseidon for Tyson. He came running towards us, Ella the harpy on his shoulder and Mrs. O’Leary practically on his heels. He still hadn’t fixed that purple SPQR flag. He was wearing it like a bib. But as he got closer, I realized that he was worried.
“What’s wrong buddy?” I asked, petting Mrs. O’Leary’s head.
“Ella is scared.” He explained, his big brown eye about to flood us with tears.
“N-n-no more boats.” said Ella. She was so nervous that she started to pull at her feathers. “Titanic, Lusitania, Pax… boats are not for harpies.”
Leo squinted and pointed at Ella as he asked Hazel loud enough for all of us to hear “Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?”
Hazel stiffened and glared at Leo. “She’s not a chicken.” She must have realized something because she averted her eyes from him. “She’s a harpy. She’s just a little high strung.”
“Ella is pretty,” Tyson said. Aw, he has a crush! “And scared. We need to take her away, but she won’t go on the ship.”
“No ships, no ships.” Ella repeated. She was shaking so hard that a few feathers fell off. “Bad luck.” She looked right at Annabeth. “There she is. Wisdom’s daughter walks alone—”
“Ella!” Frank jumped up. “Maybe it’s not the best time to—”
“The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,” the harpy continued, raising her voice until it was loud and shrill. “Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail.”
Everyone was staring at Ella. No one said a word. Annabeth looked terrified, and Percy was holding her hand. The hell is a Mark of Athena, and what does it have to do with Annabeth? And is it just a coincidence that this prophecy in directly tied with where we’re heading to next? And why do we have to deal with two prophecies at once? That’s what I call a pain in the ass.
Percy stood up and took Tyson’s arm, trying to lead him away. “I know! How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O’Leary—”
“Hold on!” Octavian yelled. In his hands was one of his sacrificial teddy bears, and he was ringing its neck. The poor thing. “What was that she said? It sounded like—”
“Ella reads a lot!” blurted Frank. “We found her at a library.”
“Yes!” Hazel said. “Probably something she read in a book.”
“Books.” Ella muttered happily, looking a bit more relaxed. “Ella likes books.”
“That was a prophecy.” Octavian insisted. “It sounded like a prophecy.”
Annabeth laughed, and it sounded forced. “Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?”
The Roman soldiers that Octavian always had with him started laughing nervously. Some of them looked between Ella and Octavian and snorted. Clearly, they knew that Octavian was being ridiculous and paranoid.
“I, uh…” Octavian started, lowering the stuffed animal. “No, but—”
“She’s just spouting lines from some book.” Annabeth waved her hand in dismissal. “Like Hazel said. “Besides, we already have a real prophecy.” She turned to Tyson. “Percy’s right. Why don’t you take Ella and Mrs. O’Leary and shadow-travel somewhere safe for a while? Is Ella okay with that?”
“Large dogs are good,” Ella said. “Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gibson and William Tunberg.” I don’t think I like the fact that she referenced Old Yeller when she’s sitting on my dog.
“Great!” Percy said. “We’ll Iris-message you guys when we’re done and catch up with you later.”
Everyone else looked toward Reyna. I mean, I get that she is the Praetor, but why is it that her word is law around here? Last I checked, both Percy and Jason were also Praetors, so they should get a say.
Reyna studied Ella for a moment. “Fine, go.”
“Yay!” Tyson yelled childishly. He ran around the couched and gave everyone a big hug. Octavian and his posse didn’t seem to enjoy it. Reyna was shocked, to say the least. By the time he got to me I attempted to hug him back as tight, but Tyson gives the best hugs, no doubt about it.
As he climbed onto Mrs. O’Leary I scratched her behind the ears and kissed her head. “Take care of them girl, okay? And stay safe at Camp. Also…” I leaned into her ear to whisper. “Look after Will. I have a bad feeling, and I know he could some support.”
Mrs. O’Leary barked, almost making me go deaf, before liking my face. I spluttered and wiped the drool off my face. Yata was annoyed because he was squawking at her. With another woof she bounded out of the forum. Tyson waved back at us and we waved back. They disappeared in a shadow on the Senate House wall.
“Well, Octavian is right about one thing.” Reyna said discarding her uneaten apple. “We must gain the Senate’s approval before we let out any of our legionnaires go on a Quest—especially one as dangerous as you’re suggesting.”
“This whole thing smells of treachery.” grumbled Octavian. He looked up at the flying ship. “That trireme is not a ship of peace!”
“If it will make you take a chill pill, fell free to come aboard man.” Leo offered. “I’ll give you the grand tour myself. I’ll even let you steer the boat, and if you’re really good I’ll give you a little paper captain’s hat with your name on it as a souvenir.”
“How dare you—” Octavian was seething, his nostrils flaring.
“I think it’s a good idea.” Reyna said. “Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We’ll convene a senate meeting in one hour.”
“But…” With one steely look from Reyna, Octavian stood down. “Fine.”
Leo stood up and led Octavian to the ship. Everyone had finished eating at this point and stood up too Frank and Hazel said that they were going to grab a few things and left. As I was stretching the invisible wind spirits came to clear the plates. Jason asked Reyna of it would be alright to show Piper around before the senate meeting. With how Reyna’s features hardened, I thought she was going to say no, but she coldly said they could go.
“Yeah, me too.” Percy said, taking Annabeth’s hand. “I’d like to show Annabeth arou—”
“No.” Reyna snapped.
“Sorry?” Percy asked, not understanding.
“I’d like a few words with Annabeth.” Reyna said. “Alone. If you don’t mind, my fellow praetor.” God, the ice in her voice chilled even my spine, and she wasn’t even talking to me.
“Uh…come on Perce. Let give the girls some private time.” I said.
“But—”
“Do you really want to stand between Reyna and Annabeth?” I asked. “I wouldn’t.”
Percy looked at Annabeth to see what she wanted. “Go on Percy. I’ll be fine.”
Once we left, Percy and I wondered around a little bit. It’s not like we had anything better to do. I saw a few clothing stores, so I had Percy come with me. He needed a distraction, and I needed more clothes. There’s no way am I wearing the same outfit for the entirety of this quest. What if it they get torn?
I ended up grabbing a few pairs of trunks, sleeveless undershirts, an extra pair of jeans and a few cargo shorts. I begrudgingly grabbed an extra Camp-Jupiter T-shirt because that’s the only kind they had. Maybe I’ll get a chance to buy something different on our way to Greece.
“Hey you getting hungry man?” Percy asked as we walked by a café.
“I could eat something.” I said.
“I’ll go grab us something.” Percy said. “I bet I can get a Praetor discount.”
“Looks like you might take a little while.” I said, seeing the line out the door. “I’ll meet you by the fountain, okay?”
“Sure thing.”
“Oh, and grab some extra Nectar and Ambrosia if you can. I bet that the ship is well stocked, if Chiron and Will had gotten their way, but with this quest…we’re going to need as much as we can get.”
Percy nodded and we fist bumped. We split up and I went to the fountain. When I sat down I took out the spell book and started reading through it. Yatagarasu hopped off my shoulder and perched himself right next to me. I stroked down his back as I read.
The Argo II was blocking the sun a bit, so it was nice and shaded here on the fountain. All around me were families marveling at the flying warship. Children were playing all around having fun. There were newly inducted members of the Legion enjoying a day off, but were prepped for battle, being fully dressed in armor, although that was more than likely due to Octavian.
All of the sudden there was this cold feeling at the back of my neck again. I whipped around, but there was nothing there. For a moment I entertained the thought that it was water from fountain sprinkling on me, but my neck was dry. Turning back around I noticed that Death’s ring was glowing faintly, just barely noticeably.
“What’s this about?” I asked, flexing my hand. The ring felt so cold but it faded. So weird.
Ignoring this, I kept reading through the spell book. I know for a fact that if I can get a hold of handling magic I will be much more help for Percy and the others. As I flipped though I found a spell that I was honestly praying would be in here: an invisibility spell. Now, I don’t want to be invisible myself, but there’s an eyesore of a branded tattoo that needs to be gotten rid of.
I read and reread the spell a few times over, just to make sure that I don’t screw it up. Magic can be very unpredictable after all. As I was about to perform the spell, Percy arrived and sat next to me.
“Here ya go, one white chocolate peppermint mocha.” Percy smiled.
“Thanks man.” I said. He had gotten a Coke and the two of us brownies. We clinked our drinks.
I took a few large gulps of my coffee. “How can you drink all that coffee? I had a sip of it earlier and I feel like I want to go a few rounds in the coliseum.”
“I’m from Seattle, coffee is our life blood there.” I explained after swallowing a bite of brownie. “That’s why there’s a coffeeshop, more likely than not a Starbucks, on every corner.”
“I’m just saying, you drink a lot of coffee for someone our age.”
“At least my drink is pretty simple. You should see the coffee snobs I have seen. Man are those people psychos.” I went back to reading.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m about to see if this spell will get rid of this tattoo.” I said.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Percy, you know my opinions of tattoos. I’ve never liked them. I get that it’s a sign of honor here or something, but I can’t stand it. Besides, what will Sally think when she sees us with these things on our arms? She’ll flip.”
“Yeah, yeah she will.”
“So we understand one another, good. Now if you excuse me for a second.” I took a deep breath and focused like I was taught to. I waved my hand over the brand, waiting for results. But the ink doesn’t fade. I let out a breath of annoyance. “Dammit.”
“I’m sorry man.” Percy said. “But I bet you’ll get used to it soon.”
“I hope so.” I said. “I need to get a hold of this magic thing. It can be of so much help once I do.”
“I have faith in you.” Percy said. “You tend to pick things up quickly and—”
There was a shrill sound that screeched through the air. The area brightened up noticeably as a large ball of fire soared above us. A large BOOM thundered the area, accompanied by a bright flash. Once the light cleared enough I saw a huge crater in the forum, wreathed in flames. A flaming couch crashed a couple of yards away from us. Percy and I didn’t have time to react, didn’t have time to help anyone, as a large bronze speak wrapped in Greek Fire blasted into the Senate House. The building blew up in an eruption of green flames.
“Di Immortales!” “Nanite kotoda!”
We ran towards the Senate House in order to help. I prayed that no one was on the building when it was hit. We didn’t get too far because the Romans were already getting aggressive and were rioting.
“This isn’t going to be good.” I said.
“Everyone, calm down!” Percy yelled. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
The Romans did not listen. Chaos was spreading. The crowds of Romans were starting to push and shove. Fistfights were breaking out. I had a feeling that everything was going to get much worse.
“Yata!” My bird cawed and flew right above us. “Take our stuff to the flying ship, we’ll be up there soon.” Yata nodded and grabbed the bags. He flew as fast as he could to the ship.
“It’s their fault!” screamed a Roman over the crowd’s roars. “They led the warship to us! Capere Graeci!”
“Capere Graeci! Capere Graeci! Capere Graeci!” The crowd started chanting.
“Percy, we need to go.”
“No! I can stop this.”
“No you can’t, we need to leave or else we will be killed!” I said.
“But—” I slapped him and started pulling him away from the oncoming crowd.
“Will you stop trying to keep the peace and think about your own life for once!” I screamed. “If we stay we will be executed, and then who will stop Gaea and the Giants?”
Percy scowled. “Dammit, fine!”
We ran back towards the Argo II. I could see the ballistae still smoking from here. Frank and Hazel caught up with us, looking scared and angry. As soon as we got back to the fountain we all tried yelling for everyone to calm down and think things through. But no one was listening. No one wanted to listen. They were just so angry, as if Ares, or I guess Mars was here yelling in each of their ears to fight and be pissed off.
I was so lucky weapons are not allowed in the city limits. Otherwise I think we’d be dead by now. But this angry mob of Romans, young and old, newbies and veterans of the Legion, were starting to throw plates, food, and rocks at us and the Argo II. That last part was almost funny, if the thrown items weren’t falling on us. I had to make a barrier out of the fountain water to keep us from getting hurt by falling items.
Percy kept trying to calm the crown, but with no success. They kept screaming and reaching for him, even managing to grab a few fistfuls of his toga and tearing it. It was around this time that Jason flew, I mean flew, to the middle of the crowd, Piper clinging to him. He kept screaming ‘I’m on your side, I’m on your side!’ but no one cared. They reached for him and pulled him into the crowd. He didn’t fight them as hard as I bet he could, probably because he didn’t want to hurt them. But by the time he was able to escape his purple cloak was torn to shreds and his forehead was bleeding.
Piper kept screaming at the mob, telling them to stand down, and her words were so appealing. Even I wanted to what she said. It was like she had some super persuasion powers. It was making my head feel foggy, so I shook my head and focused on keeping us safe. Unfortunately, the mob was screaming so loud that it was impossible for Piper’s ability to reach them.
The ship kept firing off flaming spears. What was going on up there? Oh, I swear to God that if Octavian did this all-in order to get the Romans completely on his side I will bring him to Hades myself. Hell, maybe I can offer him up to Death on a silver platter.
“Percy, you need to push them back, or else we will get killed!”
“Right!” Percy used the water in the fountain to blast the Romans back, like how firemen and law officers do during riots.
“Oh gods, Octavian is trying to climb down!” Frank said. I spared a moment to look up and saw Octavian swing back and forth, probably yelling obscenities like a madman.
“Annabeth!!” Percy yelled. I turned back and saw her running and dodging between the mob. Percy blasted the Romans with more water to open up more of a path for her until she finally reached us. “What—”
“I don’t know!” she yelled.
“I’ll tell you what!” cried Octavian’s voice from above. He was at the bottom of the ladder, his robes steaming and his face black with soot. “The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!”
“You’re lying!” said Annabeth. “Leo would never—”
“I was just there!” the blonde Augur shrieked. “I saw it with my own eyes!”
“Ā, anata wa watashi o jōdan ni shinakereba naranai! We’re just supposed to believe you after all the crap you do to get yourself ahead!” I yelled back. “For all we know you fired on your own people to cause a war!” The Argo II fired again, thus killing my theory. Shit.
“You see?!” he screamed. “Romans, kill the invaders! But save Jackson and the Shinto for me! I will personally sacrifice them to the gods!”
“We have to leave!” yelled Annabeth. “Now!”
I nodded, as did Percy. “Frank, Hazel, you’ve got to make a choice. Are you coming?”
Hazel put on her helmet. “Of course we are. But you’ll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time.”
After Annabeth asked how, Hazel whistled. In a blink-and-you-miss-it blur of beige, Arion appeared right in front of Hazel. He reared up onto his hind legs and whinnied loudly, making the crowd back off a bit. Hazel jumped on and raised her sword.
“Send me an Iris-message when you’re safely away, and we’ll rendezvous. Arion, ride!!” Hazel clicked her boots to Arion’s sides and he zipped through the mod, pushing the Romans back and causing even more panic.
“Romans!” Jason cried. “Please!”
He and Piper were still being pelted by plates and stones. They were too far away for me to help them. In order to protect his girlfriend, Jason shielded Piper. His selfless, heroic attitude cost him a brick right above the eye. He crumpled to the ground, blood already staining his face. If the brick had hit just a little higher—
“Get BACK!” Piper screamed. It seemed to do the job. The mob stopped getting closer, hesitating. But they were slowly starting to get their courage back.
There was no way Percy or I could get there to help, so that meant only one person. “Frank! You need to save them!”
Frank gulped but nodded. “Oh gods.” He murmured. “Okay, sure. The three of you just get up the ropes. Now.” He jumped into the crowd and started bulldozing his way towards Jason and Piper.
Unfortunately, the three of us weren’t able to get to the ropes. Percy and I were to focused keeping the mob away from us with water jets. But even them they kept swarming at us. I heard Octavian curse behind me, so I glanced back and saw that his foot was caught in the rope ladder, making him unable to get down. If it weren’t for the current situation it would have been really funny.
Screams of fear from the crowd drew my attention. As I turned to look I saw something huge, gray, and leathery in the middle of the mob. It was a dragon. Not the dragons that I was used to, more like a European dragon. It spread its wings and took off into the air. In its claws were Jason and Piper. Holy crap, that’s Frank! I didn’t know he could turn into creatures like dragons!
“Percy, get Annabeth to the ship, I’ll hold back the mob.” I said once Frank was in the sky.
“You can’t hold all of them back!” Annabeth said.
“Don’t doubt me sister.” I said. “Percy, go!”
“If you’re not following us real quick I swear—”
“Shut up and go!” I pushed him towards the ladder and turned back to the mob.
I summoned all the water of the well and made it form a dense wall. The mob started to pound on it, banging on it with their fists and rocks and whatever else they had on them. Octavian screamed behind me and there was this thump noise, so he had to have hit the ground.
All of the sudden there was this whistling sound coming from above. I looked up and saw a flaming ball miss the Argo and was heading towards me and the mob. I didn’t want the people to get hurt, so I made the water shield us from above. The ball hit the water shield and it exploded. I was barely able to keep the shield up for as long as I could. The explosion pushed me to the ground. I think I heard Percy and Annabeth calling for me. When I stood back up the mob was shaking their heads and coming back for me. I put my back to the fountain and held my hand up.
“Stay back.” I warned, my heart beating like crazy.
“You brought the Greeks here!” yelled a mob member. “It’s because of you our city is burning!”
“I have no idea how this happened, but I didn’t lead anyone anywhere!” I said. “I haven’t been in contact with the Camp Half-Blood in months!”
“LIAR!” The mob started towards me again.
“I told you to stay back!” I screamed. I thrust my hand out and a pulse of blue light pushed the mob several feet away.
“What was that?” I turned around and saw Octavian staring at me, eyes wide. My hand was still glowing, so I shook it to make it stop. “You…you FREAK!” Okay, that was rude. He drew his knife and stepped closer to me. “I knew you were hiding something. You can never trust beings of different pantheons, especially if they’re part Greek. I will have your head, and the gods will shine their graces on me as I lead Rome into glorious battle against the Greek camp.”
“If you so much as touch the people there I will drag you to Hell myself.” I said.
“I am going to enjoy giving your head to Lord Jupiter you piece of gar—” Octavian stopped midsentence and fell over. He was hit over the head by-
“Anthony?” I asked, seeing my young friend holding the pommel of his sword. “What have you done?”
“I-I couldn’t let him hurt you.” said the son of Ceres. “I saw his knife, and I know how he’s like.”
“Why? Do you know what’s going to happen to you now?”
“Because…because you’re my friend.” That struck me in the heart. Anthony is so kind hearted, always thinking of others.
I looked around to see if anyone else saw what Anthony did, and all I saw were Romans on the ground, some knocked out, others too distracted to have noticed. “Thank you Anthony. I’ll repay you soon.”
“You can do it now.” He said. “Make it look like I tried to stop you. Make it look like fight.”
I nodded and waved my hand over the fountain. The water started to swirl around. I looked at him and he nodded at me, giving me the go ahead. I swung my arm and a strong jet of water slammed into Anthony. I made it just strong enough to knock the wind out of him, and probably end up leaving a bruise, but it was weak enough that his armor absorbed the worst of it.
Percy was yelling for me near the top of the ladder. The Roman mob started to get back up, so I had to leave now. I gathered water at my feet and made it blast me into the air like a geyser just as a Roman got close. I reached for the rope and grabbed on tight as soon as I got near. The ladder swung violently so I held on tight.
Once it was more stable I started climbing. From this position, I could really see the damage that was inflicted on New Rome. It was horrible. Fires blazed all around. It’s going to take them awhile to repair all of this. And knowing Octavian, he was going to spin this into something so much worse than it is. I just hope that Anthony will be alright.
I looked down and could just make out Anthony from here. He was still on the ground, but he wasn’t being arrested, at least right now he isn’t. I sent a few prayers out to the gods to keep a watch other him.
“Arigatō Anthony. Please stay safe.”