Greetings, people!
Here is the introductory chapter, by..........
crazy_greek!!!
P.S. It's AWESOME!!!
Annabeth's pov
Ok, things didn't go as planned but Terminus could actually help them talk peacefully with the Romans. So, now, Argo II is twenty metres above ground and a group of Romans is a few metres away from us. Some are surprised to see Jason while others are looking at us as if we're the devil. I don't blame them. I don't trust them either, mostly because they are members of the Senate. I don't trust politicians and I certainly don't trust a blond, skinny boy with the expressionless face.
However I pay more attention to two black-haired girls in the front. They look alike, so they must be sisters or something. But they are like the opposite sides of the same coin. The older one is definitely an Amazon, a high-ranked Amazon, judging by the clothes, the attitude and the way she's looking at Jason and Leo, as if she's wondering how well they could serve her. The younger is in a purple toga, like the one Jason is wearing, so this must be Reyna, Jason's co-praetor. I don't know why, but I have the feeling I know them from somewhere.
However, none of these observations are important right now. I have some time until the whole Senate is gathered to greet us and I am using it to worry why Percy hasn't shown up yet. Since he's Greek, shouldn't he be here as well? And what does his absence mean? What if they found out he's Greek and they mis-treated him? Or, worse, what if he still has amnesia and he doesn't remember anything? Maybe he's not here because he doesn't know he should be. Oh, what am I going to do if that's the case and he doesn't recognize me? How much longer will I have to wait until he becomes his old self?
Oh, relax, Annabeth. Maybe this is a meeting only for the ones in charge. Yes, that must be why he's not here. Still, I couldn't stop glancing at where Terminus was, making sure Romans didn't carry any weapons inside the Pomerian Line.
There were at least fifty legionnaires watching our every move but I wasn't worried. We had expected something like that and we had practised our lines so that we wouldn't give them any reason to attack. I was about to look again to those two sisters in front of me when I saw a huge guy waiting for Terminus to let him pass. He had the body of a wrestler but the face of a baby. I've never seen a guy with such a controversial appearance. After him I saw a girl with dark skin, curly hair and amazing golden eyes. I've never seen so warm golden eyes. But the big surprise came after her. He had jet-black messy hair and sea-green eyes. PERCY! So he would be present! So he did remember he was Greek! Maybe he remembered more than that. But, why did he wear that purple toga? IS IT POSSIBLE?
My face must have betrayed my surprise, because Piper beside me took off her jacket and "accidentaly" touched me. I got the message and rearranged my expression. This wasn't the right time to let my emotions blurr my judgement. However, I kept looking at him waiting for him to see me.
And he did see me a few moments later. I saw him freezing in place with his eyes widen and his lips open in wonder, as if he didn't believe I was there. I kind of liked that and I smiled at him. The smile on his face was dazzling! I can't believe I managed to go on without seeing this amazing smile! And, at that moment, I realized that he did remember me - even though I didn't know how much he remembered. This thought made my anxiety go away - if he remembered me, he would back me up, so our chances got amazingly better with him being a praetor! I quickly rearranged my features and he got the meaning "business first, catching up later", because he quickly went to stand by the other praetor.
"Hello, Romans. For those of you who don't know me, I am Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, member of the Fifth Cohort of the 12th legion fulminata and, apparently, ex-praetor. This is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and leader of a camp for Greek demigods in the East, Camp Half-Blood. This is Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite and this is Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus and builder and captain of Argo II, the trireme you see above us. They mean us no harm, I can personally guarantee you that. I swear that on my life."
"Welcome back, Jason Grace. I, Reyna, as praetor of New Rome, welcome you, Greeks, as well. This-"
"We all know Greeks are not to be trusted. And, as for you, Jason Grace, how do we know you did not seek them so they could help you become emperor of New Rome? You were missing all these months and you happen to end up in a Greek camp?"
I was right not to trust this skinny boy. And I could see that none of the sisters nor Percy liked him. Jason tensed but managed to control himself.
"You are right to have your doubts, Octavian. However, I have been in this camp for twelve years and you all know me very well. You know I would never betray my family."
"That is correct," Reyna said. "We all know Jason is loyal to New Rome and to his legion. I don't think that trying to spoil his reputation is a sigh of good faith, Octavian, and it's definitely not a sign of unity. It's a sign of weakness and it could give the wrong impressions." Hmm, she seemed like a soldier but she definitely could handle politics well enough.
"At any case, they have come in peace. I don't believe that a centurion of New Rome feels threatened by four demigods." Percy pointed out looking at me with a light of amusement in his eyes. Wow, he became wiser!
"We have come in peace. Hera sent us here. She wants Greek and Romans to co-operate, because she believes this is our only hope to defeat Gaea. It isn't easy for either side to forget the past but, apparently, we have a common enemy, a very strong common enemy, and this must be enough to make us try and fight side by side," I said with calm and confidence I didn't quite feel.
"This is crazy! It has never happened before and-" Octavian said.
"Oh, it has happened but we didn't realize it," I said, not wanting to loose the chance to take the upper hand. "It happened last summer. While you were fighting in Mount Othrys, we were defending Olympus with the help of Artemis' hunters, nature spirits and satyrs."
"That's blasphemy! Gods defended Olympus!" Octavian exclaimed.
"No, they didn't. They were busy fighting Typhon. Hades, Demeter and Persephony came a little later but Kronos cut them off. Annabeth and I fought him together," Percy interfered. Would it be too much to hope he remembered everything? "At any case, this is not the place to have this discussion. Let's go inside the Senate House."
Reyna nodded and started going there. Percy winked at me and deliberately looked at Octavian. I got it. We had to postpone our catching-up so that he wouldn't say we were planning to trap them all. I smiled sadly at him but nodded. I was so sad I didn't pay attention to the city. Piper realised that and simply held my hand.
Once inside, Reyna got up and said: "Since we are all here, let the meeting begin. Greeks, say what you have come to say."
I got up. "Praetors, Senators, if you allow me, I would like to invite the rest of the Greek counselors in our meeting. Percy, would you help me?"
He came at the center of the room and summoned some water. Then, he made it go up like in a fountain, only that there was no fountain, only his control. I IM'ed Chiron and all Romans were surprised to see every Greek counselor, an oracle and a centaur right in front of them.
"Hello, Romans. I am Chiron. Percy, my boy, I am so glad to see you again. We were all worried about you and we are all relieved to see you are fine. Now, before you discuss anything, it is important to listen to the story of the Second Titan War, so that you know exactly who we Greeks are. Lupa gave me a series of books in which Percy's story is written. Even we don't know everything, because in these books there are his thoughts. We do not have much time, so, Annabeth, if you don't mind, start reading."
THE END!! (of the chapter, I mean.)
Hope you guys liked it!
Here is the introductory chapter, by..........
crazy_greek!!!
P.S. It's AWESOME!!!
Annabeth's pov
Ok, things didn't go as planned but Terminus could actually help them talk peacefully with the Romans. So, now, Argo II is twenty metres above ground and a group of Romans is a few metres away from us. Some are surprised to see Jason while others are looking at us as if we're the devil. I don't blame them. I don't trust them either, mostly because they are members of the Senate. I don't trust politicians and I certainly don't trust a blond, skinny boy with the expressionless face.
However I pay more attention to two black-haired girls in the front. They look alike, so they must be sisters or something. But they are like the opposite sides of the same coin. The older one is definitely an Amazon, a high-ranked Amazon, judging by the clothes, the attitude and the way she's looking at Jason and Leo, as if she's wondering how well they could serve her. The younger is in a purple toga, like the one Jason is wearing, so this must be Reyna, Jason's co-praetor. I don't know why, but I have the feeling I know them from somewhere.
However, none of these observations are important right now. I have some time until the whole Senate is gathered to greet us and I am using it to worry why Percy hasn't shown up yet. Since he's Greek, shouldn't he be here as well? And what does his absence mean? What if they found out he's Greek and they mis-treated him? Or, worse, what if he still has amnesia and he doesn't remember anything? Maybe he's not here because he doesn't know he should be. Oh, what am I going to do if that's the case and he doesn't recognize me? How much longer will I have to wait until he becomes his old self?
Oh, relax, Annabeth. Maybe this is a meeting only for the ones in charge. Yes, that must be why he's not here. Still, I couldn't stop glancing at where Terminus was, making sure Romans didn't carry any weapons inside the Pomerian Line.
There were at least fifty legionnaires watching our every move but I wasn't worried. We had expected something like that and we had practised our lines so that we wouldn't give them any reason to attack. I was about to look again to those two sisters in front of me when I saw a huge guy waiting for Terminus to let him pass. He had the body of a wrestler but the face of a baby. I've never seen a guy with such a controversial appearance. After him I saw a girl with dark skin, curly hair and amazing golden eyes. I've never seen so warm golden eyes. But the big surprise came after her. He had jet-black messy hair and sea-green eyes. PERCY! So he would be present! So he did remember he was Greek! Maybe he remembered more than that. But, why did he wear that purple toga? IS IT POSSIBLE?
My face must have betrayed my surprise, because Piper beside me took off her jacket and "accidentaly" touched me. I got the message and rearranged my expression. This wasn't the right time to let my emotions blurr my judgement. However, I kept looking at him waiting for him to see me.
And he did see me a few moments later. I saw him freezing in place with his eyes widen and his lips open in wonder, as if he didn't believe I was there. I kind of liked that and I smiled at him. The smile on his face was dazzling! I can't believe I managed to go on without seeing this amazing smile! And, at that moment, I realized that he did remember me - even though I didn't know how much he remembered. This thought made my anxiety go away - if he remembered me, he would back me up, so our chances got amazingly better with him being a praetor! I quickly rearranged my features and he got the meaning "business first, catching up later", because he quickly went to stand by the other praetor.
"Hello, Romans. For those of you who don't know me, I am Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, member of the Fifth Cohort of the 12th legion fulminata and, apparently, ex-praetor. This is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and leader of a camp for Greek demigods in the East, Camp Half-Blood. This is Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite and this is Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus and builder and captain of Argo II, the trireme you see above us. They mean us no harm, I can personally guarantee you that. I swear that on my life."
"Welcome back, Jason Grace. I, Reyna, as praetor of New Rome, welcome you, Greeks, as well. This-"
"We all know Greeks are not to be trusted. And, as for you, Jason Grace, how do we know you did not seek them so they could help you become emperor of New Rome? You were missing all these months and you happen to end up in a Greek camp?"
I was right not to trust this skinny boy. And I could see that none of the sisters nor Percy liked him. Jason tensed but managed to control himself.
"You are right to have your doubts, Octavian. However, I have been in this camp for twelve years and you all know me very well. You know I would never betray my family."
"That is correct," Reyna said. "We all know Jason is loyal to New Rome and to his legion. I don't think that trying to spoil his reputation is a sigh of good faith, Octavian, and it's definitely not a sign of unity. It's a sign of weakness and it could give the wrong impressions." Hmm, she seemed like a soldier but she definitely could handle politics well enough.
"At any case, they have come in peace. I don't believe that a centurion of New Rome feels threatened by four demigods." Percy pointed out looking at me with a light of amusement in his eyes. Wow, he became wiser!
"We have come in peace. Hera sent us here. She wants Greek and Romans to co-operate, because she believes this is our only hope to defeat Gaea. It isn't easy for either side to forget the past but, apparently, we have a common enemy, a very strong common enemy, and this must be enough to make us try and fight side by side," I said with calm and confidence I didn't quite feel.
"This is crazy! It has never happened before and-" Octavian said.
"Oh, it has happened but we didn't realize it," I said, not wanting to loose the chance to take the upper hand. "It happened last summer. While you were fighting in Mount Othrys, we were defending Olympus with the help of Artemis' hunters, nature spirits and satyrs."
"That's blasphemy! Gods defended Olympus!" Octavian exclaimed.
"No, they didn't. They were busy fighting Typhon. Hades, Demeter and Persephony came a little later but Kronos cut them off. Annabeth and I fought him together," Percy interfered. Would it be too much to hope he remembered everything? "At any case, this is not the place to have this discussion. Let's go inside the Senate House."
Reyna nodded and started going there. Percy winked at me and deliberately looked at Octavian. I got it. We had to postpone our catching-up so that he wouldn't say we were planning to trap them all. I smiled sadly at him but nodded. I was so sad I didn't pay attention to the city. Piper realised that and simply held my hand.
Once inside, Reyna got up and said: "Since we are all here, let the meeting begin. Greeks, say what you have come to say."
I got up. "Praetors, Senators, if you allow me, I would like to invite the rest of the Greek counselors in our meeting. Percy, would you help me?"
He came at the center of the room and summoned some water. Then, he made it go up like in a fountain, only that there was no fountain, only his control. I IM'ed Chiron and all Romans were surprised to see every Greek counselor, an oracle and a centaur right in front of them.
"Hello, Romans. I am Chiron. Percy, my boy, I am so glad to see you again. We were all worried about you and we are all relieved to see you are fine. Now, before you discuss anything, it is important to listen to the story of the Second Titan War, so that you know exactly who we Greeks are. Lupa gave me a series of books in which Percy's story is written. Even we don't know everything, because in these books there are his thoughts. We do not have much time, so, Annabeth, if you don't mind, start reading."
THE END!! (of the chapter, I mean.)
Hope you guys liked it!
last edited over a year ago