The Untold Story

Chapter Two

When the two girls finally returned back to the forum, the Greeks were already settling down with the Romans. Frank, who was sitting next to the Greeks, looked comfortable enough to chat with Leo and Piper, while Jason and Percy were tangled in a somewhat serious conversation. Hazel and Annabeth, on the other hand, were both enjoying their meals and exchanged short and soft conversations with each other.

When the Romans saw both praetors back, they slightly bowed their head before returning back to their meal. Penellaphe sat between Hazel and Annabeth, while Reyna sat to the right of Frank. The table was filled with uncomfortable silence before Penellaphe nodded her head and spoke,

"Apologies to everyone, I had some matters to attend to and needed Reyna's help."

Percy nudged her a little and gave her a reassuring smile, silently asking her if she was okay. Penellaphe nodded her head.

"We were just introducing ourselves. Why don't you and Reyna do it as well?" Percy asked.

Penellaphe considered it for a while before putting down her bowl.

"I am the daughter of Ceres, Demeter, as you say in Greek, and praetor of Rome." She announced, before beckoning Reyna to join her.

"I'm the daughter of Bellona, the war goddess, praetor of Rome as well."

Leo Valdez, who was in the middle of playing his food, looked up and smiled crazily at Penellaphe,

"Oh my god, you're best friends with Jason, right? He couldn't stop talking about you during our quest. Said you were one of his best friends back at camp."

Penellaphe almost spitted out her drink, Great, she wanted nothing more than to hear she was "best friends" with Jason and nothing more. Percy patted her back and gave an awkward smile to Jason, who looked confused on why Penellaphe had acted so wildly. Piper outstretched her hand to Penellaphe,

"I'm Jason's girlfriend, Piper. It's so nice meeting the great Penellaphe!" She said, looking so sweet and innocent, like nothing was wrong.

Penellaphe glanced at Piper's hand and gave a tight smile, but she couldn't bring herself to shake Piper's hands. Piper, who's hand was still hanging, laughed a little and said,

"Got it, not a people person. I was also something like that before I met Jason, he was the one who made me more confident in myself and get comfortable talking to others. "

Penellaphe narrowed her eyes and almost glared at Piper with her intense green eyes. She was never not confident in herself, how dare Piper insult her like that. But deep down she knew Piper was just trying her best to become friends with her and meant nothing like that, but still, why did she have to drag Jason into everything?

"Um, hahaha, yeah little Penellaphe is still very shy in front of strangers."Percy teased, trying to make her smile. Penellaphe gave a sickening smile to Percy and stomped Percy's feet with her own. Percy yelped and mumbled an apology. 

Don't get her wrong, she was very grateful to have Percy as a friend, but sometimes Percy went overboard with his jokes, or simply because he has horrible timing with everything except when it comes to fighting. Everyone around them eventually started talking again, even Reyna was exchanging stories with Leo, Piper, and Jason, which surprised her even more, but she was happy for her best friend.

After everyone finished their meal, some harpies came back to their table and cleaned everything off, while others brought out dessert. Jason suddenly grabbed Piper's hand and stood up,

"Reyna, Penellaphe, is it okay if I take Piper out for a spin? She's never seen Rome before."

Reyna almost stabbed her knife on the table.

Reyna glanced at Penellaphe, who decided to ignore what Jason just asked, nodded her head. As the couple headed off, Annabeth stood up as well,

"Hey Penellaphe, can I also talk to you as well?"

Penellaphe looked at Annabeth, shocked, and glanced at Percy. She thought those two were the ones who wanted to spent as much time with each other.

"Very well," She replied, then looked at Reyna, "we will be back shortly."

The two girls walked around the training area, which was empty, and stopped beside a coffee shop. They sat down on one of the tables and ordered two cups of hot chocolate. Both girls took a sip of their drinks, not exactly sure what to say to each other, before Penellaphe wiped the cream off her mouth and said,

"I only see Percy as a brother, nothing more."

Annabeth gave her a reassuring smile and nodded her head,

"I know. You know, I can read people really well, do you want to talk about what happened with you and Jason?"

"Why would you want to hear some pathetic story about a girl with a broken heart?" Penellaphe asked, genuinely curious. From what she had heard from Percy, Annabeth was a worrier, not a sentimental person.

"I know exactly how you felt during these past months, Percy also disappeared and showed up to your camp, right? I spent eight months crazily finding him, using everything and everyone possible, just to find nothing, not even a clue," Annabeth said, taking another sip, "you felt that as well, didn't you?"

Penellaphe nodded her head, speechless. Every word Annabeth said was like a knife had stabbed into her heart continuously. She felt the exact same thing, nothing less.

Annabeth smiled at her,

"Just know that I'm here whenever you want to talk."

Penellaphe thanked her silently, but she couldn't trust herself to talk without her voice breaking.

"From the looks of it, you look like a true warrior, maybe we can find some time and meet up at the Arena bellow deck?"Annabeth offered, "I would love to see how you Romans fight!"

"Of course, it would be my pleasure." Penellaphe whispered, "I would love to learn how to judo-flip someone."

Annabeth winked at her and both girls laughed, and for some reason, Penellaphe was glad Annabeth was there with her.