My Boyfriend is a Dead Roman Hero | Jason Grace

I Learn a Card Game

The months after Percy and Silena leave for school are terrible. Firstly, Julie's been forced into tutoring sessions with the remaining Athena campers, which she is not pleased about. Honestly, who cares about times tables when you're normally out fighting monsters and kicking evil titan butt? But, Malcom claims that she's "appallingly behind" and "should know how to read at 12 years old."

Pfft. She can read. Kinda. She can write her name, at least.

Secondly, her only friends being gone means she's spending most of her time alone and that's just making her get weird. She spends most of her time finding new obscure places to sit while she sketches or avoids going to sword training. This habit of hers is very not appreciated by Chiron, who once had to send out the rest of the campers on a manhunt for her when she fell asleep on the roof of the weapons shed and didn't turn up for lunch or dinner. She's gotten way too used to talking to herself now too and often gets looks from the Apollo campers that make her worried they're going to lock her in a room with Mr. D in hopes he'll cure her of madness or something.

Her auras aren't getting any better either. It doesn't feel any different to Juliette, but apparently her recent bout of loneliness mixed with her Heartbreak powers makes others "too sad to be around her," so she gets ditched even more often by the few campers willing to talk to her. Go figure. Yay for demigod irony.

So, by the time a flaming school bus comes crashing into the lake, Juliette is absolutely desperate for some human interaction. She's at archery practice with the Athena cabin when it happens, so she gets frantic shouts at her to stop running with sharp objects as she takes off at full speed for the lake without sheathing the arrow she'd knocked. She decides just to drop the whole bow on her run over - if there's one thing she knows, where there's explosions and a body of water, there's a Percy Jackson.

There's a crowd of people gathered around the shore. Chiron is talking to a teenage guy with blonde hair (which makes her do a double take when she first sees him), Thalia is glaring heatedly at a short girl around Julie's age with a silver circlet resting above her eyes, and...there!

"PERCY!" Julie flies past the group, knocking a short boy with dark hair aside as she throws herself into Percy's arms.

He stumbles a bit, fumbling to catch her. "Why do children keep attacking me today?!" He yelps.

Julie pulls back, failing to push the smile off her face. "I should attack you! Where have you been? You promised to Iris me while you were gone!"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. I got a little busy. Grover found some demigods, and we had to go get them from some boarding school." He explains, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Julie lights up. "'We?' Is Annabeth here too?"

Percy's face falls, and suddenly Chiron is beside them, placing a firm hand on Juliette's shoulder. "Juliette, why don't you show Nico and Bianca around camp whilst I speak with Percy about what has happened?" Chiron suggests.

Julie frowns. "But-"

"I'm sure they'd appreciate a seasoned camper like you showing them the ropes." He winks at her.

Pride swells in Julie's chest, and she beams, turning towards the newcomers. The boy is looking in annoyance at where she's still clinging to Percy's hand. He seems to be a year or two younger than Juliette, with short black hair and a face spattered with freckles. Bianca looks a little older than Julie, with long dark brown hair and a slightly crooked nose. She smiles nervously at Juliette before looking over to the girl with the circlet in question.

Circlet girl clears her throat. "Actually, Chiron, Bianca will stay with us. She is a realized Hunter of Artemis now and is not your concern." The girl barks. Chiron frowns a bit, but relents, nodding at Julie to go ahead with Nico.