Together

Chapter 19: Jason

        Leo had just come back to the Athena cabin, where we were all meeting, and as he told us the news about Nik, tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. Leo had grown pretty fond of the kid, and earlier he'd told me that it was because he reminded him of himself when he was around that age. 

        "There's um, there's something else Octavian did..."  Leo said gravely. " He told me to warn Jason and Percy that if they don't meet him in the sword fighting arena tomorrow at sundown, he'll kill more people." 

        The silence after that was unbarable, so I decided to change the subject. "So Annabeth. How are things going with the baby?" Everyone looked confused, as if with all the chaos, they'd forgotten she was pregnant, except for Percy. 

        "It's okay I guess. Last time I tried to see a doctor though, Octavian attacked us, so it could be better," she replied. I suddenly felt bad for bringing it up. 

        Again, no one talked, but this time Percy broke the ice by saying to me, "So uh, bro, if Octavian wants to meet us, we should bring like, sharp weapons and stuff right?" 

        I almost laughed at that— almost— but even that wasn't enough to make me smile at a time like this. "Yeah well, I'm assuming he doesn't want us in a sword fighting arena to chit-chat, so going armed is probably a good idea. Let's get everything ready and then tomorrow we can charge in there and kill him." 

        Annabeth was frowning at me with disapproval. "You two are actually just going to walk in there without thinking about it, or a strategy, or even practicing your fighting skills?" 

Percy and looked at each other then shrugged, waiting for her to continue. "No, no, no. I always have a perfectly thought out plan, and the rest of us want to help too, even if Octavian only asked for you two to go." 

        "Okay Wise Girl," Percy said, smiling with the corner of his mouth. "What's your plan?"