True Blue ✷ Leo Valdez.

26: Moments Before Disaster.

THE ROMANS CERTIANLY took dining to a very intense level— one that blew Blaire's (who was used to the mundane Camp Half-blood meals) mind. Scattered about the dining pavilion, Romans lounged on couches and plush armchairs, enjoying their meals at low-set tables. Wind spirits drifted throughout the area, weaving through densely packed crowds wielding trays teeming with several assortments of food and beverage.

Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts— Lares—in togas and legionnaire armor. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs (no, fauns, Annabeth thought) trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O'Leary, and children played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.

Blaire sat sandwiched between Leo and Piper, across from a newly reunited Annabeth and Percy. A few of the Romans (Reyna and Octavian) joined the Argo crew at the table they occupied. So did Percy and his new friends (Frank and Hazel). The table was so crowded, that Blaire and Leo accidentally knocked knees under the surface several times. And every time they did, Leo would grow flustered and start apologizing profusely, refusing to meet her eyes for the following minutes.

"This place is way nicer than Camp Half-Blood," Leo decided, speaking through a mouthful of his meal of choice. "And the food is, like, a dozen times better too."

Blaire furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head in disgust. "Can't you wait until you swallow your food to talk, Valdez?"

Leo shrugged. "Sorry."

Reyna called a toast to friendship and a round of introductions were passed around the table. Percy's friend Hazel was still staring in Blaire and Leo's direction like she'd spotted something remarkably terrible.

Meanwhile, Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper, Blaire, and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick—she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman) from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. Blaire already hated this guy more than she did most people. "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there—"

"They would've destroyed her," Piper finished for him. "And blamed it on the Greeks, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."

Blaire was grateful for Piper's charmspeak in moments like the former. Octavian opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.

Blaire noticed Reyna looking back and forth between Jason and Piper, her brow creased as if just beginning to realize the two of them were a couple. It was safe to assume Jason and Reyna had some sort of romantic history.

"So," Jason continued, "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters from Tartarus and raising the giants. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: said he was retreating to the ancient lands—Greece itself. He plans on awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by...what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."

Percy nodded thoughtfully. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."

  Percy recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name— Annabeth. The mentioned girl seemed ready to cry at this confession, blinking tears away rapidly.

  Percy told them how he'd traveled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel—how they'd defeated the giant Alcyoneus, freed the death god Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.