Heirs of Olympus

Chapter 12

Leo walked into Bunker 9 and glanced around sadly at the work tables and various instruments staring back at him. He, with some help from his brothers and sisters, had managed to get the damaged remains of Festus and the Argo II back to the bunker before they had all returned to help with the damage to camp. Leo opened the hidden compartment inside Festus and pulled the Physician's Cure out and stared at the vial of life restoring potion and frowned. He had truly been ready to sacrifice himself to destroy dirt face and use that situation to help him find his way back to Calypso. But with all the chaos and destruction, he didn't know how to find her again. He was so sure that Festus would only be able to find her if he was dead so as to not mess with the curse. Then once Festus found her, the potion could bring him back! He sighed at the missed opportunity.

Securing the potion, Leo left the bunker and headed back to his cabin. There was lots of work to do, but most of it could wait till tomorrow. Annabeth had mentioned talking to him about something as well. Tonight was just going to be dinner and dealing with the loss of their brother Peter and then the campfire before tomorrow's ceremony for all of those who died. Leo felt hot tears on his cheek remembering once again the look on his father's face when Gaea struck him down. He felt the fires burning and opening his hand the fire there blossomed, warm and inviting as it burned harmlessly in his hand and he smiled sadly at the gift left behind to him by his father.

The next morning dawned bright and clear after last night's crazy storm, with sapphire blue skies that promised a beautiful day that somehow seemed wrong on this of all days. Reyna stepped out of her tent and looked at the Roman encampment and smiled. Every tent was neat and orderly, the rows of tents perfectly straight, the flags blowing in the breeze, and the Legion's golden eagle mounted on its pole over the camp. Reyna had walked both camps last night as everyone joined together for dinner and the camp fire. A good number of demigods were in the infirmary and the makeshift hospital while the children of Apollo and the Romans with medical training, all of them under Will Solace's direction, were tending to the large number of wounded.

Reyna had noticed the tension that was still there between both groups, but the presence of the Seven was having a pretty significant impact. Everyone knew what they had accomplished and counted them their heroes regardless of where they came from. Half Roman and half Greek, and apparently somehow people had added Nico and Reyna to that roster of heroes to be celebrated, everyone could see that all of them were friends and allies and had led them to an impossible victory. Reyna still remembers the sudden appearance of the Hunters and Amazons saving a good chunk of her people. Then with the explosive arrival of the Argo II, lights flashing, the gods had arrived alongside the Seven to ultimately defeat Gaea and give them victory.

The Romans, while respecting their godly parents, didn't have quite the connection that the Greeks did. Less than a quarter of the Legion was made up of children of the gods, the rest were legacies: children of children. The Romans, unlike the Greeks, maintained their connections even generations later. She wondered if the Greeks, having seen that, would change how they did things. The biggest difference that Reyna could see was that Greek demigods had short, dangerous lives with very few living long enough to have their own kids but now that that was a possibility? And with no more gods, what would happen to the camp?

She had spoken briefly with Chiron about some of her concerns as well as how they were going to go forward without the Olympians and he had called a meeting for this morning to address what comes next. While the major Olympians were gone, there were many minor gods and goddesses that were still alive and well, having children. Her own mother, Bellona, was fully Roman so she wasn't part of the war.

"Reyna?" she turned and saw Frank walking toward her and schooled her features. His arrival and subsequent rescue of the First Cohort had caused quite a commotion among the legionnaires. He pulled them back to rejoin the full Legion with Hazel at his side and the son of Mars had truly impressed the Roman forces. She had not even heard any complaints about Jason's promoting him to Praetor on their quest and she was confident that he would be confirmed in that role.