When You're Gone

This Means War

"This has never happened before," Vitellius said. Everyone's expressions said duh!, but it was either the Lare didn't notice or he ignored everyone. "A Greek becoming a Roman through death? How is that possible? Is that some sort of transition or -"

"Vitellius," Reyna snapped, much to everyone's gratitude, "why don't you go check on the cohorts? Their armor and weapons need tuning up. Some demigods are already there, but you could go -"

Vitellius's form shimmered as if he was gasping in horror. "What! You let that probatio check the armory? Outrageous! I'm out!"

And he disappeared like through mist, which left Reyna, Percy, Frank, and Jason to have their lunch in peace. She thought he would never leave.

Well, after Vitellius left, the praetors settled into an awkward silence. Jason coughed into his fist. Frank was obviously struggling to not phase into an animal. Percy was recreating the world's largest eating competition by himself through cookies. Reyna sipped her coffee while eyeing the boys.

At least, Vitellius, the Ridiculous could break the ice, Reyna thought miserably.

"So," said Jason finally, "Perce . . . you're Roman, now, huh?"

Percy inhaled another cookie. (Why was the cookie blue?) "I guess. So, uh, am I the first? Like, the first for this to happen?"

Frank calmed down slightly. "You heard Vitellius," he said. "You're the first. And getting stuck on a chair with wheels sure sucks, huh? How's it for an ADHD Demigod?"

"Don't even start!" The remaining three chorused simultaneously. And with that, the ice wall was broken. The four praetors laughed like they'd seen Jason being hit by bricks over and over again. Or better, the original joke of Jason dating a brick.

"How are the shrines?" Percy grasped his stomach, which should hurt like Tartarus from the wounds, but he kept laughing. But through his vibrant sea-green eyes, Reyna could see that cleverly hidden part of the pain. She respected him more for that.

Ever since the war with Gaia, Jason had been elected Pontifex Maximus, the personal priest of the Gods. He'd been wandering through both camps to build a shrine for every God there is - with the help of Reyna and Frank and Percy, of course. There were at least a hundred more Gods. At this rate, they're going to run out of space for shrines.

Jason tried to rein in his laughter. He managed, but barely.

"It's going OK," he admitted. "The next ones should be Nike and Iris. I leave for a week and - BAM! - Percy gets injured. Why does bad luck happen when I'm away? And I a good luck charm or anything?"

"Actually," Frank mused, "it's the other way around, I presume. You bring the bad luck wherever you stay. After you leave, chaos happens."

Jason put a hand on his heart. "Ouch, dude. That hurts."

Reyna rolled her eyes. Percy grinned at her. For a second, she had a vision of her and Percy holding hands on the beach, her head in his lap. She blushed furiously and looked away.

Dammit, Venus! She sent a silent prayer to her mum: If you meet the goddess of Love, please help me whack her on the head. I'll burn you some barbecue and pizza as an offering and thanks.

Or it wasn't Venus, it was just her mind.

Damn. You. Reyna. Ramirez-Arellano. He. Won't. Like. You. Back, said a voice in her head.

Oh, my gods, he is so handsome, said another voice in her head.

Gag me, said another.

She noticed that on the back of his elbow had some sort of red dots on it. She then cursed herself for realizing such a small detail.

Stop. Falling. For. Him! She commanded herself. She may be a praetor and a skilfull leader that everyone would listen to, but she, herself, was as much as a rebel as her love towards the son of Neptune. The feelings refused to subside. Her heart refused to stop beating so fast and performing a full-on tap dance every time she saw him.

She forced herself back to her senses, then she realized that Jason was waving her hand in front of her face continuously.

"Just what," she said, flustered, "do you think you're doing?"

Jason retracted his hand and grinned at the other two. "Look, guys, she's back!" he announced as if he'd just won a bet against Annabeth. "I've been waving my hand so much it's about to fall off. You zoned out for quite some time there, Reyna. Something on your mind?"

Reyna exhaled. "I'm okay, Jason. What - what did I miss?"

Jason's smile wavered. He'd suddenly grown an interest in his tattered jeans.

"The thing is," Frank said, "Camp Jupiter has declared war against the Greeks."

* * *

Jason was not feeling the love. When Reyna zoned out, Dakota ran up to them to inform them that the demigods have been preparing for war against the Greeks. From what he'd heard from his bros Percy and Frank - that the Hecate kids had turned most of the Senate into pigs. Then Percy was attacked by a weapon deliberately designed and aimed at him by the Greeks.

Everything bad happens here when he's gone. Go figure.

What's more, that the campers from Camp Half-Blood have been denied entrance in Camp Jupiter. They refused any form of communication from the Greeks.

"What?" Reyna's eyes turned as big as saucers. "Why weren't we informed of this earlier? Who is responsible for this?"

Percy shifted in his wheelchair. "Don't look at me. My fatal flaw is loyalty, but I have no idea where it's at now. Ow, ow, ow. Where's the ambrosia?"

Frank handed him a flask of unicorn draught. "Didn't bring it. Use this as a substitute for now." He turned to Reyna. "No one's responsible, Reyna. The whole camp agrees seeing that the Greeks have attacked their praetor means a declaration of war. It's kind of a dead-set tradition."

Jason drummed his fingers on the table. As much as he'd ignored it, he was ADHD too. That tradition has never been mentioned in the Camp before, mainly because they didn't know about the Greeks, or Reyna was on their side during the war with Gaia. Now Percy is praetor and he is attacked.

Percy chugged down the unicorn draught. That amount of both Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold was so much, even a son of Poseidon couldn't heal himself with water. Then he recalled the time he was stabbed in the gut with an Imperial Gold sword. Ouch. Juno was no help.

"But how do we know that the Greeks had set it?" Jason ventured.

Frank and Reyna exchanged glances.

"We've got children of Vulcans to inspect it," Frank offered.

"And the technicians and fingerprints are all from two individuals: Annabeth Chase and Leo Valdez," Reyna added. "The time it was installed . . . it was when the war of Gaia is raging."

Percy had no specific emotion, but his eyes were stormy like he was calculating. Jason never thought he would see Percy had this expression, but, hey, he could be wrong.

"When Leo was still back at the ship," Percy remembered. "No wonder he took so long."

"And the exchange programme," Reyna noted. "That Athena spawn came back to inspect on it. No wonder the armories were stripped of Imperial Gold!"

"If it's a war they want, we'll give them a war." Frank stood up, his expression grave. Jason wasn't the praetor now, but he remembered that one rule of a praetor: Always remain loyal to your legion, no matter what. Serve it until your final breath. The people do not give their lives to you; it's you giving your life to the legion.

Reyna nodded solemnly. She stood up along with the son of Mars. Jason looked at Percy, waiting for an objection.

Percy nodded. "Born a Roman, die a Roman. Let's do this."

They all looked at Jason. Well, if Percy agreed . . .

He stood up.

"For Percy and the legion," he said.