The Mark of Janus (Book 2)

Chapter 4

We started to trek up a giant hill. It was pure hell. Percy seemed to be doing just fine, talking and laughing all while swiftly walking up the hill.

I was gasping for breath, wheezing, unable to talk. I felt like my lungs were on fire.

We made it to the top of the hill. The view was beautiful. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I weren't so exhausted.

I stared out at the city of New Rome, my knees buckling as I almost collapsed.

Percy furrowed his eyebrows and sat me down on the wall of a fountain.

"Sorry." I muttered.

He nodded. "I forgot. You said you were 'recovering.' What happened?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

He sat next to me on the fountain. "Shoot."

"Annabeth doesn't know all of this. You can't tell her." I stated simply. "When you first woke up, I felt it." I briefly told the story of how I exploded the camp, trying to downplay the amount of pain I had felt.

"That sucks." He muttered.

I frowned. "There's more. When you washed off the curse of Achilles in the Tiber, I took all of your pain. It put me in a coma." I looked at him from the side. "I know we're connected. Our pain is linked. Our power is linked, and I saw you in a dream before we met." I stared back at the landscape in front of us. "And I think together we have all the powers of Poseidon."

"What?" He looked confused.

"We're both half god. I think we both gained parts of Poseidon's powers. I heard stories of you controlling the water, and healing yourself, and talking to sea creatures. I can't talk to sea creatures, and I can't heal with water, otherwise you wouldn't be seeing me like this. But I do have control over the water, and power of earthquakes."

"And bloodbending." Percy added grimly.

I stood, facing him. "That too. I'm not a powerful demigod. I only knew I was a child of Poseidon for 5 months. And for one of those I was completely unconscious. But you have known for years. Dad said that only his most powerful children could have that power. I think you can also have that power. In a certain situation, it will be unleashed." I looked at him, kind of nervous. "And it's horrible. And scary. And not as cool as everyone makes it seem. I made people scared of me. My own best friends were afraid of me. If you have the chance to use it, don't unless you really need to." I wiped away a couple of tears. "It's the worst burden we can carry."

Percy stared at me. Just before he could say anything, a loud earth rumbling noise sounded through the camp.

I whipped around and saw a giant crater in the forum.

Percy and I glanced at each other, before running over.

A second blast rained down on the city and I frowned. "We shouldn't have left Leo up there with Octavian alone."

We quickly spotted Hazel and Frank next to a fountain. Fountain was good. We could use the water.

I saw as angry Romans surrounded Jason and Piper from a distance. They started to circle around us.

I frowned. If we hurt any of them, we wouldn't be able to make a peace agreement ever happen, if it even was possible now.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a projectile being thrown, hitting Jason on the head and cleanly knocking him out. After it landed on the ground, I saw it was a brick.

I was angry, but I knew I had to stay level headed. I stood in the center of the fountain, getting my pants soaked as I controlled the water. I still wasn't as good as this as I would have liked to be.

I felt the water flow under the feet of the Romans as I tried to carry them gently away from us.

From a distance, I could hear Annabeth and Percy talking, then Octavian's accusatory voice.

I frowned, trying to stay focused.

His voice rang out. "Romans, kill them."

I turned and stared directly at Octavian.

My voice sounded hollow and broken. "We're trying to save the world. Please just stop trying to work against us." I was losing power fast.

"I'm protecting the Roman people." He stated.

I glared at him, feeling a final burst of power. "You're getting on my NERVES."

I let the power go and a giant wave of water brushed the Romans away, and an earthquake rumbled in the earth, causing the Romans to run away.

I gasped, my knees buckling. "We have to go now." I muttered.

Percy nodded. "Hazel, Frank, you in?"

Hazel nodded. "Yes, but you won't make it to the ship without a distraction." She summoned her sword and a golden horse ran out of nowhere, and in an instant, we were coughing on a trail of dust.

Percy eyed Jason and Piper, turning to Frank. "It's up to you. Can you help them?"

He muttered, slightly nervous. "Okay, just get to the ropes. Now."

I nodded. I was losing the last of my energy so quickly, I was surprised I wasn't already dead in the arms of an enraged Roman demigod.

We lunged for the ladder and the Chaos followed us. Arrows were shot, cuss words were thrown. A giant dragon was flying through the air, scarily holding Piper and Jason, and I was two seconds away from unconsciousness, if I didn't lay down.

We made it to the top of the ladder and I climbed over the railing, gripping onto it as soon as my feet landed on the deck. I should have stayed back at camp to regain my strength. I wasn't really going to be useful on a quest like this.

I quickly slumped to the floor before I had the chance to topple over.

The ship started to fly and I let out a breath of relief, along with some of the tension in my shoulders. I felt like death. It didn't feel good. I had that same burning taste in my mouth that I had at camp, last time I had used that much power.

Despite this, I started to laugh. It could have been a nervous breakdown, but the whole experience, even just moments after it happened, was fun. I got to fight along with my brother, and we got the rest of the eight. As I giggled, I realized that I had expected it to go a lot worse.

"Hey, PJ, you okay?" Piper knelt by me, looking into my eyes.

I wiped tears from my eyes. I suddenly felt upset. "I'm not sure."

Past Percy, on the opposite side of the ship, a man with two heads appeared. "Primrose." He stated, his two heads staring at me.

I struggled to stand, staring at the man. "Yes?"

"I am Janus, the Roman god of Duality, Beginnings, Endings and Doorways." His right side grinned.

His left side looked solemn. "You have been chosen by me."

"Chosen for what?" I asked, wiping away a couple more tears, trying to stifle a laugh. His presence was probably affecting my emotions.

He didn't speak, moving closer to me, until his hand could reach the sides of my face. He gently examined my eyes. "I have given you my mark. You have an important role to play." His serious side stated again.

"We'll be in touch."The happy side grinned and waved at me as he started to fade away.

"Don't speak of our meeting just yet." The words faded into the air.

"Pepper, you alright?" Annabeth eyed me from where she was steering the ship.

I blinked hard. "Yeah. I'm just-- tired." I muttered. "I'll go sit with Jason."

She nodded. "Try to get some rest."