The Moon and the Stars || Heroes of Olympus

Chapter 32

I was glad I'd made it through my speech without any major issues, because the Romans sure knew how to eat, and I really couldn't take any more stress.

Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits - aurae - swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts - lares - in togas and legionnaire armour. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs no, fauns 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.

The whole scene was so familiar yet so entirely alien that it was giving me vertigo.

Reyna and a few of her officers (including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods, and my dad) sat with our crew. Percy joined us with the two Roman kids, Frank and Hazel.

Reyna called a toast to friendship.

After introductions all around, the Romans and our crew began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Piper, Leo and I to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick - she's equally annoying in both forms) from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "That's our most sacred place. If the giants had imprisoned a goddess there - "

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

Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Piper's charmspeak is the best. Reyna was looking back and forth between Jason and Piper, her brow creased, as if just beginning to realize the two of them were together. Cringing, I looked away, and found Hazel, who was still staring at Leo, who was starting to look uncomfortable.

"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. She's angry at the humans for defiling her body. Porphyrion, the big leader dude we fought at the Wolf House: he 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," I put in.

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

He recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name - Annabeth. Percy told us how he'd travelled 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.

When Percy had finished, Jason whistled appreciatively. "No wonder they made you praetor."

Octavian snorted. "Which means we now have three praetors! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"

"On the bright side," Percy said, "both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up."

Octavian turned as purple as the Romans' T-shirts. Jason gave Percy a fist bump.

Even Reyna managed a smile, though her eyes were stormy.

"We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later." my dad said. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."