Waves of Fire || Leo Valdez

I - Percy Gets Judo-Flipped and I Get a Hug

Percy, Frank, Hazel, and I walked toward the Forum, where the humongous trireme was hovering in the sky. I could see Jason Grace, the former praetor. Annabeth must have put him there, wearing a bedsheet for a reason: another sign to let the Romans know they came in peace.

Probably just my Poseidon (or Neptune, or whatever) genes speaking, but that ship was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I wanted to get on that ship as soon as possible. Whoever had built it, I wanted to meet them.

Annabeth, my brother's girlfriend, came down, flanked by Jason Grace and two other kids, a boy, and a girl. The boy looked like some sort of Latino Elf who was jacked up on sugar and caffeine. He had a seemingly empty tool belt around his waist and was currently fidgeting with a couple of screws in his hand. I recognized him as the kid who'd sent that holographic scroll just over an hour ago, the one who looked creepily like Sammy, the boy Hazel had had a crush on in her first life. I glanced at Hazel. She was studying the Sammy-Doppelganger with a pained expression on her face.

I felt a rush of protectiveness for her. I'd only known Hazel for a week, but I still considered her a sister (even though she was technically my cousin. And Frank was my great-times-a-thousand-uncle. When it came to my world, Geneology was weird. Did you know that my dad had a sheep for a son and when the sheep was sacrificed it became the Golden Fleece? Yep, that's right, Percy and I are related to a sheepskin rug. Every time I walk past Thalia's tree back at Camp Half-Blood and see the Fleece, I think, "Yup, that's my brother." ). She'd stood for me and Percy when no one else would. If this doppelganger kid tried anything, he would have me to deal with.

As for the girl, she was was pretty, but looked like she was trying not to be. She had multicolored eyes and a feather braided in her hair. She wore tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a Hello Kitty tank top, which seemed a bit weird. With her high cheekbones and dark tan skin, she looked like she had some Native American heritage. She looked like someone I wanted to be friends with.

The Romans made way for Reyna, Camp Jupiter's praetor, who was wearing battle armor and her purple praetor's cape. I resisted the urge to call out, "Hey, Grape-Cape!" She looked at Jason hungrily.

Annabeth and Reyna studied each other for a minute. Then Annabeth caught sight of Percy. Her eyes drifted to me, and I gave her a grin.

"Jason Grace, my former... colleague..." Reyna spoke the word "colleague" like it was a dangerous thing. I knew she'd had a thing for Jason. "I welcome you home. And these, your friends—"

Annabeth surged forward. Percy rushed toward her at the same time. Percy threw his arms around her. They kissed.

"Oh, my gods," I groaned. "Like, two minutes, and you're already back to that?"

Percy pulled away. "Gods, I never thought—"

Annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. He slammed into the stone pavement. Romans cried out. Some surged forward, but Reyna shouted, "Hold! Stand down!"

Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest. She pushed her forearm against his throat."If you ever leave me again," she said, "I swear to all the gods—"

I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. "Yeah, that's more like it!"

Percy laughed, too. "Consider me warned," he said. "I missed you, too."

Annabeth rose and helped him to his feet. Then she turned to me and gave me a big hug.

Percy looked indignant. "Oh, so I get judo-flipped and she gets a hug?"

"You're her boyfriend," I said, grinning. "I'm the amazing sister of her boyfriend whom she adores."

Jason cleared his throat. "So, yeah... It's good to be back." He introduced the brunette girl as Piper and Doppelganger Dude as Leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign.

"And this is Annabeth," Jason said. "Uh, normally she doesn't judo-flip people. "

Reyna's looked amused. "You sure you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?"

Annabeth looked confused for a second, but she held out her hand. "I only attack my boyfriend like that," she promised. "Pleased to meet you."

Reyna clasped her hand firmly. "It seems we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"

The centurions stepped forward, including Frank, which I was super proud of. Frank was a son of Mars (or Ares, I guess), but he was nothing like his dad, which I appreciated. He could turn into all sorts of animals, a family gift he'd discovered while we were on our quest to Alaska. I felt kind of jealous. I mean, who wouldn't want the ability to turn into anything you want? I guess maybe it's a good thing my dad hadn't given me that gift. I probably would've turned into, like, a turtle or something for the whole day. Or a tiger. Then I would've chased Clarisse and Drew all over the place.

Reyna was giving orders to her officers. "Tell the legion to stand down. Dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. Tell them to prepare a welcome feast. And, Octavian—"

"You're letting these intruders into the camp?" the annoying scarecrow dude, also known as Octavian, the camp augur, elbowed his way forward. "Reyna, the security risks—"

"We're not taking them to the camp, Octavian." Reyna flashed him a stern look. "We'll eat here, in the forum. "

"Oh, much better," Octavian grumbled. "You want us to relax in the shadow of their warship. "

"These are our guests. We will welcome them, and we will talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely. "

"Good idea," Percy put in. "Go burn your bears, Octavian."

I refrained from snapping my fingers and saying something like, "Oooooohhhhhh snap!"

Reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. "You have my orders. Go."

The officers dispersed. Octavian shot Percy and I each a look of absolute loathing. Then he gave Annabeth a suspicious once-over and stalked away.

"Don't worry about Octavian," Percy said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Most of the Romans are good people—like Frank the Tank and Hazel here. And Reyna. We'll be fine."

Frank frowned. "Frank the Tank?"

I grinned. "Yeah, it's my new nickname for you. And your dad will henceforth be known as Mars Bar."

"No. Just no."

Hazel was snickering into her hand. "That's catchy."

"Not you too--"

"Guys," Annabeth said, but her eyes were full of amusement. "Let's focus here."

"Excellent," Reyna said. "Let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion. "