[act three; chapter two - no fixing, just help]
Donnie wished he had an appetite, really, he did. But he just didn't. He was walking towards the back of the group of demigods, but didn't stray too far. He didn't have a lot of energy, but he also knew he had to stay close enough not to get lost in the crowd.
He was intact enough with his emotions to know when his day was taking a turn for the worst. He could feel his emotions dip and turn within his stomach, a dark mood invading his mind. It was like when a sunny day turns dark and cloudy within seconds, a thunderstorm enveloping everything that was once light.
The group was walking into the large building, no one straying far from the others. Donnie was walking next to his sister and Percy. Andy kept one hand intertwined with his, the other one—with her bright cast—being held in Percy's, while Zara stayed just in front of them, looking over her shoulder every so often to watch them with a small smile. Jason was walking right beside her, their arms intertwined together. Every so often, the blonde would lean down and press a kiss to her forehead and whisper something that looked a lot like, "I love you."
Donnie couldn't help but feel...well, sad. He missed having someone to love and someone to love him. Sure, he had Andy and Zara and Cassia and Percy and Grover, but that wasn't the kind of love he was talking about. He was talking about the kind of love that made your face feel like it was on fire because your cheeks burned so hot or because your smile was so wide. He was talking about the love that came with whispers of nothing and kisses of everything. Adonis Storm had never been in a relationship before, not with anyone, not even Luke Castellan. They had shared a type of love that would never be allowed, the one where the gods and Fates laughed in their faces, taunting and teasing. Sure, he had loved Luke with all he had, but to not be able to act on that love? It was the most tiring thing he'd ever done. He wanted to be in love in some unconditional way. He wanted to be in love in the way that he could kiss them and hold them and crack jokes and watch movies and hold hands, and really just be. He wanted what his sister and Percy had, but he wanted it to be in his own way.
Because he was going to make one thing clear: he and his sister are two different people.
They may share the same nose and have some variation of their fathers eyes and have similar senses of humour, but they were different. Andromeda liked things he didn't and vice versa. Adonis liked things she didn't and vice versa. They were not the same, no, they were incredibly different, which meant their love would be different, too.
Donnie pulled away from his sister, her amethyst eyes darting to him with a wide, frantic look. He smiled at her, "Go. Be with Percy."
"But I want to be with you—"
"Dromeda, I'm fine." He pulled her towards him, hugging her tightly. "I'm not leaving you ever again, I'm right here. But you need to go be with Percy now, okay?"
Reluctantly, and with much hesitance, Andy let herself be pulled away by Percy. The son of Poseidon shared a look with Donnie, a silent promise to keep an eye on her. Besides, the two of them had a lot to talk about.
As he looked around, Donnie couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by everything. Sure, he had been here before, in this very room, but now there was so much more weight behind it. He knew the truth about his bloodline—being both Greek and Roman—and how that would cause a lot more tension than before between the two groups of demigods. But not only that, his sister was here, too. His sister with her anger and her hate and her power, his sister with her past as praetor, coming back to a place where she had been, in some way, replaced.
Now, Donnie wasn't a fool, nor was he oblivious. He knew that at some point, there had been something a little more than friendship between Reyna and his sister. He had noticed it when they were younger, right after they had reunited when they were thirteen. The two girls would look at each other a little too long to be just friends, but that was when everything began to spiral. Donnie had left and hadn't come back until now, but he knew that his sister had left periodically ever since then, disappearing with no cause or reason, well, not one that was known amongst Camp Jupiter and people of New Rome.
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/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 completely alien that it gave Donnie vertigo.
All he really wanted right now was to be with his family, but especially his sister. He wanted to be able to sit in a room and talk to her, ask her questions, even just be in her presence. He wanted to be with his aunt and hear her voice because it was so strikingly motherly and familiar to his own mothers. Not only that, but she was one of the only family members he had left. He wanted to be with them, he wanted to be with his family, but there were other things to do, other problems to deal with. If their quest was going to succeed, they needed the Romans, which meant the others getting to know them and building some goodwill.
Reyna and a few of her officers (including the most annoying kid Donnie ever met, Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods) sat with them and their crew. Percy joined them with Frank and Hazel.
As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Percy leaned his mouth towards Andy and whispered, "We'll talk later, right?"
She nodded. Leaning forward, Andy pressed a kiss to his nose before murmuring, "Yeah, of course. I've got some stuff I have to tell you anyway."
Before anyone could say anything more, Reyna called a toast to friendship.
After introductions all around, the Romans and Greeks began exchanging stories. Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, how when he "met" Andy, his memories began to come back, and how he'd gone on a quest with her, Piper, and Leo to rescue the goddess Hera (or Juno, take your pick—she was equally annoying in Greek or Roman) 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 and Andy finish."
Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Andy bit her lip to keep laughter from spilling from her, but as the blonde boy narrowed his eyes at her, she held her hands up, flipping him the bird with a wide, joyous grin. Jason reached over and grabbed her hands, pulling them back down, while Percy let out a loud laugh at her behaviour.
"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. 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."
Percy nodded thoughtfully. "Gaea's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."
Percy recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name—Andromeda, well, Lea.
Then Zara and Percy told them how they'd travelled to Alaska with Frank and Hazel—how they'd come across a newly alive Donnie, 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."
Andy shook the son of Poseidon's shoulders, grinning proudly. "Yeah, he's pretty great."
Octavian snorted. "Which means we now have three praetors! Actually, four if you count Storm! The rules clearly state we can only have two!"
"On the bright side," Percy said, "both Jason, Lea, and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up."
Octavian turned as purple as a Roman T-shirt. Jason gave Percy a fist bump while the redhead snickered into her fist. Donnie had reached into his sister's pocket, pulling out the sharpie he knew was there. Pulling the cap off, he began doodling on her cast. She kept her amethyst eyes trained on the tip of the permanent marker, watching as the ink bled into the pink fabric that wrapped around the plaster that kept her from re-injuring herself.
Even Reyna managed a smile, though her eyes were stormy.
"We'll have to figure out the extra praetor problem later," she said. "Right now we have more serious issues to deal with."
Andy pointed her finger in Reyna's direction. "Consider me stepped down, well, Dom."
"I'll step aside for Jason," Percy said easily, nodding his head towards the blonde. "It's no biggie."
"No biggie?" Octavian choked. "The praetorship of Rome is no biggie?"
Donnie picked up a grape and flicked it at the boy's head, smirking when he glared back at the son of Dionysus. "What, you couldn't predict that?"
Percy smiled at Donnie, ignoring Octavian, and turned to Jason. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? Wow. You guys look nothing alike."
"Yeah, I noticed," Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."
"Back at you," Percy said.
Andy kicked his shin. She hated to interrupt a budding bromance (one that she was in full support of, mind you), but Reyna was right: they had serious things to discuss.
Annabeth cleared her throat, "We should talk about the Great Prophecy. It sounds like the Romans are aware of it too?"
Reyna nodded. "We call it the Prophecy of Nine. Octavian, you have it committed to memory?"
"Of course," he said. "But, Reyna—"
"Recite it, please. In English, not Latin."
Octavian sighed. "Nine half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall—"
"An oath to keep with a final breath," Annabeth continued. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."
Everyone stared at her—except for Leo, who had constructed a pinwheel out of aluminium foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits, grinning when Donnie tried to do it as well.
Frank sat forward, staring at her in fascination, as if she'd grown a third eye. "Is it true you're a child of Min—I mean, Athena?"
"Yes," she said, suddenly sounding defensive. "Why is that such a surprise?"
Octavian scoffed. "If you're truly a child of the wisdom goddess—"
"Enough," Reyna snapped. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides..." She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you. As has Andromeda in the past, though, you were always...unnamed."
The undertones in Reyna's voice took Donnie a moment to decipher. Percy looked over at Andy curiously, but she avoided his eyes, suddenly seeming incredibly interested in her sandwich.
Annabeth's cheeks turned bright red under the gaze of everyone else. She let out a quiet laugh and knocked her elbow against Andy's, the redhead winking back at her. Percy—a very, highly confused Percy—looked between the two, his brows furrowed and confused. Suddenly his eyes widened and he sputtered out, "No way."
Donnie wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, grinning. "Yes way."
"Uh, thanks," Annabeth told Reyna, doing her best to ignore the two boys. "At any rate, some of the prophecy is becoming clear. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death...that means Romans and Greeks. We have to combine forces to find those doors."
Hazel, with her cavalry helmet and long curly hair, picked up something next to her plate. It looked like a large ruby; but before Donnie could be sure, she slipped it into the pocket of her denim shirt.
"My brother, Nico, went looking for the doors," she said.
"Wait," Annabeth said. "Nico di Angelo? He's your brother?"
Hazel nodded as if this were obvious. Andy froze, her eyes going wide. She suddenly looked sick, her skin going white as a piece of paper. She looked at Hazel, absolutely stunned. "W-what? What happened to Nico?"
"He disappeared." Hazel moistened her lips. "I'm afraid...I'm not sure, but I think something's happened to him."
"We'll look for him," Zara promised, placing a hand on the daughter of Pluto's shoulder. "We have to find the Doors of Death anyway. Thanatos told us we'd find both answers in Rome—like, the original Rome. That's on the way to Greece, might as well make a pit stop."
"Thanatos told you this?" Annabeth questioned. "The death god?"
Percy took a bite of his burger. "Now that Death is free, monsters will disintegrate and return to Tartarus again like they used to. But as long as the Doors of Death are open, they'll just keep coming back."
Piper twisted a piece of her hair. "Like water leaking through a dam," she suggested. "
Yeah." Percy smiled. "We've got a dam hole."
From beside him, Donnie and Andy snorted in synch, unknowingly covering their mouths with the same hand at the same time.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Nothing," Percy said. "Inside joke. The point is we'll have to find the doors and close them before we can head to Greece. It's the only way we'll stand a chance of defeating the giants and making sure they stay defeated."
Reyna plucked an apple from a passing fruit tray. She turned it in her fingers, studying the dark red surface. "You propose an expedition to Greece in your warship. You do realise that the ancient lands—and the Mare Nostrum—are dangerous?"
"Mary who?" Leo asked.
"Mare Nostrum," Jason explained. "Our Sea. It's what the Ancient Romans called the Mediterranean."
Reyna nodded. "The territory that was once the Roman Empire is not only the birthplace of the gods. It's also the ancestral home of the monsters, Titans and giants...and worse things. As dangerous as travel is for demigods here in America, there it would be ten times worse."
"You said Alaska would be bad," Percy reminded her. "We survived that."
Reyna shook her head. Her fingernails cut little crescents into the apple as she turned it. "Percy, travelling in the Mediterranean is a different level of danger altogether. It's been off limits to Roman demigods for centuries. No hero in his right mind would go there."
"Then we're good!" Leo grinned over the top of his pinwheel. "Because we're all crazy, right? Especially Stormi, she's fucking bonkers—"
Suddenly a grape nailed him in the forehead, Andy hissing, "You don't have to call me out on it, though, Val."
"—Besides, the Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. She'll get us through."
"We'll have to hurry," Jason added, ignoring the twins as they murmured, "well duh" under their breaths. "I don't know exactly what the giants are planning, but Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams, appearing in weird places, summoning more and more powerful monsters. We have to stop the giants before they can wake her up fully."
Andy nodded her head in agreement, tracing the tattoos on her upper forearm. She let out a puff of air, "Yeah, and the dreams are getting worse and worse. Gaea's gaining more support and with that, she becomes stronger and stronger. Dreams get worse, her hold on the earth gets stronger, the more likely we all are to...being eaten by good old dirt lady."
"Nine half-bloods must answer the call," Annabeth said suddenly. "It needs to be a mix from both our camps. Andy, Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. That's five."
"And me," Percy said. "Along with Zara, Hazel, and Frank. That's nine."
"What about Donnie?" Zara asked curiously.
They all looked at the son of Dionysus, but the boy merely shrugged. "I'm not part of your little band. I just...Hades, or Pluto, said that I'm here as a guide, to help you all, but I'm not directly a part of this whole thing."
The daughter of Flora nodded, pushing dark hair over her shoulder. "Then that settles it. It's the nine of us."
"What?" Octavian shot to his feet. "We're just supposed to accept that? Without a vote in the senate? Without a proper debate? Without—"
"Percy!" Tyson the Cyclops bounded toward them with Mrs. O'Leary at his heels. On the hellhound's back sat the skinniest harpy Donnie had ever seen—a sickly-looking girl with stringy red hair, a sackcloth dress, and red-feathered wings named Ella. Although she was incredibly skinny and unhealthy looking, Ella was easily one of the kindest beings he had ever had the pleasure of meeting.
Tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his meaty hands. His big brown eye was full of concern. "Ella is scared," he said.
"N-n-no more boats," the harpy muttered to herself, picking furiously at her feathers. "Titanic, Lusitania, Pax...boats are not for harpies."
Leo squinted. He looked at Hazel, who was seated next to him. "Did that chicken girl just compare my ship to the Titanic?"
"She's not a chicken." Hazel averted her eyes, as if Leo made her nervous. "Ella's a harpy. She's just a little...high-strung."
Donnie nodded with a grin, "A little loopy, just like the rest of us."
The son of Hephaestus snapped his fingers in the older boy's direction, "I like you."
Andy looked between the two of them, her eyebrows furrowed slightly. She reached behind her, pulling a piece of Annabeth and Zara's hair, nodding her head towards the two boys. Luckily the other girls understood, the two of them nodding with little smirks that screamed trouble.
"Ella is pretty," Tyson said. "And scared. We need to take her away, but she will not go on the ship."
"No ships," Ella repeated. She looked straight at Annabeth. "Bad luck. There she is. Wisdom's daughter walks alone—"
"Ella!" Frank stood suddenly. "Maybe it's not the best time—"
"The Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. "Twins snuff out the angel's breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants' bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail."
The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy. No one spoke. Donnie's heart was pounding. He really didn't like the sound of those prophecies or the one that he knew was about his sister. He just...well, he didn't really like prophecies, especially not after what happened with Luke in New York, you know, the one that resulted in his death.
Around them, the sounds of the feast continued, but muted and distant, as if their little cluster of couches had slipped into a quieter dimension.
Percy was the first to recover. He stood and took Tyson's arm.
"I know!" he said with feigned enthusiasm. "How about you take Ella to get some fresh air? You and Mrs. O'Leary—"
"Hold on." Octavian gripped one of his teddy bears, strangling it with shaking hands. His eyes fixed on Ella. "What was that she said? It sounded like—"
"Ella reads a lot," Frank blurted out. "We found her at a library."
"Yes!" Hazel said. "Probably just something she read in a book."
"Books," Ella muttered helpfully. "Ella likes books."
Zara forced a smile, though when she looked at Octavian, her smile turned just a little darker. "See, Octavian? She just likes books."
Now that she'd said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed. She sat cross-legged on Mrs. O'Leary's back, preening her wings.
"That was a prophecy," Octavian insisted. "It sounded like a prophecy."
No one answered.
Annabeth looked between the group of them curiously, obviously confused on what was going on, though she didn't seem as confused as Jason, Piper, Leo, and Andy, as well as everyone else.
The blonde forced a laugh. "Really, Octavian? Maybe harpies are different here, on the Roman side. Ours have just enough intelligence to clean cabins and cook lunches. Do yours usually foretell the future? Do you consult them for your auguries?"
Her words had the intended effect. The Roman officers laughed nervously. Some sized up Ella, then looked at Octavian and snorted. The idea of a chicken lady issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to Romans as it was to Greeks.
"I, uh..." Octavian dropped his teddy bear. "No, but—"
"She's just spouting lines from some book," Annabeth said, "like Hazel suggested. Besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about." She turned to Tyson. "Percy's right. Why don't you take Ella and Mrs. O'Leary and shadow-travel somewhere for a while. Is Ella okay with that?"
"'Large dogs are good,'" Ella said. "Old Yeller, 1957, screenplay by Fred Gipson and William Tunberg."
Donnie wasn't sure how to take that answer, but Percy smiled like the problem was solved.
"Great!" He said. "We'll Iris-message you guys when we're done and catch up with you later."
The Romans looked at Reyna, waiting for her ruling.
The praetor had an excellent poker face. She studied Ella, but Donnie couldn't guess what she was thinking.
"Fine," she said at last. "Go."
"Yay!" Tyson went around the couches and gave everyone a big hug—even Octavian, who didn't look happy about it. Then he climbed on Mrs. O'Leary's back with Ella, and the hellhound bounded out of the forum. They dove straight into a shadow on the Senate House wall and disappeared.
"Well." Reyna set down her uneaten apple. "Octavian is right about one thing. We must gain the senate's approval before we let any of our legionnaires go on a quest—especially one as dangerous as you're suggesting."
"This whole thing smells of treachery," Octavian grumbled. "That trireme is not a ship of peace!"
"Come aboard, man," Leo offered. "I'll give you a tour. You can steer the boat, and if you're really good I'll give you a little paper captain's hat to wear."
Octavian's nostrils flared. "How dare you—"
"It's a good idea," Reyna said. "Octavian, go with him. See the ship. We'll convene a senate meeting in one hour."
"But..." Octavian stopped. Apparently he could tell from Reyna's expression that further arguing would not be good for his health. "Fine."
Leo got up. He turned to Donnie, and his smile changed. It happened so quickly, the elder boy thought he'd imagined it, that he might be crazy (which is very easily possible); but just for a moment someone else seemed to be standing in Leo's place, smiling coldly with a cruel light in his eyes. Then Donnie blinked, and Leo was just regular old Leo again, with his usual impish grin.
"Back soon," he promised. "This is gonna be epic."
A horrible chill settled over the son of Dionysus. As Leo and Octavian headed for the rope ladder, he thought about calling them back—but how could he explain that? Tell everyone he was going crazy, seeing things and feeling cold? But no, he wasn't exactly feeling like doing that, so he watched the two boys walk away, the uneasy feeling in his gut getting worse and worse.
The wind spirits began clearing the plates.
"Uh, Reyna," Jason said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to have some time with Zara, go for a walk and catch up."
The daughter of Flora sent him a small smile, resting her chin on his shoulder as she pressed a small kiss to the curve of his jaw.
"Of course," Reyna said coldly.
Andy took Annabeth's hand, raising it in the air. "Me too, I want to take Annabeth around. Give her the official tour."
The blonde grumbled, "So I can third-wheel while you and Percy suck each other's faces off?"
"No," Reyna snapped.
Percy knit his eyebrows. "Sorry?"
"I'd like a few words with Annabeth," Reyna said. "Alone. If you don't mind, my fellow praetor."
Her tone made it clear she wasn't really asking permission. Donnie shared a look with his siblings, confused. The other two girls shrugged, unsure of what was going on, well, to a certain extent anyway.
"Come, daughter of Athena." Reyna rose from her couch. "Walk with me."
—⏳—
Cassia Storm hadn't waited even a second before pulling her niece into her arms, holding her tightly.
The blonde woman stood at about the same height as Andy did, and it was then that Percy realised just how similar the two Storm's looked. He had seen pictures of his girlfriend's mom before, and sure, they looked alike, but Andy had always looked more like her father. Well, aside from her red hair. But Cassia and Andromeda had the same dip of their eyebrows and the same lips and the same smile lines that curve just below their rosy cheeks.
The woman pulled away and smoothed her hands over her niece's red curls. "Gods, you're so grown up."
"Yeah." Andy cracked a smile. "Well, yeah."
Clearly she wasn't sure what to say, but then again, would anyone? Percy knew he wouldn't know what to say if he were in her position, but...he would have to be in her position, wouldn't he? When he saw his mother again, he would have to come up with something to say and how to say it, explain the last eight months to the kindest, most loving woman he'd ever known.
Andy turned towards Percy, putting a hand out. He slipped his hand into hers, letting her pull him closer to her and her aunt. "Well, gorgeous, this is my aunt, Cassia."
"I'm still so confused." The boy pouted. "I thought you didn't have any family left, other than Donnie and your grandma."
Cassia's expression turned sour. "My mom? That woman is...interesting. She's mean and has all of these expectations, ones that no one can ever live up to. Not really."
Andy nodded slightly, her head dropping down. She blinked hard and fast all of the sudden, her hands clenched into fists.
Her aunt must have noticed because she wrapped her hands around Andy's fists, unfolding them, smoothing her fingers over the crescent nail markings in her olive skin. "Go to your room, tell Percy about everything. I'll be here when you're ready to talk, okay?"
The redhead nodded and pulled away, dragging a completely willing Percy with her as she approached her bedroom.
Gently pushing the door open, they both looked around the room. The walls were painted light grey with posters hung all over the walls, as well as several vinyl albums that were placed meticulously, being held up by mini shelf like structures. Along the ceiling and top of the walls, vines were hung, weaved between Christmas lights. The posters on the walls were for movies like Back to the Future, Star Wars, Radiohead, the Lumineers, and several other musicians or movies and shows.
In one corner there was a table of sorts with a record player on it, speakers on the ground just below it. At the side there was a small crate, like something that used to be at publishing houses, full of vinyl.
The room screamed Andromeda Storm from the posters and vines to the hand made art and plants. It was so much like her it made Percy smile, but it didn't last long when he saw her face fall.
She was sitting on the edge of her bed, fisting the dark green quilt in her hands. She sniffled slightly and looked down, avoiding his eyes.
Percy walked over, almost like approaching a frightened animal, and crouched down in front of her, his hands on her knees. "Lea, pretty girl, what's going on in that head of yours?"
"I have something called Dissociative Identity Disorder, which means I, um, I can have several personalities." She murmured, biting her lip as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I only have two, well, one other alter. It's me and Dom. It's kind of like what's been happening with the gods, you know, with their split personalities. It's like they can't choose between their Roman and Greek aspects. It's pretty much the same with me, just a different cause. I started seeing a therapist for it, and she thinks it started when my mom was killed, like my mind couldn't handle what was happening...so it split."
This was, without a doubt, one of the worst things Percy had ever heard. He knew he hadn't heard the full story yet, and that this was just the beginning, but he couldn't help but feel nauseous at the revelation. He put his arms up and pulled her down to him, holding Andy against him with all he had.
She sniffled, ducking her head under his chin. "You'll be able to tell the difference between us, Dom and I. I won't explain it, just trust me, you'll know." She drew her hand down to his, picking it up, her eyes focused on the gold and bronze ring on his finger. "Where—where did you get this? I've been looking for Mania for months."
Percy shrugged. "It just appeared in my pocket a few days ago. I don't know how, it just did." He pulled it off and slipped it onto her finger, gently pressing a kiss to her open palm. "No matter what happens or who you are, I will always, always be here for you, Lea. I will always lo—be with you."
Under her breath, Andy whispered, "He said he could make me whole again. My dad said he could make me who I was before. Like I was before my mom died. Percy, he said he could fix me."
Percy forced her to look right at him, sea green meeting amethyst as he shook his head. He had to make sure she heard him, heard and understood his words. "You don't need fixing, Lea. You don't need fixing, you just need a little bit of help and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Okay, you hear me?"
But before anything else could be said, an explosion shook Camp Jupiter and New Rome, jolting them from their quieter world.