Percy started to lead me down the streets of New Rome. Our hands were intertwined. Percy rubbed his thumb over my knuckles. I didn't want to let his hand go. I didn't want to risk the idea of him ever leaving me again. My heart couldn't take it.
"So, I told you my side of Hera kidnapping me." Percy glanced down at me. "What about you?"
"Gods..." I breathed out a shaky breath. "I thought I lost my mind, honestly. Those three days before Jason regained his memory...I was looking everywhere for you. I tried to storm into Olympus, but that's kind of hard to do when you can't even get to the elevators."
"Did you get any sleep?" Percy frowned, his hand reaching out and lightly swiping under my eye. "Because you have bags under your eyes."
"Not really." I admitted. Percy's frown deepened. "My mind wouldn't shut up with all of the possibilities of where you could have gone and then once I did find out where you were, it was the nerves. I was worried with how you were doing over here with your memory wiped."
"I couldn't get you out of my mind either." Percy said. The both of us just entered the city. We passed by an elderly couple who smiled at us. "I was scared to even speak your name, that I would lose even just the thought of you. What else?"
"Well..." I hesitated. "The day when Jason, Piper, and Leo came back from their quest, I went to look for you for a couple of days. Annabeth, Seth, and Rachel came with. We were starving and just happened to be over my hometown. The closest place was my mom's winery."
"Uh-oh...how did that turn out?" Percy asked as we crossed the street toward a cafe.
"To put it short, she's definitely moved on." I grumbled. Percy raised a brow in question. "The winery business is definitely booming. They expanded and grew a lot. My mom got married and has a four year old girl."
"On the bright side, you have a sister." Percy tried to lighten up the situation.
"She didn't even introduce us to each other. I was referred to as 'important people'." I scoffed. "We left after that."
"I'm sorry, Ives." Percy brought me closer to his side and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Our hands were still intertwined. "How's...how's my mom and Paul?"
"They're doing good." I reassured him. I felt him sigh in relief. "They miss you though. I told them that we were coming to get you. Your mom said she got your voicemail."
"Good." Percy exhaled. "Once my memories started to come back...I just had to call her."
"You did the right thing." I reassured him. "She needed that. Both her and Paul-"
A shrill sound pierced the air. Light flashed in the corner of my eye. Percy and I turned to look what that was. An explosion blast a new crater in the forum. Demigods were going into a panic.
"Giants?" I let go of Percy's hand to reach for my necklace but then cursed under my breath. I left it in my cabin to follow Terminus's rule. "I thought you guys defeated them?"
"That's not giants." Percy grasped my hand. The two of us started to run in the direction of the attack. "We crushed them."
Another explosion. This time we saw it. I gaped as the Argo II fired at the forum again. Another volley of Greek fire sailed straight through the broken dome of the Senate House. It exploded inside, lighting up the inside of the building. Oh gods, if anyone was in there...
"What? That makes no sense!" I told Percy with wide eyes. We pushed past retreating families and got closer to the forum. "Is it Octavian?"
"He's a punk, but loyal to the Romans." Percy shook his head. "He wouldn't do this."
"Leo wouldn't either." I said as we grew closer to a water fountain. "Something is up."
I saw Percy's Roman friends scanning the crowd. The girl, Hazel, tapped Frank's shoulder and pointed in our direction when she saw us. Frank and Hazel were looking at us with wide eyes. They met us at the fountain.
"What is going on?" Frank asked.
"We don't know." Percy informed them. A few Roman demigods saw us. Anger flashed in their eyes when they saw me. They started to make their way toward us. "I think they may need to cool off if they don't back away."
"Graecus!" A Roman pointed at me, his finger shaking in anger.
"I-what? Should I be insulted?"
"Um...in this case, I think so?" Hazel said.
"Great."
They started to swarm us, yelling all at once. I couldn't even hear what they were saying. It was just a blur of shouts. I just held up my hands in defense, not knowing how to react. One tried to reach for me, but Percy was quick to smack his hand away with a glare.
"Don't touch her." Percy growled. His glare was enough to send the first row of demigods back a step.
"Let's calm down." I tried to tell them, placing an hand on Percy's arm to calm him down as well. "I-"
"Calm down? You're attacking us!"
"There's a misunderstanding-"
I was cut off by more yells of protests. My voice was drowned out and nobody could hear me. Frank and Hazel tried to help calm the situation. Percy was trying to order them to back up. It only angered them. The Romans started to push and shoved toward us. I stumbled backwards, almost falling into the fountain. Percy caught me.
"You don't deserve to be praetor!" A demigod grabbed a fist full of Percy's purple toga and tugged.
Percy turned quickly and shoved the guy away, ripping the fabric. Others got the same idea, trying to rip the toga off of him. I grabbed Percy's arm and led the both of us into the fountain. His toga now ripped on many places. Frank and Hazel were quick to follow. Romans tried to step into the fountain with their hands clenched into fists. Percy started to repel them with blasts of water. I grew a hedge of vines between us and the Romans.
"Ivy! Percy!" I heard Annabeth call out as another explosion rocked the forum.
The flash of light was overhead. One of the Roman catapults had fired at the Argo II, forcing the ship to groan and tilt sideways. Flames bubbled over the bronze-plated hull. I glanced to the ship to see a figure desperately clinging to the rope ladder, trying to climb down. It was Octavian, his robes steaming and his face black with soot.
Percy blasted another angry Roman mob with water. I started to make the vines wrap around the ankles to hold them in place. Annabeth was running toward us. She ducked when a Roman threw a punch and another threw a plate of sandwiches.
"Annabeth!" I called out.
"What-"
"I don't know!" Annabeth told Percy and I.
"I'll tell you what!"cried a voice from above. Octavian reached the bottom of the ladder. "The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!"
"No, no way!" I shook my head.
"You're lying." Annabeth said. "Leo would never-"
"I was just there!" Octavian shrieked. "I saw it with my own eyes!"
The Argo II returned fire. Legionnaires in the field scattered as one of their catapults was blasted to splinters. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach. I shook my head in disbelief. There's no way Leo is behind this.
"We have to leave." Annabeth told Percy and I. "Now."
"I agree." I grew the vines taller and thicker.
"Hazel, Frank," Percy nodded grimly as he turned to his friends, "you've got to make a choice. Are you coming?"
"Of course we are." Hazel looked terrified, but donned her calvary helmet. "But you'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you sometime."
"How?" Annabeth asked.
Hazel whistled. Instantly a beige blur shot across the forum. A majestic horse materialized next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob. Hazel climbed on his back. Strapped to the horses saddle was Hazel's calvary sword.
"Send me and Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous." Hazel said. "Arion, ride!"
The horse zipped through the crowd with incredible speed. It pushed the Romans back and caused mass panic. A glimmer of hope fluttered in my chest. We have a chance of making it out alive. From halfway across the forum, Jason was shouting.
"Romans!" He cried. "Please!"
He and Piper were being pelted by plates and stones. Jason tried to shield Piper, when a brick caught him above the eye. He crumbled and the crowd surged forward.
"Get back!" Piper screamed, her charmspeak thick.
It made the crowd hesitate. Her charmspeak wouldn't last long enough for us to get there to help. I grew a vine barrier between the Roman crowd and Piper and Jason. Piper scanned the crowd around her and found me. She gave me a nod of appreciation.
"Frank," Percy said, "it's up to you. Can you help them?"
"Oh, gods." Frank swallowed nervously. "Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now."
The three of us lunged for the ladder. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom, but Percy yanked him off and threw him to the mob. Percy made sure I went first and followed after me, leaving Annabeth at the end. We began climbing as armed legionaries flooded into the forum. Arrows whistled past Annabeth's head. An explosion almost knocked me off the ladder. Percy placed a hand on my lower back to keep me steady.
Halfway up, I heard a roar below and glanced down. Romans screamed and scattered as a full sized dragon charged through the forum. It had rough gray skin and leathery bat wings. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off its hide as it lumbered towards Piper and Jason, grabbed them with its front claws, and vaulted into the air.
"Is that..." Annabeth trailed off in awe.
"Frank." Percy confirmed. "He had a few special talents."
"That is so cool." I said in amazement.
"Understatement." Annabeth muttered. "Keep climbing."
We finally climbed past a row of broken aerial aids and onto the deck. The rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard. There was no sign of Coach Hedge, but Leo stood amidships, calmly reloading the ballista. I stared at him in horror. A bitter taste grew in my mouth and I felt like throwing up.
"Leo!?" I yelled, trying to get his attention. "Stop!"
"Leo!" Annabeth screamed. "What are you doing?"
"Destroy them..." Leo turned to face us with glazed eyes. His movements were like a robot. I furrowed my eyebrows together. "Destroy them all."
"What?" I asked, stepping forward to stop him.
Leo turned back to the ballista, but Percy tackled him. Leo's head hit the deck hard, and his eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed. The dragon soared into view. It circled the ship once and landed at the bow, depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapsed.
"Go!" Percy yelled. "Get us out of here!"
"Annabeth," I told her seeing she wasn't moving, "you're the only one besides Leo who knows how. I've got Jason and Piper. Go!"
Annabeth ran for the helm. I ran to Jason and Piper. She looked over the controls. Annabeth grabbed the aviation throttle and yanked it straight back. The ship groaned. The bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. I had to grab onto something to not fall backwards. The mooring lines snapped, and the Argo II shot into the clouds.
🍇
We made it safely out of Camp Jupiter. Leo woke up a little while ago. Annabeth and Frank had him in a room below deck, checking his head and asking him questions. Percy and I were with Jason and Piper. The both of us had taken Jason down below to a room to lay down. Percy had stepped out real quick to Iris-message Tyson before entering the room again. I grimaced when I saw Jason's head. A knot was forming and there was a cut on his head.
Percy stood beside me with crossed arms. Piper had woken up as soon as the ship had leveled out from leaving Camp Jupiter. She had bruises from the Romans throwing things at her. I gave her some ambrosia to help heal. Luckily, the pain and bruises went away.
"I'm not a medic, but Jason has a nasty knot forming and his cut..." I frowned, examining his wound. "If Seth or Will were here they would know what to do."
"But, he's going to be okay, right?" Piper asked, standing beside me.
"I think?" I bit my lip nervously. "I can't really say. Again, I'm no medic. Plus, the brick hit his head pretty hard and probably has a concussion. They threw a brick at his head."
"Didn't Seth teach Annabeth some first aid during the War?" Percy brought up. "Plus, she may know what's the best way to treat his head injury."
"Yeah, that's right." I nodded. "I'll get the ambrosia and nectar ready. I can go look for some bandages as well."
"I can go look for that." Piper started to head out the room. "You guys get Annabeth."
Piper left the room in search of medical supplies. I sighed, rubbing my face. So much for having the Romans like us. I grabbed a nearby cloth and started to clean Jason's wound. The cut wasn't too deep. It was on the border line of needing stitches.
"Annabeth, we need you." Percy yelled out, eyeing me. He walked closer to me. "Ives?"
"This whole meeting with the Romans was supposed to help us befriend each other." I looked up at him. "Instead, I'm pretty sure they think we're their enemies now."
"Look, Annabeth is figuring out why that Leo guy did it. How about we just focus on helping Jason, okay?" Percy placed a hand on my arm.
"Yeah." I slowly nodded.
"What's wrong?" Annabeth walked in. She came in with furrowed brows. Piper came in right after her with medical supplies. Annabeth stood beside me and examined his head. "He should be fine. We can give him ambrosia and pour some nectar to the wound. I think that should heal it up pretty well. He may have a concussion though."
"That's what we thought." I nodded along. "What did Leo say?"
"It's confusing." Annabeth stated.
"Did he do it?" Percy asked.
"Yes, but no." Annabeth started. "Leo did fire the ballista, but he said there was this cold feeling-"
"Wait," I held a hand up with worry, "a cold feeling? I kept feeling that throughout the day."
"I did as well. Back on the ship and when we were on Roman soil." Annabeth said.
"Me, too." I nodded in agreement.
"So, what does this mean?" Piper questioned, pouring some nectar to Jason's wound. "Leo wouldn't do that. Not willingly."
"He said it felt like he had no control over his body." Annabeth frowned. "We didn't get to go past that point when you guys called for me."
"Well, let's ask him." Percy crossed his arms.
"I'll stay behind with Jase." Piper said, sitting on the edge of his bed. "I'll feed him some Ambrosia when he wakes up. Should I wrap the wound?"
"See how it looks in about five minutes after pouring the ambrosia. If you think it needs to be wrapped, then yes." Annabeth told her.
Piper nodded. Percy, Annabeth, and I went to go find Leo to get to the bottom of it.
We stan a protective Percy 💙💙💙