We Walk To Our Possible Death
Percy
"What is it that you need, Percy?" Chiron asked me once Annabeth had left.
"We're going to need more allies. More than we have. I don't think the Hunters of Artemis will be able to come, and the Party Ponies wouldn't be the best choice."
"Then what do you suppose?" Chiron looked puzzled. He seemed to to tell I had a group in mind, but couldn't think of any others.
"When I was here on Earth about a year ago, I followed a hunch. I was in California. I found them."
Chiron sighed and his eyebrows knit together. "I should have known that the two Camps would not stay separate forever. Did you talk to them?"
"Yes. I am an honorary senate member. I know that Nico found them a while ago, and that he is the ambassador for Pluto. I am the ambassador for Neptune. I told the praetors about being Chaos and my team, and they agreed with me to keep it secret. Only they know about who I really am. And they don't know about Camp Half-Blood either. None of them do."
"That will have to change. I must agree. We will need the help of Camp Jupiter. When you talk to them, make sure to mention that if our Olympians fall, so will theirs. That should help sway them to your side. Would you like to take anyone with you?" Chiron offered as we walked up the stairs and stood near the ping pong table.
"I'll take Nico, since he's been there too. He'll want to see his half-sister, Hazel too. I might bring Tyson too. I'm planning to ride Mrs. O'Leary there, so I might need Tyson to watch her while I talk to Reyna and Jason, the current praetors. You do know that Jason is Thalia's brother, right?"
"Yes. Jason was taken by Juno when he was young and sent to Lupa to be trained. It is a long and complicated story. Thalia does not talk about it. I was told by Hera. It may be best if you do not tell Jason that he will see his sister, let them see each other and sort everything out."
"That makes sense. Thank you. If I don't see Annabeth before I leave and she asks you where I am, tell her I'll be back soon."
"I will. Find Nico, talk to the Romans, and come back soon. I suggest having Tyson wear something of the Romans, to keep them from attacking him."
"Watch out for Bob--Iapetus when I'm gone."
"We will." Chiron ushered me out the door and I jogged off to find Nico.
I nearly passed him as I went looking for him, as he was hiding in the shadows. I grabbed his arm and flashed us deep into the forest so that I could talk to him in private.
"Holy Hera, Percy, don't do that." Nico jumped slightly when he appeared in the forest instead of in the shadows of the Hades cabin.
"Sorry. Listen, I need you to come with me. We need more allies. I talked to Chiron, we're going to Camp Jupiter. We'll talk to Reyna and Jason and tell them about Camp Half-Blood and that we need their help."
"Are you sure? They won't react well. Romans don't trust Greeks, and Greeks don't trust Romans."
"I know. But we have to. We'll shadow travel to the tunnel on Mrs. O'Leary and then enter through the door and have them take us to Reyna and Jason, instead of showing up in the middle of the Camp."
"All right. But if you get me killed, Hazel with kill you. And Thalia."
"Believe me, I know." I whistled and waited. Blackjack appeared over our heads but I waved him off and kept waiting. Soon, the sound of Mrs. O'Leary bounding through the forest filled our ears. She crashed through the trees and almost ran us over when she reached us. Tyson was on her back.
"Brother needed his dog. I was playing with his doggie and came." Tyson said as he jumped off of the giant hellhound and plowed me over with one of his large hugs.
"Thanks, Tyson. I was going to get you anyway. Come on, Nico." Mrs. O'Leary laid down and I climbed on her back. Nico climbed up behind me and Tyson jumped on after him. "Okay, Tyson, before we go I need you to put this on." I conjured an SPQR (the Romans catch-phrase or something) cape and handed it to him. He put it on backwards, like a bib. "Now they'll know you're a friend. Tyson, where we're going, we aren't always welcome. We're going to a Roman camp. Stay with us until Nico and I have to leave, and then just keep Mrs. O'Leary under control and don't draw attention to yourself. We'll make sure they know that you're a friend, but it's better to be safe. Do you understand?"
"Brother needs me to lay low. I will do as brother asks."
"Good."
I leaned down and whispered into Mrs. O'Leary's ear. Her ears perked up and she headed for a large shadow cast by a large tree. I held on to her fur and braced myself for the disturbing feeling of shadow traveling.
No matter how many times I did it, I was never truly prepared. My face felt like it was about to fly off and I shivered at the cool temperature. Weird feelings went up and down my spine and I shuddered. I could tell that Nico was smiling at my discomfort. I didn't hear or feel anything from Tyson, but I assumed he was okay.
Nonetheless, I still thought it was awesome.
We appeared in Oakland Hills on the hill above the Caldecott tunnel in California. I directed Mrs. O'Leary and she slowly and carefully made her way down the hill. We reached the bottom and got off of Mrs. O'Leary, thinking it would be better if the Roman guards didn't see us and think we were storming Camp Jupiter.
We made our way into the tunnel and saw two armor clad Roman warriors guarding the door to Camp Jupiter. One of them saw Nico and started to run towards him. It had to be Hazel Levesque, Nico's half-sister. Daughter of Pluto.
The guard crashed into Nico with a warm hug before pulling away and tugging off her helmet. It was Hazel. The other guard cautiously made his way over to us. When he recognized us, he came over quickly.
"Percy, Nico. What are you doing here?" I recognized Frank Zhang's voice and his ever present bow. He had hoped that his dad would be Apollo but found out that it was Mars--or Ares.
"We need to talk to Reyna and Jason. They're still the praetors, right?"
"Yeah. Come on." Hazel said and then started to walk back to the door they had been guarding. She pulled Nico with her and talked to him.
"Uh, Percy? There is a hellhound and a Cyclops behind you." Frank noted and readied his bow.
"They're friends. Tyson is my half-brother. You're a descendant of Poseidon, aren't you?"
"Well, Neptune, but yeah."
"Hey Tyson." I called to him, "Frank is a descendant of Poseidon."
"Brother!" Tyson yelled and slammed into him.
Frank awkwardly pulled away and straightened his armor. "Okay . . . let's go. I have a feeling you need to talk to Reyna and Jason soon."
"You got that right." I said. Frank was still wary of Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary, and kept one hand on his bow. Two guards had taken over Hazel and Frank's place at the door. Frank led us through the door and we started for the Little Tiber.
It was time to tell a Greek-hating Camp that they had already met two Greeks, and that they had to work together with a camp full of Greeks.