"OKAY," HAZEL SAID as she and Frank followed Camilla back to the barracks. "What was that?"
"What was what?" Camilla asked, playing dumb to hide her complete embarrassment and unjustified heartache.
Hazel rolled her eyes. "You know what I'm talking about, Milla," she said. "You haven't spoken to Jason since the warship got here. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong!" Camilla insisted, a little too quickly.
Hazel gave her an unimpressed look. "Seriously? You practically ran away from him."
Camilla huffed a sigh. "I just got... nervous, I guess."
"Nervous about what?" Frank said, ever the oblivious when it came to relationships of any sort.
"What if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore?" Camilla asked, chewing on her lip to keep it from quivering. "What if the eight months away were the best months he ever had because I wasn't in them? What if—"
"Whoa, slow down, Milla," Hazel said gently. "You can't know any of that. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to come up with answers on your own."
"But he looks so... happy now," Camilla mumbled. "And that girl, Piper, they seem so close, and—"
"You're wondering if they're together?" Frank asked.
Hazel smacked his arm lightly. "Frank!" she hissed.
"What?" he said, half-confused and half-defensive.
"No, he's right," Camilla groaned. "She's so pretty it's not fair. And it's not fair for me to say it's not fair. Of course he'd fall in love with someone so pretty and so cool! I mean, did you see how she shut Octavian up, of course Jason would—"
"Are we going to just ignore the way he glared at Percy the entire time up until he found out you were siblings?" Hazel interrupted.
Camilla's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"
Hazel looked up at her with an incredulous look on her face. "You seriously missed that? He and Annabeth totally thought you and Percy were into each other."
Camilla gagged. "That's disgusting, we're brother and sister!"
"Yeah, but they didn't know that," Hazel reminded her. "I mean, seriously, Milla, you missed the dirty looks Annabeth was sending you from across the table?"
"Wha—I just thought she didn't like me," Camilla admitted with a meek shrug. "She wouldn't be the first."
"Milla, everyone likes you," Frank said.
Camilla raised an eyebrow. "My mother certainly doesn't," she grumbled.
Hazel wrapped a comforting arm around Camilla's shoulders as they reached the Fifth Cohort barracks. "Everyone who matters likes you," she amended. "Now, come on—let's pack up."
◈
For once, Camilla's procrastinator genes were a virtue. Her bag from their quest for Thanatos was still mostly packed, save for the dirty clothes and the empty Ziploc bag of rations. Still, she wasn't sure a single backpack would be enough for a quest to Europe, so she switched her previous supplies—including her bracelet stuff, obviously—to a bigger duffel bag and went to work packing intact clothing.
She slid a her pugio into the side pocket of her bag, then double-checked her hand to make sure her ring was still there. As resentful as she was that it had come from her absentee father, she had to admit she didn't want to part with it. With her old gladius lost somewhere in the Amazon warehouse, it was her only sword.
And it was kind of badass, in all honesty.
She and Hazel worked in companionable silence as they packed up, and once they were done, they went to Frank and Percy's room to see if the former needed any help packing.
Percy was dejectedly packing up his few meager belongings into his backpack when Camilla and Hazel arrived. At Camilla's questioning look, he muttered, "Reyna stole my girlfriend."
Camilla patted his shoulder comfortingly. "She is very pretty, Percy."
Percy looked up at her with wide eyes. "I just meant she stole her to talk to her, not actually stole her. You think Reyna's going to try to steal my girlfriend?"
"Oh," Camilla said. "Well..."
Percy groaned, falling dramatically back against his made-up bunk. Then he popped back up, pointing an accusatory finger at his sister. "You, missy, what was that at the forum? It was like you couldn't get away from Jason fast enough. Do I need to have a talk with him?"
"No!" Camilla protested. "He didn't do anything, I just—"
"He did ask Reyna to show his Greek friend around New Rome," Frank pointed out.
Percy crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna have a talk with him."
"No, you're not!" Camilla squeaked in protest. "Do not embarrass me Percy Jackson, or I'll—I'll—"
"Or she'll tell Annabeth all about how you willingly drank what could have been gorgon poison in your bet against Phineas," Hazel helpfully provided.
"Yeah, I'll do that!" Camilla agreed.
Percy's face paled. He'd left out the finer details of their quest in his recounting of it earlier—specifically the details that proved what a self-sacrificing dummy he was. "Okay, I won't talk to him," he said. "Just don't tell her about the gorgon blood thing, please."
Camilla nodded, satisfied. "Deal."
"You guys ready?" Hazel asked. "We can probably go put our stuff on the ship and get some hot chocolate before the senate—"
The ground shook, making Hazel's voice falter.
"What was that?" Camilla asked.
Frank ran over to the window, his backpack slung over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he saw the scene outside. "Oh, gods," he breathed. "They're attacking the city!"
"What?" Percy demanded. "Who?"
Frank looked at Percy. "The warship."
"That's—Annabeth wouldn't do that!" Percy protested. "That's not possible!"
"Maybe Gaea has something to do with it," Camilla said, desperately searching for an answer that didn't implicate her brother's girlfriend and her old best friend in a treasonous declaration of war.
"Whatever it is, we have to get to the forum," Frank said. "Now."
The four sprinted out of the barracks at lightning speed.
◈
The forum was chaos.
Camilla and her friends sprinted past Terminus, ignoring his shouting about weapons in the forum. Camilla didn't even consider summoning her weapon, as stupid as it probably was not to. Even as the mob screamed about traitorous Greeks, she couldn't imagine raising a weapon against them.
This was her home. These were her people.
"The fountain!" Percy yelled. "Get to the fountain!"
As they rain, Camilla looked around for Jason and his friend, Piper. She knew Jason would be a huge target for the Romans—from the looks of it, he'd brought a warship to their camp and helped the Greeks fire on them. If there was one thing Romans hated more than Greeks, it was traitors, and Jason looked like the biggest traitor of all.
No, Camilla told herself. He wouldn't do this.
But how could she be sure? He'd been gone for eight months. He might have been a completely different person.
Camilla and her companions reached the fountain. She and Percy hopped onto the edge of it, blasting the Roman mob with water to keep them back. All the while, Camilla looked around wildly, searching for her old friend.
Annabeth found them, ducking under a Roman fist and a flying plate of sandwiches.
"Annabeth!" Percy called. "What—?"
"I don't know!" she yelled.
"I'll tell you what!" cried a voice from above. Octavian had reached the bottom of the ladder. "The Greeks have fired on us! Your boy Leo has trained his weapons on Rome!"
"You're lying," Annabeth said. "Leo would never—"
"I was just there!" Octavian shrieked. "I saw it with my own eyes!"
The warship fired again. Legionnaires in the field scattered as one of their catapults was blasted to splinters.
"You see?" Octavian screamed. "Romans, kill the invaders!"
Camilla's heart pounded in terror, her eyes still scanning the mob. Jason, where are you?
"We have to leave," Annabeth told Percy. "Now."
Percy nodded grimly. "Milla, Hazel, Frank, you've got a choice to make. Are you coming?"
"Of course we are," Camilla answered instantly.
Hazel looked terrified, but she donned her cavalry helmet. "You'll never make it to the ship unless we buy you some time."
"How?" Annabeth asked.
Hazel whistled. Arion shot across the forum, materializing next to the fountain. He reared, whinnying and scattering the mob.
The fuck's going on, guys?
Hazel climbed on his back with ease. Her cavalry sword was already strapped to Arion's saddle. She unsheathed the golden sword. "Send me an Iris-message when you're safely away, and we'll rendezvous," she said. "Arion, ride!"
Oh, fuck yeah. The horse zipped through the crowd with his signature speed, pushing back Romans and causing mass panic.
Then, Camilla heard Jason shouting halfway across the forum.
"Romans!" he cried. "Please!"
He and Piper were being pelted with plates and stones. Jason tried to shield Piper, but a brick caught him above the eye. He crumpled, and the crowd surged forward.
"Jason!" Camilla cried.
"Get back!" Piper screamed. Her words must have been laced with magic, because the mob hesitated.
"Frank," Percy said, "it's up to you. Can you help them?"
Frank swallowed nervously. "Oh, gods," he murmured. "Okay, sure. Just get up the ropes. Now."
Percy, Annabeth, and Camilla lunged for the ladder. Octavian was still clinging to the bottom, but Percy yanked him off and threw him into the mob.
They began to climb as armed legionnaires flooded into the forum. Arrows whistled past them, one slicing Camilla's bicep. An explosion almost knocked her off the ladder, but she kept going.
Halfway up, she heard a roar below. Frank in all his dragon glory charged through the forum—at least, Camilla assumed it was Frank, even though she'd never seen him turn into a dragon before. Arrows and rocks bounced harmlessly off his hide as he lumbered toward Piper and Jason, grabbed them with his front claws, and vaulted into the air.
"Is that...?" Annabeth asked.
"Frank," Percy confirmed. "He has a few special talents.
"Understatement," Annabeth muttered. "Keep climbing."
Without Frank and Hazel to distract the archers, they never would have made it up the ladder; but finally they climbed past a row of broken aerial oars and onto the deck. The rigging was on fire. The foresail was ripped down the middle, and the ship listed badly to starboard.
The Sammy lookalike, Leo, stood amidships, calmly reloading the ballista.
"Leo!" Annabeth screamed. "What are you doing?"
"Destroy them..." He faced Annabeth. His eyes were glazed. His movements were like a robot's. "Destroy them all."
He 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.
Frank soared into view. He circled the ship once and landed at the bow, depositing Jason and Piper, who both collapsed. Camilla ran over to them.
"Go!" Percy yelled at Annabeth. "Get us out of here!"
Annabeth ran for the helm. Within an instant, the ship groaned. The bow tilted up at a horrifying angle. The mooring lines snapped, and the warship shot into the clouds.
◈
"One more time," Annabeth said, her voice dangerous. "Exactly what happened?"
Leo Valdez was slumped against the mast. He looked like he was trying not to cry.
Part of Camilla felt bad for him, but then the other part remembered that he'd just fired on her camp and branded her and her friends traitors of the legion. That part was definitely louder.
"I don't know," he said miserably. "It's fuzzy."
Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"
"I..." Leo faltered. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."
The onboard faun—satyr, Camilla corrected herself—tapped his baseball bat against the deck. "Look, kid," he said, "you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent!"
"Excuse me?" Camilla demanded.
He ignored her. "But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."
"Coach," Annabeth said, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"
"But I already did that."
"Do it again."
The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Clearly even the half-goat wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth.
The blonde in question knelt next to Leo, studying him with steely gray eyes.
"Leo," Annabeth said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"
"No," Leo said. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."
Frank scowled. "On purpose?"
"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes... I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—"
"A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost... scared.
"Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"
From belowdecks, Percy called up, "Annabeth, we need you."
Camilla's heart dropped. Frank squeezed her shoulder in a show of comfort.
As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper and Percy had taken Jason below. The cut on his head looked pretty bad. If he didn't make it...
"He'll be fine," Annabeth said, her expression softening. "Frank, Camilla, I'll be back. Just... watch Leo. Please."
Frank nodded. Camilla just swallowed against the lump in her throat.
Once Annabeth was gone, Leo and Frank stared at each other awkwardly. Then the Greek turned his eyes to Camilla.
"So," he said, his tone clear he was trying to make small talk. "You're Millie?"
Camilla fought a frown. She wasn't sure she liked a stranger calling her that. "Camilla," she corrected, though she kept her tone light. Clearly Leo already felt bad enough. "You've heard of me?"
Leo chuckled lightly. "You kidding? Jason talks about you all the—" He cut himself off. "I mean, uh, he told us about you. Y'know, cause you guys were... friends."
As silly as it felt, Camilla felt the knot in her chest unwind just a little. "Oh," she said quietly.
"So," Frank spoke up, looking at Leo suspiciously. "Your name isn't Sammy?"
Camilla elbowed him lightly.
Leo scowled in confusion. "What kind of question is that?"
"Nothing," Camilla said quickly. "Look, about the firing on the camp... Octavian could be behind it, like, magically or something. He's got a thing about Greeks—he didn't want our two camps getting along."
Leo didn't look like he fully believed that. "Look," he said, "I should talk to Festus and get a damage report. You mind...?"
Frank helped him up. "Who is Festus?"
"My friend," Leo said. "His name isn't Sammy either, in case you're wondering. Come on. I'll introduce you."
He led them over to the bow of the ship, and as they approached, the bronze dragon figurehead turned a hundred and eighty degrees to look at them. Camilla and Frank both yelped, and Camilla jumped behind Frank.
"It's alive!" Frank said.
"Yeah," Leo said. "Frank, Camilla, this is Festus. He used to be a full bronze dragon, but we had an accident."
"You have a lot of accidents," Frank noted.
"Well, some of us can't turn into dragons, so we have to build our own." Leo arched his eyebrows at Frank. "Anyway, I revived him as a figurehead. He's kind of the ship's main interface now. How are things looking, Festus?"
Festus snorted smoke and made a series of squeaking, whirring sounds. Camilla wasn't sure what any of that meant, but Leo seemed to know the dragon's mechanical language well.
"Ugh," he said. "Could be worse, but the hull is compromised in several places. The port aerial oars have to be fixed before we can go full speed again. We'll need some repair materials: Celestial bronze, tar, lime—"
"What do you need limes for?" Camilla asked.
"Dude, lime," Leo said. "Calcium carbonate, used in cement and a bunch of other—Ah, never mind. The point is, the ship isn't going far unless we can fix it."
Festus the figurehead made another click-creak noise that sounded like AY-zuhl.
"Oh... Hazel," Leo deciphered. "That's the other girl with the curly hair, right?"
Frank gulped. "Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine," Leo said. "According to Festus, her horse is racing along below. She's following us."
"We've got to land, then," Frank said.
Leo studied him. "She's your girlfriend?"
Frank chewed his lip. "Yes."
"You don't sound sure."
"Yes. Yes, definitely. I'm sure."
Leo raised his hands. "Okay, fine. The problem is we can only manage one landing. The way the hull and the oars are, we won't be able to lift off again until we repair, so we'll have to make sure we land somewhere with all the right supplies."
Camilla frowned. "Where do you get Celestial bronze? I'm guessing Home Depot doesn't carry magical metals."
"Festus, do a scan," Leo requested.
"He can scan for magic bronze?" Frank marveled. "Is there anything he can't do?"
Leo's expression darkened a little.
Behind them, the stairs creaked. Camilla looked up to see Percy and Annabeth climbing up from belowdeck, their faces grim.
"Is Jason—?" Leo started.
"He's resting," Annabeth said. "Piper's keeping an eye on him, but he should be fine."
Percy gave Leo a hard look. "Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?"
"Man, I—I don't understand how it happened. I'm so sorry—"
"Sorry?" Percy growled.
Annabeth put a hand on his chest. "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?"
Leo told Annabeth about the damage and the supplies they needed. He was bemoaning the shortage of Celestial bronze when Festus began to whir and squeak.
"Perfect." Leo sighed with relief.
"What's perfect?" Annabeth asked. "I could use some perfect about now."
Leo managed a smile. "Everything we need in one place. Frank, why don't you turn into a bird or something? Fly down and tell your girlfriend to meet us at the Great Salt Lake in Utah."
◈