"Percy. Percy, wake up." I groaned, pushing at the hands shaking me roughly. "Percy... wake up, we're getting a call. From..." The hesitation in Nico's voice should've been enough to warn me, but I was so out of it that his next words were like ice-cold water in my face. "From camp."

Shooting up, I ruffled my hair into submission and scrubbed the sleep from my face, scrambling towards the black polished marble brazier, adorning the prow of the ship. It was filled with black oil as usual, but unlike normally, it wasn't burning, which may have explained why it was so cold on the deck.

The surface of the oil rippled and a mop of blond hair came into view. Octavian's face leered at us from the senator's chair, back in Camp Jupiter. "Ah, Percy, Nico. So glad you could join us. How are you?" I glared at him. "Not important right now. Why are you calling us?" He shrugged. "Down to business, then. We want to offer our hand in peace. It... appears... I may have been too hasty to judge you. We would like to extend an olive branch, and let bygones be bygones. Stop being so foolish and return home. There's no need for this... army collecting. We're in the same boat, remember?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Is that it? Are you afraid of us?" His face turned cold, so cold it could've been carved out of stone. "Afraid? No. We merely do not want you to go to waste. But seeing as you have collected some demigods already, well, I'm sure we can come to some compromise-"

"OCTAVIAN!" The Roman started, turning, a startled, almost fearful lookon his face. "Yes, senator?" The image blurred for a second, and I blinked as Hazel's face swam into view.

She looked radically different. Huge purple bags darkened the underside of her eyes, and her hair seemed to swim with gold. In fact, now that I looked closer, she had gold and jewels studding her face and hair liberally. Thin gold and silver chains dripping with jewels hung across her hair, swinging from her ears and neck. Even her eyebrows were studded twice with silver and jewels. I winced, but couldn't help noticing that the jewels were all either black, silver, crimson or gold.

"Percy Jackson. Nico. Greetings. As you can see, I have assumed the position of praetor in Reyna's... absence." I glared at her. "What did you do to her?" A little smirk tugged at the corner of her lips. "She... didn't appreciate the changes we have made in the camp. Foolish she was, to think that a small riot would change anything. Her and her... accomplices are lounging in our dungeons.

But enough of that dreary, gloomy talk. Shall I show you why I really called?" Without waiting for an answer, she swivelled, and the brazier followed, to reveal...

There were more than a hundred of them, all moving in sync. The campers, all in shimmering Imperial gold, slashed, lunged and cut, following the Roman style of fighting. The worst was that I could see so many faces I knew, faces of people I had trusted. Strangely, on their shields, instead of the SPQR symbol, there was just a giant black and silver E, which I saw branded onto their arms as well. Grimacing, I watched as the picture turned back to Hazel, a smirk on her face. "We're coming for you, Percy Jackson. There's nowhere to hide now." My heart sank. "Why would you do this? It's ridiculous! We're just trying to help other demigods, why would you hunt us down? This isn't you, Hazel. What happened?" She paused, her head tilted slightly. "Let us just say I had an... epiphany. Now if you'll excuse us, I would like to have a... chat with my brother. Alone." I swallowed, glancing at Nico, who nodded. Looking away, I strode towards the stairs.

"Oof." Alexa stumbled as I bumped into her, Amy supporting her. "What's happening, guys?" I winced. "It's kinda hard to explain." We had shown them the orientation tape, but this was a whole other level of awkward. "Uh, y'know the camp that was in the tape?" They nodded warily. "Well, what we didn't tell you was that... we kinda left. They don't really... accept us." I motioned to Nico and I. "And, uh, they're kinda hunting us down. Don't ask me why, it's way too extreme, but I'm fairly sure someone's controlling them."

They looked at me for a second, and I could see hope draining from their eyes. "So what you're saying us that they won't accept us. Because...because we're... homosexual." I nodded, lowering my eyes, waiting for them to demand to get off immediately, or perhaps go to camp in the guise that they were sisters. Instead, a cool hand was laid on my shoulder and Alexa's voice was steel. "Well then, I suppose our best chance of survival is with you." I grinned in relief, at least they wouldn't die while we were around. But that did remind me: they had to start training immediately.

I glanced back at Nico, who was wildly gesticulating at the brazier. "Come on, you guys should probably start learning how to fight properly." Heading below deck, I showed them our stash of weapons and let them pick out their own, before going to check on Levi, who was still sound asleep, curled up with Dog, and strangely, a cat and two hedgehogs. I cocked my head, but he didn't seem to be in any danger, so I left him alone, going back up on deck to see Nico heading towards me, face pale.

"She says we have 15 days to surrender. By then, the Autumnal Equinox will come, and Eris will be much stronger. That's when they'll come for us."

A/N:

Hey guyssss! I is back! Unfortunately, in case you hadn't noticed, this chapter is a bit late. I'm really sorry, but with me starting a new year, I can't risk slacking off. So I'm still going to be updating, just possibly not as much as usual or not as punctually.

Also, for the whovians who were rejoicing at the last chapter, you should follow me on tumblr, where I run a SuperWhoLock (mostly Who) blog, @themarauderofgallifrey. :D

Okay, that's all for now, guys. See you in da next chap.

~N