TO SAY KARINA WAS just a little nervous would be an understatement of the century. her palms were sweaty, and her arms were shaky, even with percy's hand resting on her waist, it barely helped.

she was about to meet the people percy had been talking about ever since he arrived at camp jupiter. his family. everyone that he left behind when he showed up here. and, she was also about to see jason.

jason grace.

the stupid son of jupiter who had disappeared almost a year ago, leaving her shattered for so long. the dumb— but not actually— blonde haired boy with bright calculating blue eyes, always scanning around him and everyone else.

she had been looking forward to this moment for so long, so why was she so nervous?

"hey," percy said softly to her as they walked to the forum, snapping her back into reality. "don't be nervous, okay? everything's going to be fine."

karina nodded, and let out a shaky breath. "yeah— yeah, i know."

percy gave her the side eye. "sure doesn't seem like it. your hand is making my hand sweaty with yours."

karina looked down at their interlocked hands and pulled away quickly, wiping her hand harshly against her shirt, before taking his hand again. "sorry," she said half-heartedly, looking at him with shimmering eyes, that held nervousness. he just gave her a reassuring smile in return, squeezing her hand softly.

they settled back into a not-so-comfortable silence after that, at least, to karina it wasn't. she still felt like she was riding on the biggest roller coaster in the world, and she had been sitting at the top of it for the past ten minutes.

after a few more minutes, the large crowd of romans all assembled into the forum, where karina saw the distant figures of four people standing at the top of the hill, along with a large greek warship sitting in the distance, just past the pomerian line.

terminus must've had a few words with them, karina thought.

as they reached the top of the hill, she finally got to see a good look of the group of demigods standing in front of them.

the one in front— who she guessed was annabeth— was beautiful. she had wavy blonde hair, which was piled back into a thick ponytail, and tanned skin, like she was always at the beach. she had piercing grey eyes, and she just radiated power, and confidence. karina could tell that she held some sort of authority in her camp, no matter what type. but people respected her.

behind her, stood two others. a boy and a girl— the boy being the small latino from her dreams, and the girl, was also absolutely beautiful. she had dark, choppy brown hair, which was decorated with an assortment of multi-colored feathers, and had such radiant eyes, you could stare into them for hours. they were like kaleidoscopes, constantly changing color. it was as if she radiated beauty, and didn't even need to try in order to look pretty. she wore tattered jeans, worn-out sneakers, and a white tank top with pink hello kitty designs— which karina thought was a total fashion statement.

then finally, standing next to annabeth, was no one other, than jason grace.

he looked different.

not in a bad way, but he looked older, more mature. his hair had grown out more, so now it reached onto his forehead, instead of stopping at his hair line, and he had gotten taller, and more muscular. he was clad in a pair of jeans and camp half-blood shirt, and over the top of that was a make-shift toga. she almost laughed at the sight, but refrained from doing so. just seeing him in person made her realize how much she had missed him. she missed pulling pranks on octavian with him, and sneaking off after hours to go play man-hunt in the field of mars with her siblings. or just hanging out in general, but just seeing him now made her wish he had been with her on this quest, and during her praetorship.

though, none of that would've happened if he hadn't left.

whatever.

the demigods all made way for reyna, who was in full armor and her praetorian cape. her dark hair tumbled across her shoulders. her eyes were as black as obsidian.

she walked up to right in front of annabeth, and the two girls considered each other. annabeth's friends fanned out on either side. the romans murmured jason's name, staring at him in awe.

then, percy and karina stepped out to the side of reyna, and she saw annabeth's vision tunnel immediately, as did jason's, who stared at karina in disbelief. she stared back at him with an amused grin on her face, watching as percy did the same to annabeth.

reyna straightened. with apparent reluctance, she turned toward jason.

"jason grace, my former colleague . . . " she spoke the word colleague like it was a dangerous thing. "i welcome you home. and these, your friends— "

annabeth cut her off by surging forwards towards percy. he rushed toward her at the same time. the crowd tensed. some reached for swords that weren't there, but karina just smiled at the two.

percy threw his arms around her, and annabeth quickly reciprocated the hug, wrapping her arms tightly around his body, laughing as he twisted them around in circles.

percy pulled away. "gods, i never thought— "

annabeth grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder. he slammed into the stone pavement. romans cried out. some surged forward, but reyna shouted. "hold! stand down!"

karina felt herself begin to laugh at the situation, and quickly clamped her hand over her mount to try and silence herself.

annabeth put her knee on percy's chest. she pushed her forearm against his throat. "if you ever pull this shit again," she said. "i swear to all the gods— "

percy had the nerve to laugh. "consider me warned," he said. "i missed you, too."

annabeth rose and helped him to his feet, and karina sent her an approving smile, sending a thumbs up in her direction.

percy looked at her in fained disbelief, his mouth gaping open. "really? you're siding with her?" he pointed to annabeth.

karina shrugged her shoulders. "it's what you deserve."

annabeth sent her a hesitant smile, as if she wasn't sure why exactly karina was saying all of this, but she knew that her and percy were close, so it was okay.

jason cleared his throat. "so, yeah . . . it's good to be back."

karina rolled her eyes at the lame response, and said, "really, jase? that's all you've got?"

he pursed his lips at her, a fake look of accusation masked on his face. "first day back, and i'm already getting judged by you for something."

karina smiled at him. "what's new?" she asked, and then briskly began walking over to him, her walk turning into a jog as she neared him, and he met her the rest of the way, laughing as she jumped into his arms, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

she could feel the smile on his face radiating onto her as he leaned his head on her shoulder, holding the embrace on her for a few moments, before setting her back onto the ground, grinning down at her. "missed me, flower face?"

she narrowed her eyes at him. "will you stop calling me that?" she asked, poking his chest with her pointer finger. "i thought we'd established that like, a year ago."

jason shrugged, an innocent look on his features. "well— i was just gone for eight months, so, i forgot?"

"no you didn't."

"how do you know?"

"how do you know, that i don't know?"

"i swear to the gods, karina— "

somebody cleared their behind them, interrupting their little argument. karina turned around, and saw reyna staring at the two with a raised eyebrow, but nonetheless, was not surprised at their interaction. she had already had to deal with them for years before this, so this was nothing compared to back then. she was used to it by now.

jason nodded. "anyways," he started, and proceeded to introduce reyna to piper, and then to leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign.

"and this is annabeth," jason said. "uh, normally she doesn't judo-flip people."

reyna's eyes sparkled. "you sure you're not a roman, annabeth, or an amazon?"

"i only attack percy like that," she promised. "pleased to meet you."

"you've got to teach me how to do that," karina said, standing next to percy once again, who'd put his arm tightly around her waist once again.

percy glared down at her, a nervous expression shown on his features. "oh, don't tell me that you two are going to going to start ganging up on me, now."

karina and annabeth both looked at each other and grinned, and then looked at percy with the same expression. "oh, gods," he muttered to himself, dragging a hand across his face. "my best friend and my girlfriend? really?"

annabeth raised an eyebrow at the word, girlfriend, and an excited look began to develop onto her face. but, before she could say anything, reyna clasped her hand firmly. "it seems we have a lot to discuss. centurions!"

hazel and frank appeared at percy and karina's sides, almost protectively, and annabeth observed them calculatingly, as if trying to figure out who they were to percy.

she saw lydia sidle up to her side as well, her light pink hair now half up, half down, with a few strands in the front. she threw her arm around karina in a sisterly way, smiling at her.

"so, these are the geeks?" she asked out loud, not really directing it at anytime in particular.

karina nodded, and playfully pushed her off her shoulder. "yes, lydia, these are the greeks." she corrected with an eye roll, shaking her head at her childish tendencies.

lydia laughed, and scanned the faces of the four greek demigods, minus jason, but when her eyes landed on annabeth, karina noticed her stare linger a little longer on the blonde haired girl. lydia coughed lightly, and looked away, and karina could've sworn she saw a blush creep up lydia's neck.

she gave lydia a confused, but also a knowing look, her eyes narrowed slightly. "that's annabeth," karina said slowly, a small smile growing on her face.

lydia nodded, and smiled in her direction, and annabeth smiled back, fiddling with her fingers as lydia gazed at her.

"annabeth . . . " she whispered, testing the name on her tongue. "what a pretty name."

karina nudged percy in the ribs with her elbow lightly, catching the attention of him, and he turned to her, "what?"

"look," she mumbled to him, pointing her head to where lydia was walking up to annabeth, introducing herself, both of them with slight blushes on their faces as they began to talk.

percy bit back a smile, and tossed his arm over her shoulders, leaning his head down on hers. "well, would you look at that," he said smugly.

karina laughed, and noticed that hazel had kept staring in leo and piper's direction, frowning at them.

meanwhile, reyna was giving orders to her officers. " . . . tell the legion to stand down. dakota, alert the spirits in the kitchen. tell them to prepare a welcome feast. and, octavian— "

"you're letting these intruders into the camp?" octavian said, elbowing his way forward. "reyna, the security risks— "

"we're not taking them to the camp, octavian," reyna flashed him a stern look. "we'll eat here, in the forum."

"oh, much better," octavian grumbled. "you want us to relax in the shadow of their warship."

"these are our guests." reyna clipped off every word. "we will welcome them, and we will talk to them. as augur, you should burn on offering to thank the gods of brining jason back to us safely."

"good idea," percy put in. "go burn your bears, octavian."

"and none that are mine." karina added sharply.

reyna looked like she was trying not to smile. "you have my orders. go."

the officers disappeared. octavian shot percy and karina a look of absolute loathing. then he gave annabeth a suspicious once-over and stalked away.

percy slipped his hand into karina's, looking at annabeth. "don't worry about octavian," he said. "most of the romans are good people— like karina, frank, and hazel here, and reyna. we'll be fine."

annabeth hesitated for a moment, glancing up at the argo II, then looked to percy again. "we'll be fine," she repeated, as if she was trying to believe it.

"excellent," reyna said. she turned to jason, and karina thought there was a hungry sort of gleam in her eyes. "let's talk, and we can have a proper reunion."

they began to march to the forum, and karina saw jason attempting to get beside her, but his friends, leo and piper, dragged him into conversation before he could make it over to her. she looked to him with an apologetic look, and he just shrugged his shoulders sadly, giving her a quick smile, before joining the conversation.

they eventually made it to the forum, and one thing was for sure:

romans knew how to eat.

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 lares, in togas and legionnaire armor. around the edges of the feast, 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 surprisingly, caelius was there too. children played tag around the statue of terminus that lined the city limits.

reyna and a few of her officers, including octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods, sat with annabeth and her crew. karina, percy, and hazel and frank joined them as well.

as a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, percy leaned over and whispered, "i was hoping to show annabeth around new rome, and i was hoping you'd join me."

karina smiled, and nodded. "of course, perc'. i want to get to know annabeth."

he smiled back at her, and placed a chaste kiss on her cheek, before speaking again.

"i've been thinking," he said nervously. "i had this idea— "

he stopped as reyna called a toast to friendship.

after introductions all around, the romans and annabeth's crew began exchanging stories. jason explained how he'd arrived at camp half-blood without his memory, except one name.

"i only remembered one name," jason explained. "karina."

karina looked at him in shock, and she felt the whole room turn to her, especially percy. all of their eyes felt like searing hot lasers shooting into her body, staring her down.

she awkwardly cleared her throat, and gestured for jason to continue, wanting to get the attention off of her.

as jason began to resume talking, karina noticed percy looked a little more . . . tense than before. his jaw was clenched hardly, and his hand had move from being interlocked with her's, to resting on her thigh, gripping it slightly while his thumb traced the inside of it softly. karina looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and that's when she saw him staring hardly at jason, his lips pressed into a thin line.

oh.

karina knew why he was doing that, he was jealous. but she also knew that she couldn't talk about it with him until they were alone, so, for now, she just placed her hand on top of his, and gave him a small, reassuring smile.

she tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear that jason had gone on a quest with piper and leo to rescue the goddess juno (or hera, take you 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 greek, and started a war between the camps. now, be quiet and let jason finish."

octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. karina smiled widely at the use of charm speak from piper. she looked back and forth between jason and piper, and started to wonder if they were a couple.

karina would kill him.

not because she liked him, because she didn't. but, for reyna. it was obvious that she was in love with jason, even after he had disappeared. so, for him to show up with a new girl— that's greek— and act like everything's okay, it's completely not okay.

"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, with karina butting in occasionally. he talked about waking up at the wolf house with no memories except for one name— annabeth.

he told them about how he'd traveled to alaksa with karina, frank, and hazel— how they'd 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 finished, jason nodded appreciatively. "no wonder they made you praetor."

octavian snorted. "which means we now have three praetors! the rules clearly state we can only have two!"

"on the bright side," percy said, "both jason 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, despite his previous jealously. karina nudged percy's shoulder amusedly, giving him a proud smile, and he smiled back at her in return, squeezing her thigh.

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."

"i'll step aside for jason," percy said easily. "it's no biggie."

"no biggie?" octavian choked. "the praetorship of rome is no biggie?"

percy ignored him and turned to jason. "you're thalia grace's brother, huh? wow. you guys look nothing alike?"

"you have a sister?" karina said, exasperated.

jason chuckled, and nodded at karina. "yes, rina, i have a sister. and, yeah, i noticed," he said to percy. "anyway, thanks for helping my camp while i was gone. you did an awesome job." his eyes seemed to trace over percy's hand placement on her thigh at times, and his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he were now starting realize that they were a couple.

"back at you," percy said.

karina kicked his shin, rolling her eyes. she hated to interrupt a budding bromance, but reyna was right: they had serious things to discuss.

"we should talk about the great prophecy," annabeth said, as if she were reading karina's mind. "it sounds like the romans are aware of it too?"

reyna nodded. "we call it the prophecy of eight. octavian, you have it committed to memory?"

"of course," he said. "but, reyna— "

"recite it please. in english, not latin."

octavian sighed. "eight 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 aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into a passing wind spirits. karina chuckled quietly at the sight.

frank sat forward, starting at annabeth in fascination, as if she'd grown a third eye. "is it true you're a child of min— i mean, athena?"

"yes," annabeth replied defensively. "why is that such a surprise?"

octavian scoffed. "if you're truly a child of the wisdom goddess— "

karina glared at him. "if you don't shut your loud-ass mouth— "

"enough," reyna snapped. "annabeth is what she says. she's here in peace. besides . . . " she gave a look of grudging respect. "percy has spoken highly of you."

annabeth raised an eyebrow at percy, and he just shrugged his shoulders, smirking at her. "i had to give my bestfriend some props, i didn't learn, well, any of this, by myself."

annabeth shook her head, chuckling to herself, before clearing her throat and turning back to reyna. "um, thanks," she told her. "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 picked up something next to her plate. it looked like a large ruby, but before karina could be sure, hazel 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, and annabeth looked like as if she had a million more questions to ask, but she ignored it, saying, "okay. you were saying?"

"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," percy promised. "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, right?"

"thanatos told you this?" annabeth asked. "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 the feather in her hair. "like water leaking through a dam," she suggested.

"yeah." percy smiled. "we've got a dam hole."

"what?" piper asked.

"nothing," he 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 realize 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 call 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."

karina shrugged. "well, who doesn't like a little excitement, anyway?"

"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, traveling 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? besides, the argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. she'll get us through."

"we'll just have to hurry," jason added. "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."

karina shuddered. she'd had her own share of nightmares recently, and they were only getting worse.

"eight half-bloods must answer the call," she said. "it needs to be a mix from both our camps. jason, piper, leo, and me. that's four."

"and me," percy said. "along with karina, hazel, and frank. that's eight."

"what?" octavian shot to his feet. "we're just supposed to accept that? without a proper 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 ella.

tyson stopped by their couch and wrung his meaty hands. his 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."

"ella is pretty," tyson said. "and scared. we need to take her away, but she will not go in 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 the pain from a woven jail."

the effect was like someome dropping a flash grenade on the table. everyone stared at the harpy. no one spoke.

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 whipped his head to karina, his eyes equally as wide as her's, and they were the first to recover. they stood and each took one of tyson's arms.

"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."

"probably shakespeare," karina added with a strained smile.

"books," ella muttered helpfully. "ella likes books."

now that she'd said her piece, the harpy seemed more relaxed. she sat cross-legged on mrs. o'leary back, preening her wings.

annabeth gave percy a curious glance. karina knew that she knew that her, percy, frank, and hazel were hiding something. just as obviously, ella had recited a prophecy— a prophecy that sounded like it concerned annabeth.

percy's expression said, help.

"that was a prophecy," octavian insisted. "it sounded like a prophecy."

no one answered.

annabeth 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?"

annabeth's words had the intended effect. the roman officers laughed nervously. some sized up ella, then looked at octavian and snorted. the idea of a harpy issuing prophecies was apparently just as ridiculous to romans as it was to greeks. though, karina knew that in reality, it wasn't ridiculous at all.

"i, uh . . . " octavian dropped his teddy bear. "no, but— "

"she's just sprouting lines from some book," karina said, adding the annabeth's statement. "just like hazel suggested. besides, we already have a real prophecy to worry about."

annabeth 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."

percy smiled. "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. karina held her breath.

reyna had an excellent poker face, she always did. even when she first arrived at camp. she studied ella, but karina couldn't guess what she was thinking.

"fine," the praetor 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!"

karina snorted. "yeah, well, you smell of charred bear stuffings. it's not much better."

leo choked on his taco at karina's reply, a wide smile turning up on his face, and turned to give her a fist bump, which she returned with a cheeky grin.

leo then turned to octavian again, his laughs subsiding. "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."

karina stifled a laugh as 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 shrugging would not be good for his health. "fine."

leo got up. he turned to annabeth, and his smile changed. it happened so quickly, karina thought she'd imagined it; 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 karina blinked, and leo was just a regular old leo again, with his usual impish grin.

"back soon," he promised. "this is gonna he epic."

a horrible chill settled over her, and karina turned to annabeth with a weary expression, and it seemed that she felt the same, looking at her with a nervous glint in her eyes. as leo and octavian headed for the rope ladder, she thought about calling them back— but how could she explain that? tell everyone she was going crazy, seeing things and feeling cold?

the wind spirits began clearing the plates.

"uh, reyna," jason said, "if you don't mind, i'd like to show piper around before the senate meeting, and have karina come with us. she's never seen new rome."

reyna's expression hardened.

karina wondered how jason could be so dense. was it possible that he really didn't understand how much reyna liked him? karina had known from the start, and thought he did too. asking to show his new girlfriend around reyna's city was rubbing salt in a wound.

"of course," reyna said coldly.

percy took karina's hand. "actually, jason, karina was going to join us in the city," percy said casually, but she couldn't help but notice the underlying tone of his clipped words being directed at jason.

jason nodded, and smiled at karina, though, he seemed to be slightly disappointed. "that's fine."

percy looked to reyna. "so, yeah, i'd like to show annabeth— "

"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 that she wasn't really asking permission.

"come, daughter of athena," reyna rose from her couch. "walk with me."

5380 words

YASS first chapter of mark of athena !! i'm so excited i have so many things planned 💪😁

anways get ready for so many new brotps between karina and the others ‼️‼️ i'm so excited omfmgdhdj