"𝐓𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐁𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇?"

i sighed, "yes, dad. just like the first seven times you asked me."

"oh," he muttered. "i didn't realize i already asked."

i rolled my eyes fondly.

the argo ii was built and ready for takeoff. as soon as i arrived back to camp, we'd be heading out. 

i had to return to the avengers tower to get some final checkups done. after the whole extremis extravaganza, my powers were going out of control. they were in such high concentration that when extremis was being removed, they threatened to destroy everything. we had to extract it from me in sessions. and when the final one was gone, my powers weren't as out of control, but they were still in high concentration, putting lots of pressure on my heart. 

that had always been a possible outcome.

the pressure caused my heart to slow dangerously, and to save me, an arc reactor was put in. i'd already agreed to it, but only because i wanted to live, not because i wanted an arc reactor. the arc reactor worked as an electromagnet to my powers, keeping the excess pure energy locked up in there and only letting it out as i needed it. it was a temporary solution to get my body used to the concentrated level of energy.

after the arc reactor was removed two months or so prior, checkups were the norm. they just wanted to make sure my body was adjusting well.

after finding out about the great prophecy, my dad insisted on one final checkup that would monitor my long term progress. the report came out great, because he reluctantly agreed.

"dad, i'll be fine," i promised him. "i can handle this. and besides, we've got jason with us. the romans trust him. they'll listen to him before they shoot us."

"very funny," my dad narrowed his eyes.

"c'mere," i muttered, giving him a hug. "i'll call, okay. i promise."

"you better," he muttered, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "go kill some monsters, minnie."

"and save the world," i grinned lightly.

"and save the world," he repeated.

"leo, i thought i told you to send the holographic scroll before i got back to camp," i told him.

"yeah, you did," leo grinned sheepishly. "but, we're still loading up a few boxes, so i thought i'd record it while you guys finished up."

i gave him a deadpan look, "so basically, you didn't want to do work."

leo shrugged, "basically."

i laughed a little, "honestly would've done the same thing."

"learnt from the master!"

i went up into the ship's cabin, putting boxes away. piper was next to me, and we were storing utensils and other finishing touches.

"okay, i'm recording!" leo all but squealed.

piper and i exchanged amused glances.

we stored away towels and other things that came out from the boxes, working in quiet harmony.

"hey!" leo grinned, recording from the scroll. "greetings from your friends at camp half-blood, et cetera, et cetera. this is leo, i'm the..." he looked off-camera, towards us and yelled, "what's my title? am i like admiral or captain or—"

"repair boy!" piper yelled back.

"no," i protested. "he's fledgling."

"haha guys," leo muttered. "hilarious. if i was anyone else, we wouldn't be friends anymore."

"you can't blame us. you chose this path," i told him. "you're sleeping with our brother."

"yeah, at least we say stuff in english," piper said to him. "your siblings all say stuff to theo in spanish and none of us can understand when riley or aurora aren't there."

"anyways," leo said loudly, turning back to the screen as he turned red. "did the scroll pick up on that? please tell me it didn't."

"i think it did!" i called back.

"ah jeez," leo muttered. he shook his hair slightly, shrugging, "anyways, back to... wait, what was i saying?"

"how you're the fledgling-slash-repair boy," i told him.

"oh right," he muttered, regaining his train of thought. "well, i am neither of those. i'm... uh.... supreme commander of the argo ii. yeah, i like that."

"bleh," theo said walking past the room.

piper and i burst into laughter as leo glared at his boyfriend. 

"well, i like it!" he yelled to him. he turned back to the screen, and tried to tame his hair, "sorry about that, but we just wanted to let you know that we'll be sailing towards you in, i dunno, an hour or two i guess. oh! and we're in this big mother warship that riles and i designed. it's pretty fucking sick!"

"damn right it is!" i called as i put some forks away.

"anyways," leo continued, "we'd appreciate if you don't, well, blow us out of the sky. so, just tell the romans, i guess! see you soon! yours in all demigodishness. peace out."

leo ended the message and grinned the entire way as he went over to deliver it to mellie the nymph. 

as soon as he left the room, piper and i burst into another fit of giggles.

butterflies grew in my stomach as we neared new rome.

jason told us the romans wouldn't attack if they saw him. but i couldn't help but wonder if they were as barbaric as described. would they attack jason because he was gone so long and they thought he was an enemy?

i touched the scar on my chest lightly.

it had mainly healed, but the bump was obvious. i wore a camp t-shirt (the necks were small) to hide it. i paired that with white joggers and black high-tops. my hair had been tied with a bandanna.

it'd grown back since connor cut it, and i was glad for the curtain to hide my face with if something happened to go wrong.

no, you're glad it's back because maybe percy wouldn't recognize you without it, another part of me thought.

i tried to press the thoughts down, but to no avail.

the truth was, i was afraid of seeing percy again.

it was like, i was a completely different person when we last met. but a whole lot had changed since then.

i was tortured, my home destroyed, i had to kill someone, and i almost died about a bajillion times. i wasn't the same.

would percy still love me? or would he have found someone new?

what if he didn't remember me?

i spent the last eight months with the blind hope of being able to find percy as the only thing guiding me. and if he didn't remember me... well i was already falling apart from the seams.

i shook my head, trying to clear the depressing thoughts.

i looked around at everyone on deck.

annabeth stood at the side, examining everyone. i caught her eye and gave her a look, telling her to calm down. she nodded briefly before sitting down on the floor.

leo ran around, waving his wii controller (it was mine, i brought it in and he loved it), and kept himself busy. 

theo ran after him, holding a box of supplies and calling out whenever leo came too close to bumping into something.

piper walked around the deck, practicing her charmspeak. drew had worked with both piper and i, getting our charmspeak better. and i had to say, piper was pretty good.

jason stood at the helm, donning a toga and purple cape over his camp half-blood t-shirt and jeans. he looked like a leader, similar to steve. i just hoped the romans wouldn't shoot us down because they saw him.

and last but (certainly) not least, there was coach hedge. he was the crazy satyr chaperone chiron insisted on sending with us. in a weird way, his chaos made me feel comfortable. but, it probably wasn't a good idea for him to be seen yelling "die!" around a bunch of romans who want to kill us. so, i told him to go downstairs and watch something. and if he managed not to kill (or severely) injure any romans by the time this meeting was over, i'd give him the v.r. glasses.

he had never agreed faster to anything.

i shivered involuntarily as i felt something breathe on my neck. i whipped around, but there was nothing there. turning back around, i tugged my shirt higher, blaming the wind.

as the valley grew closer, i heard the horns. the romans had spotted us.

i walked towards annabeth who held her arms out. helping her to her feet, the two of us stared at the valley in awe.

annabeth couldn't help but gasp at the architecture.

ringed by the oakland hills, the valley was at least twice the size of camp half-blood. a small river snaked around one side and curled toward the center like a capital letter g, emptying into a sparkling blue lake. 

directly below the ship, nestled at the edge of the lake, the city of new rome gleamed in the sunlight. i recognized landmarks jason had told us about — the hippodrome, the coliseum, the temples and parks, the neighborhood of seven hills with its winding streets, colorful villas, and flowering gardens. 

i saw evidence of the romans' recent battle with an army of monsters. the dome was cracked open on a building i think was the senate house. the forum's broad plaza was pitted with craters. some fountains and statues were in ruins. 

dozens of kids in togas were streaming out of the senate house to get a better view of the argo ii. more romans emerged from the shops and cafés, gawking and pointing as the ship descended. 

about half a mile to the west, where the horns were blowing, a roman fort stood on a hill. it looked just like the illustrations annaebth and steve had shown me in military history books — with a defensive trench lined with spikes, high walls, and watchtowers armed with scorpion ballistae. 

inside, perfect rows of white barracks lined the main road — the via principalis. a column of demigods emerged from the gates, their armor and spears glinting as they hurried toward the city. in the midst of their ranks was an actual war elephant.

i didn't want to land after the troops made it.

i leaned over at the groups of romans, trying to catch a glimpse of percy. even though my heart was still terrified, i still wanted to see him.

then boom!

i grabbed annabeth as the explosion almost knocked her overboard. we turned around to see an angry statue.

he'd exploded into existence, right there onto the deck.

sulfurous yellow smoke rolled off his shoulders. cinders popped around his curly hair. from the waist down, he was nothing but a square marble pedestal. from the waist up, he was a muscular human figure in a carved toga. 

"i will not have weapons inside the pomerian line!" he announced in a fussy teacher voice. "i certainly will not have greeks!"

i stepped forward, but annabeth grabbed my arm, motioning to jason. he shot me a look that said, i got this.

"terminus," he stepped forward. "it's me, jason grace."

"oh, i remember you, jason!" terminus grumbled. "i thought you had better sense than to consort with the enemies of rome!" 

"but they're not enemies—" 

"that's right," piper jumped in. "we just want to talk. if we could—" 

"ha!" snapped the statue. "don't try that charmspeak on me, young lady. and put down that dagger before i slap it out of your hands!"

piper glanced at her bronze dagger, which she'd apparently forgotten she was holding. "um... okay. but how would you slap it? you don't have any arms." 

"impertinence!" there was a sharp pop and a flash of yellow. piper yelped and dropped the dagger, which was now smoking and sparking. 

"lucky for you I've just been through a battle," terminus announced. "if i were at full strength, i would've blasted this flying monstrosity out of the sky already!" 

"wow, you're more annoying than steve was when we first met," i muttered. "can't believe i never smacked him."

"are you calling me a steve?!" the statue exclaimed. "well, i'll — i'll steve—"

"hold up." leo stepped forward, wagging his wii controller. "i know i'm a little slow, but did you just call my ship a monstrosity? i know you didn't do that." 

"okay, mon amour," theo said, stepping forward and taking the wii controller from leo. "let's not attack gods with gaming remotes, huh?"

"let's all calm down." annabeth spoke, raising her hands to show she had no weapons. "i take it you're terminus, the god of boundaries. jason told me you protect the city of new rome, right? i'm annabeth chase, daughter of—" 

"oh, i know who you are!" the statue glared at her with its blank white eyes. "a child of athena, minerva's greek form. scandalous! you greeks have no sense of decency. we romans know the proper place for that goddess." 

"wow, okay," i muttered. "you know, statue-god, you're being a real pain in the ass, and i'd appreciate if you wouldn't. can we talk? and explain without you interrupting us?"

the statue sniffled.

"okay," i grinned. "anyways, i'm riley stark. daughter of aphrodite and tony stark — gods so help me, you say one damn thing about either of them, i will literally forget you're a god — and we're here on a mission of peace. if we could just land—"

"impossible!" the god squeaked, interrupting me. "lay down your weapons and surrender! leave my city immediately!" 

"which is it?" leo asked. "surrender, or leave?" 

"both!" terminus said. "surrender, then leave. i am slapping your face for asking such a stupid question, you ridiculous boy! do you feel that?" 

"wow," leo studied terminus with professional interest. he reminded me of me and my dad when we get too interested in something. "you're wound up pretty tight. you got any gears in there that need loosening? i could take a look." 

he exchanged the wii controller for a screwdriver from his magic tool belt and tapped the statue's pedestal. 

"o mon dieu," theo muttered, sounding a little faint. "let's not tap the god with a screwdriver."

"stop that! listen to the french boy," terminus insisted. another small explosion made leo drop his screwdriver. "weapons are not allowed on roman soil inside the pomerian line." 

"see, i'd be of more help if i knew what the fuck that meant," i said to the statue.

"city limits," jason translated. 

"and this entire ship is a weapon!" terminus said. "you cannot land!"

i groaned, looking towards the troops. they were almost halfway here, and this statue was not being helpful.

my heart stopped as i caught a familiar face. 

there he was.

percy jackson, grinning as he walked along with an arm over two other people. he wore a purple cape like jason.

if dad was doing a check up on me right now, he would not have let me on the quest.

"leo, stop the ship," i was speaking before i realized it.

"what?" he asked.

"you heard me," i said to him. "keep us where we are."

leo took the wii controller out and yanked, the ninety oars freezing in place as we stopped sinking.

"terminus," i began, flashing a charming smile. "there's no rule about hovering above new rome, is there?"

the statue looked dumbfounded, "well, no but—"

"perfect!" i grinned. "we'll keep the ship in the air, and get down using the rope ladder. all our weapons stay aboard."

"i like technicalities," he muttered. "but still—"

"we'll be good," i told him. "scout's honor."

he sniffed, "oh alright. but any one of you do funny business down there, and i'll be the first to stop you. i respect you, brooklyn. but i will not tolerate any funny business."

i cleared my throat, suddenly aware of rebecca. her title as the brooklyn healer. my connection to her. of course terminus would recognize me. we looked the same.

i looked down at the crowd and wondered how many, if any of them, had been helped by her.

taking a deep breath, i looked back at the crew of the ship, and was a little surprised to see them looking towards me, as if i was their leader. shaking it off, i grinned at them.

"well then? what are we waiting for?"

REY WRITES!

... and i'm back!!

thanks for reading !!

updates will be once a week,
comment what day you'd like updates!!

questions?

comments?

theories?

headcanons?