"Look!" Piper called out from the deck.

Clouds parted to reveal lush green hills below. Everyone took their places. Crystal watched as Piper placed across the deck, mumbling something to herself. Annabeth stood strong, looking at the approaching camp. Jason stood at the bow, so he could be seen by the Romans. Leo was, well, being Leo. He bounced around like a madman, pulling levers and checking gauges. Crystal made her way to the top of the mainmast and settled into the crow's nest, looking out for any danger. As they neared closer, Crystal's senses went on high alert, her muscles tensing. An explosion proved her right. 

Out of nowhere, an angry statue exploded into existence behind Annabeth, causing her to whip around. 

Crystal cursed. "Great..."

__________________________________________

Crystal couldn't hear the conversation between the statue and the others from her position. She wasn't sure if she should intervene. Before she could finish her internal debate, Piper yelped and Crystal instinctively moved to help. She leaped over the rail of the crow's nest and fell to the deck below, landing between the statue and Piper. The statue glared at Crystal, who responded with the same look, fists poised in defense. 

"Crystal, calm down," Annabeth placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Crystal to relax slightly. 

"I know you!" The statue said. "The Unknown Daughter."

Before Crystal could retort, Jason stepped forward. "Look, Terminus, we're here in peace. If you could permit us the land, we-"

"Impossible!" The statue-Terminus- shrieked. "Surrender immediately! Leave my city!"

"Which one?" Crystal rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Surrender or leave?"

"Both!"

Leo mumbled something to himself, kneeling at the base of the angry statue with a screwdriver in his hand. Crystal moved to look over the edge of the ship to see the crowd of people that had gathered. The others continued to persuade Terminus into letting them land as Crystal scanned for a familiar face. Her breath hitched. There he was.

"What if," Crystal turned back around, joining the group once more. "What if we didn't land?"

Everyone looked at her with incredulous expressions. "What?"

"Leo, just stop the ship. Keep us hovering." Crystal said. 

Leo did as ordered and with a yank of a Wii controller, the ship froze in place.

"Care to explain?" Annabeth crossed her arms.

Crystal shrugged. "There are no rules against hovering over Rome, are there?"

Terminus hesitated before confirming. 

"We can just keep the ship here and climb down on a rope ladder. We're not technically on Roman soil." Crystal smiled at her idea. 

"Hm," Terminus pondered for a moment before he replied. "That could work. But weapons stay here!"

"Of course!" Piper replied. 

"Deal?" Annabeth looked at the statue. 

Terminus nodded. "I suppose. You may climb down the ladder to New Rome."

Crystal and the others tried to keep up with Annabeth as she pushed through the crowd. Crystal glanced at the Romans on the side. They looked tense, nervous. And she couldn't blame them- she was too. There were people of all ages, from toddlers to elderly. Crystal guessed they were all demigods, but that still amazed her. Most demigods were teenagers back at camp. People had told her that most grown kids leave Camp Half-Blood to try to start lives of their own, but seeing this multigenerational community made her wonder. 

Could I start a life here? Crystal wondered. 

I doubt it...

Crystal silently cursed at the new voice in her head. It had been a while since her mother last spoke to her. 

Do you think they would accept you? The daughter of Gaea? You'd be an outcast, an enemy.

Crystal chewed her lip. To her absolute dismay, the goddess had a point. 

Up ahead, Crystal saw Tyson, the Cyclops, wave. Next to him was Percy's hellhound. They stopped in front of them and Crystal noticed a woman approaching them. She was dressed in armor with a purple cloak draped around her. With her dark eyes and long hair, the woman was gorgeous. She must be Reyna. Jason had described her before they had arrived. Needless to say, he was accurate. Reyna radiated pure leadership and confidence. 

Crystal turned her head to see Percy appear from the crowd. She watched as Annabeth ran toward him and embraced him. A small smile stretched across her face, then promptly disappeared when Annabeth flipped her boyfriend over her shoulder. 

"Shit!" Crystal grabbed Leo's shoulder out of shock when some Romans cried out and surged forward. 

Reyna raised a hand. "Stand down!"

After a tense moment of Annabeth scolding Percy, they both stood up. Jason cleared his throat awkwardly. 

"So," he scratched his neck. "It's good to be back."

Jason introduced Reyna to Piper, then Leo. Crystal smiled and slightly waved when she was introduced as well. 

Reyna turned to Annabeth. "Are you sure you're not Roman? Maybe an Amazon?" 

"No," Annabeth held out her hand to shake. "I only attack my boyfriend like that."

Reyna returned the shake. "We have much to discuss. Centurions, come!"

A few Roman campers moved forward, but only two stuck out to Crystal. As soon as she saw them, her heart stopped. There was no way. The boy was Chinese and had a seemingly chubby babyface. The girl had cinnamon curls and dark skin. Her eyes, her golden eyes, are what made Crystal tense. She could never forget those eyes. Those were the two demigods she had seen in her nightmare, so many months ago. 

"You okay?" Leo whispered in her ear. 

Crystal only nodded. She briefly made eye contact with the girl, who quickly shifted her gaze to Leo, frowning. Crystal instinctively grabbed Leo's hand, gently squeezing it. She was too focused on not freaking out to notice the blush on Leo's face. 

"You're bringing intruders into camp?" Crystal whipped her head to the source of the new voice.

A tall blond elbowed his way into the opening. "Reyna, the risks-"

"Octavian. We're not taking them into camp." Reyna flashed a stern look. "We're eating in the forum."

The boy- Octavian- huffed. "Oh so then we'll just sit in the shadow of their warship."

"These are our guests!" Reyna replied. "And, as augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods that Jason returned."

Crystal did not like this guy. She especially didn't like the disgusted look he briefly gave her before he left to do as ordered. 

Percy finally spoke up, moving closer to Jason and the others. "Don't worry, most Romans are good. Like Frank and Hazel and Reyna. We'll be fine."

Ah, so that was their names. Frank and Hazel. Everyone had seemed nice so far and even though Percy assured they'd be fine, Crystal couldn't stop her heart from racing. She was about to reach for a curl but realized her hand was still encased with Leo's. He glanced at her, worry in his eyes. He gently rubbed his thumb against the top of her hand and that gesture alone began to calm her down. Crystal looked back to Reyna who had turned around.

"Excellent!" She spread her hands. "Let's talk and have a proper reunion."

Crystal could hardly focus on her surroundings. There was so much to look at. They all sat on a couch, surrounding a low table as food whirled around them, carried by wind spirits. Purple ghosts drifted through the crowded forum and several satyrs bounced from table to table, hoping for some spare change. In the fields roamed war elephants and children ran. playing to their hearts' content. It made Crystal dizzy. After introductions and a toast, Crystal's friends and the Romans began telling their stories. Crystal wasn't paying any attention, however. She sat there quietly, looking down at her glass of water. 

"That's how we found out about Gaea," She immediately looked up at Jason's mention of that name.

Jason continued. "She's half-asleep, but she somehow can keep releasing the monsters from Tartarus. Porphyrion is going to Greece and fully awaken Gaea and destroy the gods."

It took everything in Crystal to not grimace at Jason's statement. How could anyone to something that... evil?

And of course, at that thought, her mother had to chime in. The voice was near silent, but Crystal heard it loud and clear. Her stomach churned. 

Like mother like daughter...

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but Crystal quietly cleared her throat. 

Annabeth piped up. "We should talk about the Great Prophecy. Are the Roman's aware of it too?"

Reyna nodded. "Octavian has it memorized, don't you?"

"Of course," Octavian nodded. "But-"

"Recite it in English, please."

Octavian sighed. "Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall."

"An oath to keep with a final breath," Annabeth continued for Octavian. "And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

Crystal looked up at Annabeth's sudden outburst. Her cheeks darkened, she hadn't meant to interrupt. Crystal glanced over at Leo, who was preoccupied with sticking his pinwheel he made out of foil wrappers into every wind spirit passing by. 

Frank leaned forward, interested. "You're a child of Athena, right?"

Annabeth nodded in confirmation. Frank turned to Crystal.

"Are you one as well?" Crystal's eyes widened. 

"Uh, no." Crystal awkwardly cleared her throat. "I'm, uh, unclaimed."

Reyna raised her chin, looking down at the curly-haired demigod. "Unclaimed? Interesting."

Annabeth spoke up, noticing her friend's discomfort. "Part of the prophecy is starting to make sense. Foes bearing arms to the Doors of Death has to mean the Romans and Greeks. We need to work together to find the doors."

"Nico, my brother, went looking for the doors," Hazel said. "But he disappeared and I think something happened to him."

"We have to find the Doors of Death anyway, so we'll look for him. Thanatos said we'd find answers in Rome, which is on the way to Greece."

So much information flew by Crystal's head, she could barely process it. "So basically, we need to close the doors before we head to Greece, just so we can stand a chance of defeating the giants?"

Reyna picked up and apple and studied it before replying. "You do realize this journey is extremely dangerous, right? The Roman empire territory is the home of the monsters, Titans, and giants. To travel there is so much worse than here in America. You'd have to be crazy to go there."

Leo grinned. "Perfect! We're all crazy, aren't we? The Argo II is a top-of-the-line warship. With her, anything is possible!"

"We need to hurry," Jason said. "Gaea is growing more conscious all the time. She's invading dreams and appearing in weird places."

Once again, Crystal's stomach churned. She thought back to when she lost control of her powers. Back in camp, she had no idea what happened and how to stop it. It was as if... she was being controlled. Was Gaea capable of mind control? The more conscious she becomes, the more powerful she becomes. What if Crystal becomes a weapon? A puppet on strings, completely at the mercy of the earth goddess. Crystal shook her head, not wanting to think of that.

"Seven half-bloods must answer the call," Annabeth said. "It has to be a mix of our camps. Jason, Piper, Leo, and me. Four."

Percy nodded. "And Frank, Hazel, and me. That makes seven."

Reyna turned to Crystal. "And what about you? How do you fit in?"

Crystal chewed the inside of her lip. She didn't like the steely gaze of the Roman. 

"There was a second prophecy." She finally answered. "Out of loyalty and bravery, not with greed, the demigods, in turn, shall succeed. For a blade of blood shall end it all and the Earth will no die, but finally, fall."

Crystal intentionally left out the rest of the prophecy, afraid of a negative reaction. "My dagger is named the Blade of Blood."

"This is preposterous!" Octavian rose to his feet. "We're supposed to believe she's part of a prophecy because of a knife? And the seven? We just accept that without a vote or debate or-"

Octavian's complaint was quickly interrupted as Tyson ran into the room, yelling Percy's name.