{LANDON}

Percy had thought that the Feast of Fortuna had something to do with Tuna.

Campers, Amazons, and Lares crowded the mess hall for a lavish dinner. Even the fauns had been invited since they'd helped bandage the wounded after the battle. Wind nymphs zipped around the room, delivering orders of pizza, burgers, steaks, salads, Chinese food, and burritos, all flying at terminal velocity.

Despite the exhausting battle, everyone was in a good mood. Casualties had been light, and the few campers that had died came back to life.

Colorful Amazon and Roman banners hung side-by-side from the rafters. The restored golden eagle stood proudly behind the praetors' table, and the walls were decorated with cornucopias—magical horns of plenty that spilled out recycling waterfalls of fruit, chocolate, and fresh-baked cookies.

The cohorts mingled freely with the Amazons, jumping from couch to couch as they pleased, and for once the soldiers of the Fifth were welcome everywhere.

There was a lot of flirting and arm wrestling—which seemed to be the same thing for the Amazons.

At one point throughout the evening, he'd been cornered by Kinzie, the Amazon who'd punched him and given him a split lip in Seattle. He managed to explain that he wasn't looking for a relationship at the moment. Kinzie took it well.

She told him what had happened after they'd left Seattle—how Hylla had defeated Otrera in two consecutive duels to the death so that the Amazons were now calling their Queen Hylla Twice-Kill.

"Otrera stayed dead the second time," Kinzie said, batting her eyes. "We have you to thank for that. If you ever change your mind and need a girlfriend, let me know...and, I think you'd look great in an iron collar and an orange jumpsuit."

"Thanks," Landon said, chuckling nervously. He didn't know if she was kidding or not. "I appreciate it."

Kinzie offered him a small smile before she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Landon," she told him before she changed seats.

For a moment, all Landon could do was sit there like an idiot, his eyes roaming across the table before he caught Dakota's eyes. The son of Bacchus smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

Once everyone had eaten and the plates stopped flying, Reyna made a short speech. She formally welcomed the Amazons, thanking them for their help. Then she hugged her sister and everybody applauded.

Reyna raised her hands for quiet. "My sister and I haven't always seen eye to eye—"

Hylla laughed. "That's an understatement."

"She joined the Amazons," Reyna continued. "I joined Camp Jupiter. But looking around this room, I think we both made good choices. Strangely, our destinies were made possible by the hero you all just raised to praetor on the battlefield—Percy Jackson."

More cheering. The sisters raised their glasses to Percy and beckoned him forward.

Everybody asked for a speech, but Percy protested that he really wasn't the best person for praetor, but the campers drowned him out with applause. Reyna took away his probatio neck plate.

Octavian shot Percy a dirty look, then turned to the crowd and smiled like all of this was his idea. He ripped open a teddy bear and pronounced good omens for the coming year—Fortuna would bless them!

He passed his hand over Percy's arm and shouted: "Percy Jackson, son of Neptune, first year of service!"

The Roman symbols burned onto Percy's arm. Octavian embraced Percy and Landon could tell it was just to threaten him from the look on Percy's face.

Then Reyna gave him an eagle medal and a purple cloak, symbols of the praetor. "You earned these, Percy."

Queen Hylla patted him on the back. "And I've decided not to kill you."

"Um, thanks," Percy said.

It felt weird. All of them were being treated like completely different people, Landon, Hazel, and Frank were being called the saviors of Rome.

Never in a million years would he have dreamt about hearing those words come out of their mouths. It felt nice, but he knew he shouldn't get too used to it.

Xander stood at the corner with the other centurions, his arm around Claire's waist as she chatted along with Gwen.

Landon felt relieved that his brother was alright, he didn't want to admit it but, during the battle when he hadn't been able to find Xander, he felt like he would have to go through the whole process of losing a sibling once again. He wasn't sure if he would've been able to handle the news of Xander passing away, but thankfully, he hadn't died.

After dinner, the entire legion got the night off. The children of Pluto, Hermes, Poseidon, and Mars drifted down to the city, which wasn't quite recovered from the battle, but the fires were out, most of the debris had been swept up, but the citizens were determined to celebrate.

At the Pomerian Line, the statue of Terminus wore a paper party hat.

"Welcome, praetor!" He said. "You need any giants' faces smashed while you're in town, just let me know."

"Thanks, Terminus," Percy said. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Yes, good. Your praetor's cape is an inch too low on the left. There—that's better. Where is my assistant? Julia!"

The little girl ran out from behind the pedestal. She was wearing a green dress that night, and her hair was still in pigtails. When she smiled, Landon could see her front teeth had started to come in. She held up a box full of party hats.

Percy had tried to decline but then Julia gave him the big adoring eyes. "Ah, sure," He caved. "I'll take the blue crown."

She offered Hazel a gold pirate hat. "I'm gonna be a Percy Jackson when I grow up," she told the daughter of Pluto solemnly.

Hazel smiled and ruffled her hair. "That's a good thing to be, Julia."

"Although," Frank said, picking a hat shaped like a polar bear's head. "Frank Zhang would be good too."

"Frank!" Hazel said.

"I think you would make a great Landon too, Julia." The son of Hermes told her as she handed him a red party hat.

They put on their hats and continued to the forum, which was lit up with multicolored lanterns. The fountains glowed purple. The coffee shops were doing a brisk business, and street musicians filled the air with the sounds of guitar, lyre, panpipes, and armpit noises.

Iris must've been in a party mood too. As they strolled past the damaged Senate House, a dazzling rainbow appeared in the night sky. Unfortunately, the goddess sent another blessing, too—a gentle rain of gluten-free R.O.F.L. cupcake simulations, which Landon figured would help a lot with rebuilding.

For a while, they wandered the streets, Percy and Landon walked behind Hazel and Frank who kept brushing their shoulders.

It was just like being back in the labyrinth with Percy and Evangeline, he did not like it.

Finally, Percy spoke up, "I'm a little tired, guys. You go ahead."

Frank and Hazel protested, but Landon could see they wanted some alone time.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go back too." Landon patted Frank's shoulder.

The two boys headed back to camp, leaving the two of them alone.

Xander kidnapped him at four a.m. in the morning. He made Landon carry a shovel as they walked through the woods.

"So you wanna tell me what this kidnapping is for?" Landon asked, ducking underneath a tree branch.

"No," Xander said, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"That's it?" Landon asked. "Just 'no'? You drag me out of bed at 3:30 in the morning, hand me a shovel, and make me walk through the woods for no reason?"

"I'll tell you what you need to know, until then, shut up." His brother shot him an annoyed look.

"Okay," he said before he mumbled under his breath, "dick."

"Cussing at me will not get you your answers," Xander told him as he made his way between two trees.

"Then what will?"

"Patience," Xander said. "But I keep forgetting that you are behind in that department,"

"I can just go back whenever I want. I'm only doing this because you asked." Landon spat.

"No, you're only doing this because somewhere in that empty skull of yours, you're curious about what I want to show you."

"I'll have you know my skull is not empty," The son of Hermes shot back.

"My mistake, it's filled with dust."

Landon stayed quiet as he made a face from behind his brother. He followed after the son of Mercury for a few more miles. Fifteen minutes later, they walked onto the shore of the camp's lake.

"What are we doing here?" Landon asked, leaning against the shovel.

"Have you ever thought about staying silent for more than seven seconds?" Xander glared at him as he walked toward the old Willow Tree.

Landon stayed glued to his spot. "Xander, what are we doing here?"

"I knew you would remember this place," Xander walked toward the Rosemary plants a few steps away from the tree. "You and Cassie always hung out here,"

The son of Hermes swallowed harshly. Xander pulled out a folded-up piece of old parchment from his pocket. "Cassie had given me this letter the night before she died." The older boy told him. "She told me to show it to you when you come back with death. I hadn't understood what she'd meant at the time but, I do now."

"What do you mean?" Landon felt that same chill from the glacier run up his spine again.

"You remember that diary she would write in?" Xander asked. "The one that disappeared after she died."

"Yeah," Landon scowled.

Xander nodded curtly, he handed the parchment to Landon. It was a drawing of the willow tree that was in front of them.

"This is where it is."

"What?" Landon's head snapped up to stare at Xander.

"You can see for yourself," He motioned toward the pieces of Rosemary that had grown at the base of the tree, which was unusual since the plant was known to grow in sunlight, not in the shadows of the leaves of a Willow Tree.

Xander nodded his head toward the tree. "Go on." His brother said coldly.

Landon tightened his grip on the handle of the shovel and approached the tree cautiously. He drove the shovel into the ground, tilting it, gathering the dirt, and pulling it out. 

After what felt like hours, the shovel hit something hard with a soft thud. He spared a glance at Xander before he knelt. He brushed some dirt away with his hands and saw a shiny black metal box buried in the ground.

He tugged it out of its place in the dirt and dropped it onto the grass. He frowned as he saw the lock on it. "So how do you plan on opening this lock?" he looked at Xander.

His brother raised a knowing brow. "You know what to do,"

Landon rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath. He placed his index onto the keyhole of the lock and with a soft click, the lock opened and Landon took it out. "Happy?"

"Extremely," Xander said.

The son of Hermes opened the lid of the box. Inside the box, was a black journal wrapped tightly in a string of rope.

He couldn't believe it. He had thought that the diary was somewhere in their house, rotting away, but it was right there. Just a few miles away from Camp Jupiter, the place where Landon had last seen his sister.

He felt really dumb for not thinking of the Willow Tree as a place to look, but he would never tell Xander that.

"So what do I do with this?" Landon questioned.

"You try to figure out what she wrote," Xander said.

"What do you mean figure it out? She wrote in English," Landon rolled his eyes. He opened the diary and he regretted his words immediately.

Every single page was filled with jumbled-up letters that were written in a way no one could've been able to figure out. Just looking at it made his head spin.

"Happy Reading, Lan," Xander said. 

"Why do you want me to read this?"

"She wrote prophecies in it," Xander said. "Including the ones we've never even heard of before. Maybe it'll be able to help you in the future."

Landon clenched his jaw as he glanced down at the diary in his hand. "Thanks,"

"You're welcome," Xander looked at the watch around his wrist. "You'd better hurry up, you already missed breakfast, and the meeting's in a few minutes."

Landon ran his way back to the city. He was sprinting to the fountain and was joined by Tyson and Ella who came out of nowhere.

All three of them intentionally ran together across the forum. Landon had been in such a hurry, that he hadn't noticed the scroll in Ella's talons.

"There he is!" Frank smiled. "We missed you at breakfast."

Landon doubled over, his hands resting on his knees as he caught his breath. "Got—kidnapped— by Xander."

The three of them nodded like they'd been expecting such an answer. "But how did you end up running with Tyson and Ella?" Percy asked.

"That was an accident, they just came out of nowhere and started running with me."

The four demigods looked at the Cyclops and the Harpy, Ella dropped the scroll onto Percy's lap.

"Special delivery," Ella said. "From an aura. A wind spirit. Yes, Ella got a special delivery."

"Good morning, brothers and Leslie!" Tyson had hay in his hair and peanut butter in his teeth. "The scroll is from Leo. He is funny and small."

The scroll looked unremarkable, but when Percy spread it across his lap, a video recording flickered on the parchment. Landon sat down next to the son of Poseidon, leaning over to get a better look.

A kid in Greek armor grinned up at them. He had an impish face, curly black hair, and wild eyes like he'd just had several cups of coffee. He was sitting in a dark room with timber walls like a ship's cabin. Oil lamps swung back and forth on the ceiling.

Hazel stifled a scream.

"What?" Frank asked. "What's wrong?"

"Hey!" said the kid. "Greetings from your friends at Camp Half-Blood, et cetrera. This is Leo. I'm the..." He looked off-screen and yelled; "What's my title? Am I like admiral, or captain, or—"

A girl's voice yelled back, "Repair boy."

"Very funny, Piper," Leo grumbled. "Casper, what's my title?"

"Leave me out of this." Yelled back a voice that was hard not to recognize; Evangeline.

"That's not a title," Leo turned back to the parchment. "So yeah, I'm...ah...supreme commander of the Argo II. Yeah, I like that! Anyway, we're gonna be sailing toward you in about, I dunno, an hour in this big mother warship. We'd appreciate it if you'd not, like, blow us out of the sky or anything. So okay! If you could tell the Romans that. See you soon. Yours in demigod-ish-ness, and all that. Peace out."

The parchment turned blank.

"It can't be," Hazel said.

"What?" Frank asked. "You know that guy?"

Hazel looked like she'd seen a ghost. Landon couldn't blame her, the kid looked exactly like Hazel's old boyfriend.

"It's Sammy Valdez," she said. "But how...how—"

"It can't be," Percy said. "That guy's name is Leo. And it's been seventy-something years. It has to be a..."

They were interrupted by horns blowing in the distance. The senators came marching into the forum with Reyna at the lead.

"It's meeting time," Percy said. "Come on. We've got to warn them about the warship."

"Why should we trust these Greeks?" Octavian was saying.

He'd been pacing around the senate floor for five minutes, going on and on, trying to counter what Percy had told them, something about Juno's plan and the Prophecy of the Ten.

The senate shifted restlessly, but most of them were too afraid to interrupt Octavian while he was on a roll. Meanwhile, the sun climbed in the sky, shining through the broken senate roof and giving Octavian a natural spotlight.

The Senate House was packed. Queen Hylla, Xander, Frank, and Hazel sat in the front row with the senators alongside Landon. Veterans and ghosts filled the back rows. Even Tyson and Ella had been allowed to sit in the back.

Percy and Reyna occupied the matching praetors' chairs on the dais.

"The camp is safe," The augur continued. "I'll be the first to congratulate our heroes for bringing back the legion's eagle and so much Imperial gold! Truly, we have been blessed with good fortune. But why do more? Why tempt fate?"

"I'm glad you asked." Percy stood.

Octavian stammered, "I wasn't—"

"—part of the quest," The son of Poseidon said. "Yes, I know. And you're wise to let me explain since I was."

Landon stifled a laugh. Octavian had no choice but to sit down.

"Gaea is waking," The Jackson boy said. "We've defeated two of her giants, but that's only the beginning. The real war will take place in that old land of the gods. The quest will take us to Rome, and eventually to Greece."

An uneasy ripple spread through the Senate.

"I know, I know," Percy said. "You've always thought of the Greeks as your enemies. And there's a good reason for that. I think the gods have kept our two camps apart because whenever we meet, we fight. But that can change. Landon is living proof that we can get along."

Landon shifted in his seat as everyone's eyes landed on him. Percy continued,  "That's what the Prophecy of Ten means. Ten demigods. Greek and Roman, will have to close the Doors of Death together."

"Ha!" Shouted a Lar from the back row. "The last time a praetor tried to interpret the Prophecy of Ten, it was Michael Varus, who lost our eagle in Alaska! Why should we believe you now?"

Octavian smiled smugly. Some of his minions in the Senate began nodding and grumbling. Even some veterans looked uncertain. Landon extended his leg, kicking Octavian in the shin.

The legacy of Apollo looked around for the culprit but was left confused.

"I carried Juno across the Tiber," Percy spoke firmly. "She told me that the Prophecy of Ten coming to pass. Mars also appeared to you in person. Do you think two of your most important gods would appear at camp if the situation wasn't serious?"

"He's right," Gwen said from the second row. "I, for one, trust Percy's words. Greek or not, he restored the honor of the legion. You saw him on the battlefield last night. Would anyone here say he is not a true hero of Rome?"

Nobody disagreed.

Reyna stood. "You claim this is a combined quest," she said. "You claim Juno intends for us to work with this—this other group, Camp Half-Blood. Yet the Greeks have been our enemies for eons. They are known for deceptions."

"Maybe so," Percy said. "But enemies can become friends. A week ago, would you have thought Romans and Amazons would be fighting side by side?"

Hylla laughed. "He's got a point."

"The demigods of Camp Half-Blood have already been working with Camp Jupiter," Percy said. "We just didn't realize it. During last summer, when you were attacking Mount Othrys, we were defending Mount Olympus in Manhattan. I fought Kronos myself, Landon was there too, ask him."

Everybody turned to Landon. "He's telling the truth. Kronos was there, well, he was possessing one of my brothers. But Percy fought him."

Reyna backed up, almost tripping over her toga. "You...what?"

"I know it's hard to believe," Percy said. "But I think we've earned your trust. We're on your side. Hazel and Frank—I'm sure they're meant to go on this quest with us. The other six are on their way from Camp Half-Blood right now. One of them is Jason Grace, your old praetor."

"Oh, come on!" Octavian shouted. "He's making things up, now."

"Quiet down, rodent," Xander told the augur coldly.

Reyna frowned at Octavian. "It is a lot to believe. Jason is coming back with a bunch of Greek demigods? You say they're going to appear in the sky in a heavily armed warship, but we shouldn't be worried."

"Yes," Percy said. "Just let them land. Jason will back up everything. I'm telling you. I swear it on my life."

"On your life?" Octavian raised a brow. "We will remember that if this turns out to be a trick."

Right on cue, a messenger rushed into the Senate House, gasping as if he'd run all the way from camp. "Praetors! I'm sorry to interrupt, but our scouts report—"

"Ship!" Tyson said happily, pointing at the hole in the ceiling. "Yay!"

A Greek warship appeared out of the clouds, about half a mile away, descending toward the Senate House. As it got closer, Landon could see bronze shields glinting along the sides, billowing sails, and a familiar-looking figurehead shaped like a metal dragon. On the tallest mast, a big white flag of truce snapped in the wind.

The Argo II. It was awesome.

"Praetors!" The messenger cried. "What are your orders?"

Octavian shot to his feet. "You need to ask?" His face was red with rage as he strangled a teddy bear. "The omens are horrible! This is a trick, a deception. Beware Greeks bearing gifts!"

He jabbed a finger at Landon and Percy. "Their friends are attacking in a warship. They have led them here. We must attack!"

"You all raised me as praetor for a reason." Percy said. "I will fight to defend this camp with my life. But these aren't enemies. I say we stand ready but do not attack. Let them land. Let them speak. If it is a trick, I will fight with you, as I did last night. But it is not a trick."

All eyes turned toward Reyna.

She studied the approaching warship. Her expression hardened. "Hold your fire," she spoke up. "But have the legion stand ready. Percy Jackson is your duly chosen praetor. We will trust his word—unless we are given clear reasons not to. Senators, let us adjourn to the forum and meet our...new friends."

The senators stampeded out of the auditorium—whether from excitement or panic, he wasn't sure. Tyson ran after them, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" Ella fluttering around him.

Octavian gave Percy a disgusted look and turned to Landon, getting in his face. "If this is a trick," the augur said. "I will come for your head first."

"Go fuck yourself, Octavian," Landon said, he kept his voice steady and dangerously calm.

The legacy of Apollo snarled and threw his teddy bear down like a child, following the crowd.

Landon turned toward the others as Reyna marched outside, leaving the four of them together.

"They're coming right down in the forum," Frank said nervously. "Terminus is going to have a heart attack."

"Well, it's a good thing he doesn't have a heart then," Landon crossed his arms.

"Percy," Hazel said, "you swore on your life. Romans take that seriously. If anything goes wrong, even by accident, Octavian is going to kill you and Landon. You know that, right?"

Percy smiled. He threw one arm around Hazel, and one arm around Frank. "Come on," he said. "Let me introduce you to our other family."

------✧------

A/N: We're done with the son of Neptune! It was low-key fun to write.

I'm still a little iffy over the reunion kiss and judo flip. But I think I have a clear vision of what I want for the characters.

Love you guys, mwah!