CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
OF MONSTERS AND MEN

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

IN THE EYES OF Annais Min, Leo was a man (child) with many faces. Beneath the smooth, familiar expression of sarcastic defence used to protect the wounded heart buried deep, there was another waiting to tear the world in two. To release the anger building within. Annais watched with interest as he summoned fire with ease, holding his hand against a stone door and grinning when locks started to click below the surface. Around him, his brothers and sisters cried out in horror, but Leo's ecstatic expression refused to waver. This was the version of Leo he wanted them to see. Confident, determined.

"Leo," Nyssa exclaimed, stepping away like he'd turned his red fists onto her. "You're a fire user!"

"Thanks, I know."

Jake Mason stuttered out a panicked sob. "Holy Hephaestus. That means... but it's so rare..."

The stone door swung open, revealing a war-style bunker filled to the brim with machinery. For a moment, the group stood in stunned silence — that is, until Leo spread his arms in an introductory gesture.

"Welcome to Bunker Nine," said the fire boy. "C'mon in."

Everyone hesitated, even Annais. How had Leo found this? What else was he hiding underneath what Annais Min already knew of him? Eventually, she shoved her way to the front and joined him inside, prompting Jason and the others to follow, then his wide-eyed siblings.

The first thing Annais noticed was Festus' head. It sat on the centre table, scorched at the edges from his final crash while Annais and Ezra were away, but otherwise he was relatively okay. Leo paused in front of him, a bitter breath permeating the air.

"I'm sorry, Festus," he murmured, quiet enough that only Annais and their friends heard him. "But I won't forget you."

Tentatively, Jason reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Hephaestus brought it here for you?" Leo gave an answering nod, sniffling with his head bowed, making Melanie reach for him too. "But you can't repair him."

"No," Leo confirmed, pained. "But the head is going to be reused. Festus is going to be with us."

Annais wasn't sure how that was possible, and from the looks of it, neither were the others. "What do you mean?" Piper asked, brows pinching into a frown.

"Well—"

A sharp cry cut through the air like a knife. On the other side of the room, Nyssa stood with a sketchbook clutched in her hands, flipping through the pages with evident anxiety. "Guys, you have to see this," she insisted, prompting her siblings to rush over with the others not far behind them. Through the crowd, Annais caught a glimpse of diagrams that only the Hephaestus children seemed to understand. "I've never seen anything like these. There are more amazing ideas here than in Daedalus' workshop. It would take a century just to prototype them..."

The words hung in the air for a moment, heavy like stone. Annais found herself catching Jason's eye before turning away and landing on Chiron. He lingered by the door, tail swishing nervously.

"Who built this place?" she heard Jake question, making Chiron's shoulders bunch with tension. "And why?"

In the end, it wasn't the centaur that answered, but Leo.

"It's a wartime command centre," he told them, pointing up to the map that was spread out across the wall with several pins placed in particular spots marked for traps, trenches and ambush sites. It made sense, but left Annais feeling wary. "The camp was attacked once, wasn't it?"

"In the Titan War?"

Nyssa shook her head, hands moving with faint tremors as she slowly closed the book of diagrams. "No. Besides, that map looks really old." She narrowed her eyes, fingers ghosting over the wilted paper. "Look... the date — does that say 1864?"

"What?" Annais frowned, edging forward for a closer look. Much to her surprise, Nyssa was right. "Oh."

Well, that certainly changed things.

Wordlessly, everyone turned to Chiron, demanding answers in their stares. The centaur's sigh was subdued. "This camp has been attacked many times. That map is from the last Civil War..."

"I'm sorry, when?" Ezra exclaimed. Chiron tensed just at the sound of her voice, but Ezra pushed forward. "You mean the American Civil War? Are you serious?"

"Yes and no," Chiron said. "The two conflicts — mortal and demigod — mirrored each other, as they usually do in Western History. Look at any Civil War or revolution from the fall of Rome onward, and it marks a time when demigods also fought one another. But that Civil War was particularly horrible. For American mortals, it is still their bloodiest conflict of all time, worse than their casualties in the two World Wars. For demigods, it was equally devastating. Even back then, this valley was Camp Half-Blood. There was a horrible battle in these woods lasting for days, with terrible losses on both sides."

"Both sides," Leo repeated, sharing a sharp stare with Jason. "You mean the camp split apart?"

"No," Jason shook his head. A sudden brush of warmth on Annais' hand had her looking down. Jason's fingers waited. At first, Annais turned away, but soon she reached back when no one was watching to intertwine them together. Skin against skin, blood against bone.

"There's two camps, isn't there?" she said, though her question was more of a statement. "We were on one side..."

"And the other?" Leo trailed off.

Once again, Chiron was forced into the spotlight. "The answer is dangerous," he warned. "It is something I swore upon the River Styx never to speak of."

Sometimes, rules were made to be broken.

"After the American Civil War, the Gods were so horrified by the toll it took on their children that they swore it would never happen again. The two groups were separated. The Gods bent all their will, wove the Mist as tightly as they could to make sure the enemies never remembered each other, never met on their quests, so that bloodshed could be avoided. This map is from the final dark days of 1864, the last time the two groups fought. We've had several close calls since then. The 1960s were particularly dicey. But we've managed to avoid another Civil War... at least so far."

Annais found that hard to believe, that the Gods had their best interests at heart for once. The Gods had always looked down on mortals, even the ones they claimed to love before abandoning once siring children with them. No, Annais knew that wasn't why the Greeks and the Romans had been kept apart for so long.

"Just as Leo guessed, this bunker was a command centre for the Hephaestus cabin. In the last century, it has been reopened a few times, usually as a hiding place in times of great unrest. But coming here is dangerous. It stirs old memories, awakens the old feuds. Even when the Titans threatened last year, I did not think it was worth the risk to use this place."

He spared a glower at their surroundings, just one glance that shifted the air within the locked-down room. Annais swallowed thickly, feeling incredibly small with Jason's shoulder pushed against hers and a table of machine parts squashed on her other side. The echoes of death whined in each object, like walking through a graveyard and skipping over headstones. She wondered, in the months to come, how many black shadows would appear around the people in this room. How many demigods would she have to lose?

"Look, this place found me," Leo defended against Chiron's appraisal. "It was meant to happen. It's a good thing."

"I hope you're right..."

"I am!" He withdrew an old sketch from his pocket that Annais didn't recognise. He must've gotten it from Aeolus — the one thing he lost that was meant to find its way back to him. Annais wondered what Aeolus would've offered her had things been different. "Look. Aeolus returned this to me. I drew it when I was five. That's my destiny."

Nyssa scoffed. "Leo, it's a crayon drawing of a boat."

But it wasn't. Upon closer look, the picture seemed to open up, spilling secrets along the lazily drawn shores of an endless ocean. With an insistent gesture from Leo, Annais' eyes flitted up to a picture spread across the nearest wall. It was a blueprint, one of a boat five-year-old Leo would have only dreamed about. Annais felt like the air had been punched from her lungs. It shouldn't be possible, but there it was.

"No," Nyssa shook her head, though she couldn't deny what was staring back at them. "That blueprint has to be a century old at least."

Jake said, "It's a diagram for a flying ship. Look, that's the landing gear. And weaponry... Holy Hephaestus! A rotating ballista, mounted crossbows, Celestial bronze plating. That thing would be one spankin' hot war machine. Was it ever made?"

"Not yet," Leo said. "But look at the masthead."

Annais' breath hitched. At the very front of the ship was Festus, his bronze head suspended over the rolling blue waves. "Oh, my God," she whispered, a noise of disbelief that soon echoed through the rest of the group.

"He's meant to be our masthead," Leo insisted. "Our good luck charm, our eyes at sea. I'm supposed to build this ship." When no one openly disagreed, he declared, "I'm gonna call it the Argo II. But guys, I'll need your help."

Piper beamed. "The Argo II. After Jason's ship."

At the mention of the familiar name, Annais turned to look at her Jason. His grip on her had tightened but even when everyone turned to him, some staring at the determined set of his brows, others at the way Annais drew his hand against her side, he refused to waver.

"Leo's right," he said, earning a bashful grin from the boy in question. "That ship is just what we need for our journey."

"What journey?" Nyssa frowned. "You just got back."

For a moment, no one spoke, not even Ezra with her loud mouth. Eventually, it came down to Piper to break the news. "We've got to confront Porphyrion, the giant king. He said he would destroy the Gods at their roots."

"Indeed," Chiron confirmed. "Much of Rachel's Great Prophecy is still a mystery to me. But one thing is clear. You three — Jason, Piper, and Leo — are among the seven demigods who must take on that quest. You must confront the giants in their homeland, where they are strongest. You must stop them before they can wake Gaea fully, before they destroy Mount Olympus. And the Mins will guide you through it, no matter what is waiting for them at the end."

No matter what...?

With a skeptical breath, Nyssa asked, "You don't mean Manhattan, do you?"

"No," said Leo. "He means the original Mount Olympus. We have to sail to Greece."

Somehow, the news didn't surprise Annais. Subconsciously, Jason's eyes had turned to her in concern but she only nodded, squeezing his hand once in a soft gesture before raising her jaw in stubborn determination. All around her, the Hephaestus cabin were shooting questions at the group — some at Jason, some at the Mins — but neither Annais, Ezra or Melanie spilled a word. This was theirs and theirs alone.

"Heroes!" Chiron clapped his hands. "All the details are not clear yet, but Leo is correct. He will need your help to build the Argo II. It is perhaps the greatest project Cabin Nine has even undertaken, even greater than the bronze dragon."

Although she clearly wanted to say more, Nyssa settled with murmuring, "It'll take a year at least. Do we have that much time?"

Chiron shook his head, because why should things be that easy?

"You have six months at most. They should sail by summer solstice when the Gods' power is strongest. Besides, we evidently cannot trust the wind Gods, and the Summer winds are the least powerful and easiest to navigate. You dare not sail any later, or you may be too late to stop the giants. You must avoid ground travel, using only air and sea, so this vehicle is perfect. Jason being the son of the sky God..."

Chiron trailed off into silence again, allowing Jake Mason to turn back to Leo. "Well, one thing's for sure. You are now senior counsellor. This is the biggest honour the cabin has ever had. Anyone object?" Much to Leo's surprise, no one did. When everyone just smiled, his eyes brightened, a sense of hopefulness forming in the look. "It's official then. You're the man."

With that, Leo took centre stage, falling into what he knew best. "Well," he said. "If you guys elect me leader, you must be even crazier than I am. So let's build a spankin' hot war machine!"

Annais laughed and shook her head. She wouldn't tell him, but she was proud.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

ANNAIS MIN MOVED AROUND the council room like an extension of the furniture. That was the first thing Jason noticed as he took a seat at the ping-pong table that took centre stage. She knew just where every creaking floorboard lay, what chair was the most comfortable to sit in. At the door, she took his hand without a second thought and guided him over to her usual spot, the two curling up as they waited for the others to settle down. It was foreign, like she was opening a piece of her life for the taking, the rawest bits on full display. Jason wasn't oblivious to that, and he cradled the gesture with softened eyes and gentle hands.

At long last, the room went quiet, allowing Chiron to take his place at the end of the table.

"Let's come to order," he demanded. "Lou Ellen, please give Miranda her nose back. Travis, if you'd kindly extinguish the flaming Ping-Pong ball, and Butch, I think twenty pencils is really too many for any human nostril. Thank you." Annais watched with amusement as he struggled to draw them into line. It was really only when Chiron gestured to Jason and the other waiting demigods that silence ensued. "Now, as you can see, Jason, Piper, and Leo have returned successfully — more or less — with the help of Ezra, Annais and Melanie. Some of you have heard parts of their story, but I will let them fill you in."

Subconsciously, everyone looked first at Jason, even Annais. The blonde boy instinctively buckled under the pressure, glancing at Annais before staring daggers at the side of Ezra's head, like he hoped the will of his stare would prompt her to speak. When she just huffed with impatience, he nodded to himself and unravelled the story piece-by-piece. Annais didn't feel the need to speak, allowing Ezra to fill in the bits of their journey away from the others. It only took a few minutes, but every second felt like a year.

At the end, Annais felt utterly exhausted. No one knew what to say at first, just blinking at them in disbelief. It was only when Jason mentioned Hera that something dark spurred in the group.

"So Hera was here," Annabeth repeated, wondering if she'd heard him right. "Talking to you..."

Jason nodded. He'd mentioned the Goddess' surprise visit to camp the moment Annais woke up and found him pacing the expanse of the Infirmary nervously. But unlike Annais, the others weren't taking it well.

"Look," he sighed. "I'm not saying I trust her—"

"That's smart," Annabeth sneered, though for once she was silenced by the harsh glower Annais sent in her direction.

"But, she isn't making this up about another group of demigods. That's where I come from."

Before Annabeth could reply, Clarisse sat forward with a disbelieving laugh.

"Romans," she spat the word like an insult. "You expect us to believe there's another camp with demigods, but they follow the Roman forms of the Gods? And we've never even heard of them?"

"You think we're making it up, Clarisse?" Ezra challenged.

When Clarisse's face heated to a dangerous shade of red, Piper cut in with a sigh. "The Gods have kept the two groups apart. Because every time they see each other, they try to kill each other."

"I can respect that," Clarisse conceded. "Still, why haven't we ever run across each other on quests?"

"Oh, yes," Chiron nodded like he was talking about something as simple as the weather. "You have, many times. It's always a tragedy, and always the Gods do their best to wipe clean the memories of those involved. The rivalry goes all the way back to the Trojan War, Clarisse. The Greeks invaded Troy and burned it to the ground. The Trojan hero, Aeneas, escaped, and eventually made his way to Italy, where he founded the race that would someday become Rome. The Romans grew more and more powerful, worshipping the same Gods but under different names, and with slightly different personalities."

At the sounds of confusion the group made, Jason decided to elaborate, "More warlike. More united. More about expansion, conquest, and discipline."

The silence that followed was nothing short of uncomfortable. Annais' stomach twisted as she leaned forward in her chair, eyeing the way that Annabeth twirled her knife across the table-top. She wanted to know what the blonde girl was thinking, to take a peek into her brain, even for just a second. "So the Romans hated the Greeks. They took revenge when they conquered the Greek Isles, and made them part of the Roman Empire."

"Not exactly hated them," Jason frowned at her choice of words. "The Romans admired Greek culture and were a little jealous. In return, the Greeks thought the Romans were barbarians but they respected their military power. So during Roman times, demigods started to divide. Either Greek or Roman."

"And it's been that way ever since," Annabeth assumed, to which Jason just shrugged, not quite certain. "But this is crazy! Chiron, where were the Romans during the Titan War? Didn't they want to help?"

Chiron sighed at the accusing tone; though Annais had to give him credit, he was patient with her. "They did help, Annabeth. While you and Percy were leading the battle to save Manhattan, who do you think conquered Mount Othrys, the Titans' base in California?"

"Whoa, hold on," Travis cut in, the first thing he said the whole meeting. Annais was surprised he'd managed to stay quiet for so long. He was never so serious. "You said Mount Othrys just crumbled when we beat Kronos..."

"No," Jason denied before Chiron could defend himself. He looked haunted, lost in a memory from not too long ago despite it feeling like a lifetime. Annais knew what that looked like. "It didn't just fall. We destroyed their palace. I defeated the Titan Krios myself."

"The Bay Area..." Annabeth whispered with realisation. "We demigods were always told to stay away from it because Mount Othrys was there. But that wasn't the only reason, was it? The Roman Camp... it's got to be somewhere near San Francisco! I bet it was put there to keep watch on the Titans' territory. Where is it?"

At that, Chiron clammed up. "I cannot say," he insisted despite the onslaught of protests. "Honestly, even I have never been trusted with that information. My counterpart, Lupa, is not exactly the sharing type. Jason's memory, too, has been burned away."

"The camp's heavily veiled with magic," Jason explained. "And heavily guarded. We could search for years and never find it."

Frustrated murmurs broke out, though Annais simply traced patterns in the calloused lines of Jason's palms and contemplated. Ezra shifted in her chair at the underlying chaos, but even she remained tight-lipped and lost in thought. To Annais' left, someone cleared their throat.

"But you'll try, won't you?" Rachel asked. "You'll build Leo's boat, the Argo II, and before you make it to Greece, you're going to sail for the Roman camp. You'll need their help to confront the giants."

"Now that's a bad plan," Clarisse warned. But it was no use. They had no other options. "If those Romans see a warship coming, they're going to assume we're attacking."

"You're probably right," Jason agreed with a grudging sigh. "But we have to try. I was sent here to learn about Camp Half-Blood, to try to convince you the two camps don't have to be enemies. A peace offering."

Annais wasn't sure whether or not she believed him. Would it be that easy to let old feuds die? To unite sworn enemies around one — no, two — boys among the masses? Would she feel comfortable standing arm-in-arm with people who would stick a knife in her back the moment she turned?

Rachel hummed in thought. "Because Hera is convinced we need both camps to win the war with the giants. Seven heroes of Olympus; some Greek, some Roman. Children who know Death like the back of their hand..."

Annabeth's eyes brightened. "Your Great Prophecy... what's the last line?"

"And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."

"Gaea has opened the Doors of Death," Annabeth said with a not-so-subtle flicker of a glance in the Min girls' directions. "She's letting out the worst villains of the Underworld to fight us. Medea, Midas... there'll be more, I'm sure. Maybe, the line means that the Roman and Greek demigods will unite and find the doors to close them."

"Or it could mean they fight each other at the Doors of Death," Clarisse deadpanned with a roll of her eyes. "It doesn't say we're going to cooperate."

"Way to be optimistic, Clarisse."

"Just keeping it real with you, Melanie."

Annais sighed and sunk back into her chair, dropping Jason's hands to massage the ache in her temples. The silence stretched on from seconds to minutes, but every empty moment felt like a war drum beating in Annais' brain. She just wanted it to stop, for the paths to stop twisting.

"I'm going," Annabeth declared, to which Annais just frowned. Had that ever been out of the question? "Jason, when you get this ship built, let me go with you."

"I was hoping you'd offer," he admitted. "You, of all people... we'll need you."

"Whoa, wait," Leo cut in, confused. "I mean, that's cool with me, but why Annabeth of all people?"

Annais and Jason shared an almost unnoticeable look. The blonde's hand dropped to her knee, squeezing tight when her fingers failed to lower from her temples. "Hera said my coming here was an exchange of leaders," he repeated the words he'd only said to her just two hours earlier. "A way for the two camps to learn of each other's existence."

"What a way, huh?" Ezra breathed out a frustrated grumble.

At this, Annabeth shifted in her seat, aware of what was about to come.

"An exchange goes two ways," Jason declared. "When I got here, my memory was wiped. I didn't know who I was or where I belonged. Fortunately, you guys took me in and I found a new home. I know you're not my enemy. The Roman Camp... they're not so friendly. You prove your worth quickly or you don't survive. They may not be so nice to him, and if they learn where he comes from, he's going to be in serious trouble."

"Wait— him?" Leo repeated, having not caught on yet. "Who are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Annais sneered, though there was no bite to the sound.

"It's my boyfriend," Annabeth clarified for him.

Percy. 

Annais wouldn't say she'd forgotten that he was missing somewhere, but on the list of problems she had going on in her life, the priorities had shifted. Bad blood had died out between her and Ezra. Jason had gone from a foe to a... friend. Really, until now, Annais hadn't even thought about Percy or what he might've been facing out there. She merely had her suspicions.

But now...

"He disappeared around the same time Jason appeared," Annabeth continued. "And if Jason came to Camp Half-Blood..."

"It's twisted," Ezra snapped in disgust. "But something my mother would definitely do."

"Percy Jackson is at the other camp and he probably doesn't even remember who he is."

Not much else was said after this. One by one, the demigods left the room, until all that remained was Annais and Jason, who gravitated out of the Big House to sit on the porch steps. Annais had sat down with her back to the railing, breathing in the cool air of the late afternoon breeze. Jason's stare lingered on the side of her jaw every now and then, brows pinched in thought, but neither made a move to speak. Eventually, Jason's hand caught hers in a sharp tug, and the two were pulled onto their feet.

"Come on," he insisted, the soft edges of a smile forming to hide away the shadows of doubt. "We have work to do."

"Work?" Annais echoed, voice light behind a hollowed body. "What work?"

Jason's fingers dropped hers. For a second, he smirked down at her, skin warm like molten gold beneath the sun. Annais wanted to reach out and run her hand over him, to trace the lines of his body and commit them to memory. Was that weird? The thought made her insides burn.

"Wanna duel?"

Annais laughed. "You sure you can handle it, Grace? I used to train with Ezra. I won't go easy on you."

Jason nodded, leaning back to tug her towards the Training Pavilion. "I never said I wanted easy, Min."

The air felt charged between them but Annais allowed it to fade away, lost in the sound of Jason's chatter as the two picked out their trusted weapons.

This was easy.

This was what she knew.

For now, Gaea and the Romans could wait until she could no longer hold them at arm's length.