Persephone was never one to turn down free food; yet sitting among the Roman campers in a Roman camp, paired with the ever present feeling of something standing right behind her, was enough to put her off the extensive banquet before her.

Low tables and couches had been carted into the forum, into an organised clutter. Clusters of Romans sat together, talking and laughing, as though it was an everyday occurrence that they had Greek demigod visitors. Auraes floated around, bringing out different pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and freshly baked cookies; a seemingly endless supply. Purple ghosts, which Persephone learned were called Lares, dressed in togas and legionnaire armour floated around the crowd, weaving in and out of people, and satyrs- fauns trotted up to tables in search of food and change. She'd almost laughed, she wondered what Grover would say about the differences between fauns and satyrs.

Before they were seated, Percy had come up to Persephone's side, pulling her away from the line of demigods making their way down to eat. He'd smiled at her, widely, ruffling her hair.

"You miss me much, Little Ghost?" He teased. Persephone shoved him away from her, smoothing out her hair the best she could.

"Didn't even notice you were gone." She retorted. Percy slapped a hand to his chest, in fake hurt. Persephone smiled slightly, stepping forward to wrap her friend in a hug. Percy reciprocated, quickly.

"You been okay?" He asked her, quietly. She nodded into his chest.

"Only died once, so far." She grinned. The son of Poseidon pulled her back, holding her shoulders at arms length.

"You only what?" He exclaimed, eyes wide. So, briefly, she explained the ice goddess with a grudge, promising to fill him in on their quest fully, later.

The last she'd seen of Mrs O'Leary was when the dog had bounded up to the elephant and demanded it to play with her. Terminus was off somewhere along the city limits, scolding the little children playing tag around him.

Reyna called a toast mid-daydream for Persephone, Leo nudging her with his elbow. She shot him a half-hearted glare and turned to Reyna, head on her fist. Surrounded by Roman officers, along with Reyna and Octavia, who'd unfortunately joined them after burning one of his teddy bears- noticeable by the two teddy bears hanging from his belt, instead of the three he'd had not a half hour before, Persephone felt the pressure to stay focused on what the leader was saying- realising too late that she was so focused on paying attention, that she wasn't actually paying attention. 

Soon enough the group of demigods around her started sharing stories; Jason having the pleasure of telling his Roman friends the quest to rescue Hera- which Piper, Leo and Persephone had been so kind to accompany him- from her imprisonment at the Wolf House, in Northern California, just a few months previous.

"Impossible!" Octavian exclaimed. "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 Greeks, starting a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."

Octavian opened his mouth, yet no sound followed. Persephone bit down a smirk. Piper's charmspeak really was a wonderful thing. From saving them from near death- to shutting an arrogant augur down. 

Persephone watched as Reyna glanced back and forth between Jason and Piper, brow creased. A look of realisation flashed across her face, quickly. It was at that moment that Persephone realised that there was a lot more of Jason and Reyna's history than she knew. By the looks of it, Reyna had realised the relationship between the two. 

"So," Jason followed. "That's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaia. She's still asleep , but she's the one freeing 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 waking Gaia and destroying the gods by... what did he call it? 'Pulling up their roots'."

Percy nodded, seriously. "Gaia's been busy over here, too. We had our own encounter with Queen Dirt Face."

Percy delved into his quest; waking up at the Wolf House, no memories but the name 'Annabeth'. Frank and Hazel, the two demigods who's stuck to him protectively since they'd arrived at the Roman camp, had accompanied him on the quest to Alaska, and killed the giant Alcyoneus, freed the god of death, Thanatos, and returned with the lost golden eagle standard of the Roman camp to repel an attack by the giants' army.

Once finished, Jason whistled 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."

Jason gave Percy a fist bump, as Octavian seethed in his seat. Persephone wanted to burst out laughing, but decided against it, not wanting to anger the blonde any further. Even Reyna had a ghost of a smile on her face.

 "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 scoffed. "The praetorship of Rome is 'no biggie'?" 

Percy ignored him and turned to the son of Jupiter. "You're Thalia Grace's brother, huh? You guys look nothing alike." 

"Yeah, I noticed." Jason said. "Anyway, thanks for helping my camp while I was gone. You did an awesome job."

"Back at you." Percy agreed. He winced, and Persephone had the sneaking suspicion Annabeth had something to do with that, as the blonde continued.

"We should talk about the Great Prophecy. 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 word must fall. Death and forge shall test their will. Against the ice, will surely kill-"

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

Silence followed as everyone stared at her; everyone except Leo, who'd constructed a pinwheel out of aluminum foil taco wrappers and was sticking it into passing wind spirits. Persephone tapped the back of his hand as he reached out to repeat his actions. He gave her a 'what?' look, which she returned sarcastically and pointed to the rest of the table, gaining his attention back.

"I'm sure they don't appreciate you sticking things in them, Smokey." She whispered. Leo shrugged and bit back a smile, hearing the scoff of an aurae behind him. 

"Is it true you're a child of Min- I mean, Athena?" Frank asked, staring at Annabeth as though she was an extinct being placed right in front of him, reincarnated.

"Yes," She said, almost defensively. "Why is that such a surprise?"

Octavian scoffed. Persephone was one sarcastic comment away from lunging at him. "If you're truly a child of the wisdom goddess-"

"Enough." Reyna snapped, patience at its end. "Annabeth is what she says. She's here in peace. Besides..." She gave Annabeth a look of grudging respect. "Percy has spoken highly of you."

Percy averted his eyes to the cheeseburger in front of him. And Persephone struggled to decipher the meaning of the tone in Reyna's voice. Annabeth seemed to know exactly what had happened, by the heat glowing from her cheeks. 

"Uh, thanks." She told Reyna. "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."