The Argo II was abuzz with energy.

Annabeth Chase, who Rosie still caught herself finding slightly terrifying, was pacing the deck. Every so often, she would place a strand of hair behind her ear, only to change her mind and undo it. Rosie figured she was probably regretting that second cup of coffee right about now.

Piper was nervous- she could tell by how she was biting her fingernails and tugging on her braids. Rosie could hear her practicing her lines from where she was standing- she had driven them insane with how much she had recited them. At this point, Rosie was sure she could probably recite them from heart.

Rosie had been making fun of Jason all morning. Annabeth decided it would be a good idea for him to don a purple cloak and Roman toga- What Leo called the dress code of "we come in peace". All it had made Rosie did was ask Jason if he came from a Galaxy far, far away.

Out of everyone on the Argo II, Leo seemed to be the only one besides Rosie who wasn't nervous. He still had his same chaotic and frenetic energy about him- he was running around shouting off orders and readjusting sails. She was pretty sure he was just excited to show off the Argo II. Currently, he was spastic-ly shaking his Wii controllers to steer the Argo II.

Everyone had a job. Rosie's? Stay out of the way.

Annabeth had pulled her aside once they started sailing.

"When we get there," she said, carefully crafting her words. "Maybe you can just stay in the back? Let us do the talking?"

Rosie sighed. "Is this because I wanted to hang from Festus and sing 'We Are Family'?"

"No, Rosie-"

"Because let me just remind you, Leo wanted to write 'Wassup' onto the side of the ship."

"It's just.." she sighed. "There are no children of Neptune. Romans aren't really a fan of the water. I'm sure they're used to Percy by now..but...let's just not overwhelm them, okay?"

Rosie sighed. "So what, you want me to go watch TV with Coach?" Coach Hedge, who had a tendency to be a little gung-ho with attacks, was sent to spend the morning in his cabin watching TV.

"No...maybe just...don't be in their faces?"

As much as she wanted to argue more, she wasn't going to- Annabeth still scared the crap out of her.

"Got it, chief." Rosie saluted. "You won't hear a peep from me."

Annabeth frowned. "Just...maybe stay under the radar, okay?"

"Lucky for you, I'm like the champion at staying under the radar. I'm so far under the radar it's like I'm playing limbo with it."

Annabeth blinked, slightly confused. "Uh. Right. You do that. Thanks."

So that's what she was doing-Nothing.

Leo was going crazy with the Wii controllers, suddenly peering up and groaning. "Aw, man, the mast cracked again!" He turned around and looked at Rosie. "You wanna patch that up with duct tape for me?"

"Oooh, sorry, can't do," she said in a mock apologetic tone.

"Really?" Leo whined. "Come on, Freckles."

She held her hands up in mock defeat. "I'm supposed to be scarce. Annabeth's orders."

That was how Leo ended up throwing a roll of duct tape at her.

So, obviously, she went to annoy Piper next.

"Please put down your weapons," she recited to Rosie. "We just want to talk."

Rosie placed a hand on a chin, deep in thought. "May be your best performance yet."

Piper visibly relaxed. "Really?"

"Yes. Now, please I beg of you, enough practicing."

Piper nodded. "Yeah, I probably-"

Something crashed into the boat, causing Piper to smack into Rosie, the two of stumbling onto the deck floor.

"No, No, NO-" a voice was saying. "Unacceptable!"

Rosie stood up from the ground. "Ooh, someone thinks we're unacceptable, let's go!"

"Is that a statue?" Piper asked in shock as they reached the front of the ship.

It was a statue- glaring at them stonily, no arms or lower body. It was literally just a bust, glaring at them.

"Yes, missy, I AM a statue but you know what, I am NOT? A rule breaker! And a Greek? No THANK YOU!" The statue was being way too threatening for someone without arms. "Do you know what rules you're breaking?"

Piper paused. "Ahhh..." she glanced at Jason. "A little help here, please."

"Terminus!" Jason said in a friendly tone.

"I remember you, Jason Grace," Terminus scowled. "Have you no standards anymore? Shame to see you hanging out with Greeks."

Jason was wearing a toga, for God's sake- what more did these people want?

"Terminus, come on-"

"Terminus," Piper said soothingly, holding her dagger in her hand. "We just want to talk. It'd be great if we could-"

"Charmspeak doesn't work on me, young lady," he sneered. "Put down the dagger before I slap it out of your hands!"

"Um." Piper gave him a confused look. "Not to be that person, but you don't have arms."

"Unacceptable!" A loud pop made Piper yelp and drop her dagger, which appeared to be smoking. "You cannot expect to show up here and just come in! You Greeks! It's bad enough you brought that Neptune menace!"

Rosie grinned, nudging Jason. "Hey, that's me, I'm the menace!"

"You know what happened to the last Neptunian we let in!"

Rosie blinked at the statue. "Wait, what?"

"If I was at full strength, I'd ought to blow this flying monstrosity out of the sky!"

Leo held up his Wii controllers threateningly. "I know you did not just call my ship a flying monstrosity."

"What happened to the last Neptunian they let in?" Rosie asked, her voice becoming high-pitched.

Annabeth quickly stepped in front of Leo. "Alright, guys. Everyone just take a deep breath. Terminus, is it? God of boundaries?" She shot him a relaxed smile, holding up her weapon-less hands. "We just want to talk. That's all. My name is Annabeth Chase, child of-"

Terminus glared at her. "I know who you are. You're a child of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. I know the place for people like you."

Annabeth looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, what's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with-"

"Anyways!" Jason quickly cut in. "Terminus, buddy, we're not going to hurt anymore." After a quick nudge from Leo, he sighed and threw up a peace sign. "We come in peace. If we can just land-"

"Nope!" The statue barked. "No weapons inside the Pomerian line!"

"Pomerian?" Rosie asked in confusion. "Like the dog?"

Piper shook her head. "No," she said. "That's pomeranian."

"No," Leo said, scratching his head in thought. "I'm pretty sure that's pom-pom."

"Pom-pom?" Rosie exclaimed incredulously. "That's what cheerleaders-"

"Pomerian," Jason cut in quickly over the three of them. "City limits."

Leo peered at Terminus with a look Rosie knew all too well. "You seem pretty tightly wound, my dude." He whipped out a screwdriver, tapping the base of the statue. "You want me to take a little peek inside?"

BOOM. Another explosion made both Leo and Rosie jump back.

"I said no weapons! This entire ship is a weapon! No admittance!"

Annabeth's face suddenly went unreadable. "Leo, stop the ship."

Leo did a double take. "Qué?"

"You heard me."

Leo shrugged, pulling the Wii controllers up, the ship jolting to a standstill.

"Terminus," Annabeth continued. "Is there a rule about hovering over New Rome?"

Rosie smiled to herself, dubbing Annabeth the queen of loopholes. The girl had a brain.

Terminus frowned. "I suppose not..."

"Perfect! We'll leave our weapons aboard and use a rope ladder to get down. I expect the campers to also respect the no weapons rule?"

"Of course!" Terminus snapped.

"Annabeth, you sure about this?" Leo asked, eyeing his ship defensively. The Argo II was Leo's baby.

Annabeth waved him off. "It'll be fine," she shrugged. "Come on." She extended a rope ladder towards the Roman forum.

"Please don't destroy anything!" Terminus pleaded.

Rosie turned to Leo with a grin as Annabeth began climbing down, Jason and Piper lingering behind her.

"New Rome isn't ready for us," she grinned, holding her hand up for a high five.

He grinned and eagerly returned it. "Let's go meet some toga-cladded humans!" He leaned in closer to her. "Also, what are the chances Jason is going to trip on his?"

"Oh, one hundred percent," she said, laughing and beginning to climb down after Piper.

The Romans looked at them with fascination. She felt like a science project on display, like students were crowding around a microscope to look at her, like Ooh, look at the Greeks out of their natural habitat!

Her eyes laser focused on the person she had thought about for months-she instantly knew it was him from the pictures Annabeth showed. From the dreams she had.

Percy Jackson. Her brother.

He was standing there, wearing a purple toga. He was taller than her; his eyes were a bit more greenish-blue, compared to her pale blue eyes. He had darker hair too; his verged on the point of being black. Even with small differences, she knew they looked like siblings.

She could tell by his expression that he only had eyes for Annabeth.

"I see the family resemblance," Leo whispered to her.

She smirked at him, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach. "Shut up."

"What do you guys do in your free time? Speak seahorse?"

"I'd tell you," she said, lowering her tone dramatically, "but then the seahorses would have to kill you."

They both laughed, as someone standing besides Percy caught her eye. It was a girl, maybe a little younger than them, frowning at Rosie and Leo. She had dark skin and curly brown hair, and she clutched her Calvary helmet tightly. Rosie didn't like the way she was frowning at them...what was this girl's problem? Did the Romans not know how to laugh?

She found herself shutting up, putting her guard up, and standing closer to her friends. Leo seemed to notice the girl too, for he frowned and crossed his arms.

Standing on the other side of Percy was another kid, a boy about their age. He was Asian, and pretty huge. He reminded Rosie of an oversized baby. He had a black buzz cut, and was looking at them with an intense, scrutinizing gaze.

The crowd of Romans parted, and a girl in Roman armor and a dark purple cloak strode forward, decorated in metals. She was confident, head held high as she walked forward, black hair cascading in waves towards her shoulders.

Reyna- this has to be her. She was the- what had Jason called it? The praetor? She exuded power and courage, and maybe a little fear? Still, Rosie had no doubt that this girl could probably beat her up.

Rosie glanced sideways at Jason, who was standing next to Piper. This had to be weird for him, coming back home- except he didn't think of this place as home. At least, Rosie didn't think he did.

Reyna straightened up, stepping towards them.

"Jason Grace, my former...colleague. I welcome you home."

This wasn't Jason's home, she thought stubbornly.

Was Jason standing taller? He looked so...soldier-like.

"Thank you, Reyna," he said graciously, bowing his head. "I appreciate-"

Annabeth suddenly ran forward, nervously Roman campers reaching for weapons that weren't there. Percy rushed forward, throwing his arms around her. The two of them passionately kissed- Rosie had to admit, that was pretty cute. She silently admonished herself for being so suspicious of Percy- if he was good enough for someone like Annabeth, shouldn't that be enough?

Percy broke from Annabeth. "Gods, I never thought-"

Annabeth grabbed his wrist, flipping Percy over her shoulder and slamming him into the stone floor. Rosie let out a slightly inappropriate sputter of laughter as Romans ran forward, yelling.

"Hold!" Reyna cried. "Stand down!

Annabeth put her knee on Percy's chest. "Do that again, and I swear-"

Percy managed to let out a laugh. "Duly noted," he said. "I missed you too."

This seemed to satisfy Annabeth, for she helped him up.

Jason cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, yeah. Good to be back." He pulled Piper forward. "This is Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphro-er, I mean, Venus."

"Yeah, hi," Piper grumbled, probably annoyed she didn't get a chance to say her lines.

Jason pointed to Leo, who grinned and flashed a peace sign. "Leo Valdez, Son of Vulcan. And Rosie's over there, Daughter of Neptune-"

Percy's eyes widened, as he glanced at her, a look of pure shock on his face. Rosie felt like shriveling up at his gaze.

"Neptune?" The kid with the buzz cut asked, frowning. He glanced at the girl who was staring at Rosie and Leo. "I thought Percy-"

"Not right now, Frank," Reyna admonished gently.

She could've sworn the Roman campers shifted uncomfortably, staring at her with uneasy eyes. The girl with the Cavalry helmet was still frowning at her and Leo.

"This is Annabeth," Jason said quickly. "Uh, normally she doesn't usually judo-flip people."

Reyna smirked. "You are positive you're not a Roman, Annabeth? Or an Amazon?"

Rosie still felt unsettled- she could feel Percy's eyes on her.

Annabeth held out her hand to Reyna. "Don't worry, I save that kind of attack for my boyfriend," she said. "Pleasure to meet you."

Reyna shook her hand firmly. "It appears we have a lot to discuss. Centurions!"

Some of the Roman campers hustled forward, including the two that were standing by Percy. Reyna began listing off orders to them.

"Dakota," she was saying in an authoritative tone. "Alert the spirits in the kitchen."

"Sweet," Leo cried under his breath. "There's going to be food!"

A tall guy with stringy blond hair pushed his way through the crowd, looking annoyed. Were those teddy bears hanging from his belt? "Reyna, you can't possible let these intruders into the camp. The security risks-"

They were really giving off a great first impression.

"We won't be taking them to camp, Octavian," Reyna replied coolly. "We'll be eating in the forum."

"Oh, really? That's much better," Octavian grumbled. "You want us to relax in the shadow of that...that...monstrosity!"

"If one more person calls my ship a monstrosity," Leo grumbled under his breath. "I will implode."

"Octavian," Reyna started slowly. "May I remind you that these are our guests. We are going to welcome them and talk to them. As augur, you should burn an offering to thank the gods for bringing Jason back to us safely."

"Good idea," Percy piped in. "Go burn your bears, Octavian."

Octavian loudly huffed away, shooting all of them looks as he did.

"Excellent," Reyna said, turning to Jason, smiling at him. "Let's talk. We need a proper reunion."

A/N: And we're off! If you read this and are very confused as to who Rosie is, I recommend reading the first part of this story, Faltering Foundations.

Hope you guys liked the first chapter! I wanted to post this now, just so you guys could get a feel of the story. I won't be able to update as often as did with FF, but you can still expect regular updates.