Sorry this is late! I was stuck inside my house reading like a madman.

The rakish smile never left Percy's face as he walked back to Reyna, Octavian, and the senators.

"Hey guys, this is Annabeth, leader of Camp Half-Blood," he said nonchalantly.

Everyone took one big, collective gulp.

"We saw," Reyna shot him an are you completely out of your mind? look.

"A-and heard," Frank added, his eyebrows somewhere off in the troposphere.

"Aww, c'mon guys, I thought it was cute!" Piper appeared at Annabeth's side, abandoning her Aphrodite flag with Jason.

"And you are?" Reyna asked, her tone neither suspicious nor friendly.

"Piper McLean," she held her hand out for Reyna to shake. "Daughter of Aphrodite."

Ever the master of bad timing, Jason wobbled over, trying to juggle both Zeus and Aphrodite's flags."Uh, babe?" Jason called to Piper as the flags began to wrap around each other like siblings in a squabble. "A little help?"

Piper laughed and gave Reyna a knowing look. "He defeated a Titan but he can't even seem to hold two flags at the same time." She turned behind and held out one hand to him. "Be there in a sec!" she called before turning back to Reyna. "Was he always such a ditz?"

Reyna's lips pressed together into a thin line before she replied. "Just a bit..." A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as Piper dashed back to help Jason with the flags, but it dissipated when Piper took the flags into her possession and Jason kissed her on the forehead.

Reyna raised one hand to quiet the Romans (as if they needed it) and advised Annabeth to do the same as well.

"Tonight we welcome new friends into Camp Jupiter," Reyna began in a loud, booming voice. "But it is more than that. Tonight," she extended one arm "We welcome back a praetor." A cheer erupted from the Romans and was echoed by the Greeks who, frankly, just enjoyed cheering.

"I believe a feast is in order! But first, all senators must meet to discuss a possible treatise with Camp Half-Blood. You are dismissed." Reyna shouted, the Roman crowd cheering even more as they pulled Jason into the mob. He shrugged apologetically at Piper before Dakota managed to lift Jason onto his shoulders along with three other Roman soldiers.

"I'll see you at the feast!" he shouted.

Yeah right, Piper thought.At the size of this crowd, I won't see him for years.

"Let's go, Pipes," Leo came up and tugged on her elbow. "I'm hungry."

Piper snickered. "You're always hungry." But she went with him anyway, trailing behind Annabeth and Percy who were smiling and holding hands, talking animatedly about something or other.

"They look so happy, don't they?" Piper asked as she followed the crowd with Leo.

"Yeah," Leo replied. "But it's such a waste."

Piper looked at him. "Why?"

He grinned in response. "She would have been so much hotter with me!"

Piper almost doubled over laughing. "Don't be such a man whore, Percy would smash your face in. It's probably not worth it."

Leo flicked up his imaginary collar and puffed out his chest. "Ladies love the Leo."

Piper couldn't stop laughing. "Don't kid yourself, dude."

"I object!"

Octavian was the first person to jump out of his seat during the Senate meeting, to no surprise of Percy, Reyna, Annabeth, nor the entire Senate. The meeting was taking place on a more secluded section of the Field of Mars, considering the fact that the Senate House roof caved in during the battle. A podium that a camper managed to track down stood between the two groups.

"This isn't Law & Order, Frenchie," Clarisse said with a roll of her eyes. "You can't just go and object things as if it really matters." She was on one side of Annabeth, Grover to her right in perfect position if someone chose to attack the Greek leader. Piper and Leo flanked Jason, who was standing midway between the Greek and Roman sides, and Percy was at the podium with Reyna, ever commanding in his regal toga and battle armour.

"Silence, Octavian," Reyna snapped at the augur. "Camp Jupiter willbe signing this peace treaty even if I have to do it in my own blood."

"Let's not get too hasty, now..." Percy warned. Reyna was being whipped into a frenzy. The tension of the previous fight, Annabeth's appearance, and Octavian's constant strain on her leadership were making her stressed. "Annabeth has something to say." He sidestepped to allowed his girlfriend onto the podium.

"Now I know that this is hard for both camps to cooperate, but in this time of war we need all the power we can get in order to defeat Gaia's armies. But there is something else as well," Annabeth beckoned to Rachel, who was in the crowd and, more power to her, still dressed in her Oracle of Delphi garb.

"There is a prophecy," Rachel called out as she climbed the grassy knoll to the podium. "The second of the great prophecies," Her face was grim, her lips drawn into a thin line. "And we believe that it will be fulfilled within the month!"

Chatter spread through the Senate and head counselors.

"And who are you to tell us this?" asked a Roman.

Rachel looked to Annabeth for permission before speaking. "Because I am the Oracle of Delphi and I was the one who spoke it."

Another set of chattering.

"I wish our augur looked like that!"

"Yeah, Octavian. Why can't you be a hot girl?"

Rachel blushed, but held her ground. "The prophecy states the following:

'Seven half-bloods shall answer the call.
To storm or fire, the world must fall.
An oath to keep with the final breath,
and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.'"

Rachel stopped talking in her intimidating oracle voice and began to address the crowd again. "Now you see why we must–"

The roar that came from the Senate was deafening. Rachel recoiled and relinquished the podium to Reyna, who immediately began to call for order, despite her own surprise at the prophecy.

"Silence. Silence!" She held her hand out to cut the crowd off and the quieted.

"But that isn't possible!" Octavian cried. "The same prophecy is written in our scrolls. The oracle is false!" A crowd of Romans yelled in agreement.

"The oracle speaks the truth." A voice sounded from the edge of the crowd and stepped towards the forefront, Hera appearing in all of her resplendent glory.

"Lady Hera," the teenagers said in unison, all Romans kneeling in worship, all Greeks drawing their weapons in distaste.

"Hello Hera," Annabeth said curtly with a jerk of her chin, her dagger drawn close to her cheek, ready to rumble should the goddess step any closer.

"Annabeth," Hera smiled without warmth, the welcoming feeling she was trying to convey not quite reaching her eyes. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"If by happy you mean angry, betrayed, and incredibly furious, then yes," She tightened her grip on the hilt of the dagger. "I am rather 'happy'."

Reyna let out a small gasp of indignation and shot Percy her fiercest glare.

"Hey Annabeth," Percy whispered, spurred on by his need to keep the peace and entangling his fingers with her to get her attention. "If you could restrain yourself from maiming and/or killing Hera for a second, that would just be peachy."

"Give me one good reason," she replied, leveling her glare at Hera who simply quirked one of her eyebrows in response.

"Diplomacy," Percy said, and then quickly followed it up with, "…and cows."

"Fine," Annabeth lowered her dagger and shoved in back into her sheath, all other Greeks doing the same with their respective weapons. "What do you want, Hera?"

"What we all want," she said. "Peace." Hera walked towards the gap in between the two groups, as if surveying it for demolition. "Much like my Roman counterpart, Juno, I believe it can only be achieved by uniting the two camps."

"Peace treaties, now sponsored by Hera," muttered Thalia underneath her breath.

"But are you going to help us defeat Gaia?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh Annabeth," Hera smiled that cold little smile. "That's for you to figure out all on your own. Your mother will be watching." With a puff of air, she was gone.

Percy looked at Annabeth, Annabeth looked at Percy, and they smiled.

"Here we go again."