Meet the Greeks

Flying towards Camp Jupiter in the Argo II, Annabeth can't help but have trouble processing what Jason told them.

It had been nine months since her boyfriend had gone missing. Just under nine months since Jason had been found, and joined them in Camp Half-Blood. He had been without his memories for three weeks before his memories came back, and they were hit with the realisation that being Greek wasn't the only option for a demigod. New Rome. A city full of demigods and their children, grandchildren, and even clear sighted mortals. To her and the Greeks, it sounds like something too good to be true. After all, the majority of demigods never made it past the age of sixteen.

And yet it exists. Over five thousand people live in New Rome, most of them legacies, Jason had told her, but at least a tenth were demigods. There are even a few clear-sighted mortals thrown into the mix. And another daughter of Hades, or Pluto. Annabeth wasn't sure if there would be a difference, but the way Jason had told them, even the Roman god of the Underworld would be different than the one she had met before. She wonders how Percy likes it there, or if he is struggling because he is Greek, and the Roman's and Greeks have conflicting natures. She hopes that he is ok.

"—and you're not even listening to me," says Leo, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Whatever, that's fine. It's not like I was giving you advice about negotiating with our more serious friends, the Roman demigods."

"You won't be negotiating with the Roman demigods." says Jason, in his usual serious voice. "You'll most likely be negotiating with my sister, Azula."

"That's great then. That means that you can convince her yourself, or maybe she'll just fall for my natural charm and agree to help." replies Leo as he winks at Jason.

"NO!" yells Jason before he composes himself and sighs. "No. That's worse. Much, much, worse. My sister is not someone that can be charmed, especially not by you."

"Dude, harsh much." says Leo.

"You don't understand." says Jason.

Before he can continue however, a voice interrupts.

"What don't we understand." asks Piper as she joins them on the deck.

"You guys have heard me talk about Ambrosius before." begins Jason.

"Yea, you talk about him as if he's your idol. The perfect Roman demigod. To be honest he just sounds like a more powerful version of you, that's a prince." says Leo. "Also, what type of name is Ambrosius anyway---"

"Leo. Shut up." interrupts Annabeth.

"Anyway. If Ambrosius is Romulus, then Azula is Semiramis in the sense that she has far more power than she should, and she always gets what she wants. The Senate may act as if they have power over New Rome, but everyone, including the Senate, knows that she holds all of Rome's politics in the palm of her hands. No one, and I mean no one, has ever gone against her and survived unscathed. There's always some form of repercussion." says Jason, his tone far more serious than the other demigods have ever heard.

"So she's basically a tyrant." says Piper.

"No. She's definitely not a tyrant. She lacks the cruel and oppressive part of the definition. All of the repercussions are legal. I'd just call her petty, but don't tell her I said that." replies Jason.

"Is there no one that can keep her in check?" asks Annabeth with a frown.

"Ambrosius can. But the last time I checked he was kidnapped." replies Jason.

"Wait?!" exclaims Leo. "You're telling me that the super demigod you're always talking about got kidnapped. Are you sure he's as great as people say? You know some people just like to exaggerate for clout. I mean, look at me---"

Before he can finish his sentence, thunder rumbles ahead, and a bolt of lightning strikes, missing the flying boat by a foot at most.

"Finish that sentence. I dare you." says a cold, calm, feminine voice.

Turning towards the voice, the group of demigods are met with a beautiful, yet terrifying figure floating a few inches from the deck.

Wearing nothing but black sneakers, jeans, and a purple shirt, Annabeth estimates that she's around five feet seven inches tall. Her skin is a natural tan, with midnight black hair flowing behind her, and golden pupils that seem glow. Her face has high cheekbones and full lips, giving her aristocratic features and a majestic air, and it's easy to tell that her body is made of toned and defined muscles. Unfortunately her beauty is easily overshadowed by the fear factor she carries. The glow of her eyes slowly increase to the point where they completely fill her eyes, small sparks of lightning travel up and down her frame, her hair violently blows in the wind, and the previously sunny skys ominously darken in a matter of seconds. Along with her terrifying image, the demigods can practically feel the power rolling off of her in waves, bringing a suffocating atmosphere along with it.

Before any of the greek demigods can do anything, Jason approaches Azula and salutes her.

"Ma'am" he says.

For a few seconds she doesn't answer and opts to stare at Leo with what Jason has by now dubbed the wolf gaze. It's a really unnerving gaze that leaves its victims feeling inferior, and shaking in fear. It's a skill that Lupa teaches, however he's only ever seen Lupa, Ambrosius, and Azula use it effectively. What makes it even more unnerving is the fact that there is nothing supernatural about the gaze.

After a few seconds of watching the greek demigods squirm and sweat, Azula gives a satisfactory nod before turning Jason.

"Brother. It is good to see you." she says as she powers down and gives him a hug.

With a smile on his face, Jason returns the hug.

"It's good to be home." he replies while returning her hug.

Unseen by him, Piper flinches when she hears the fondness in which he says home. Annabeth and Azula unfortunately see her.

Breaking from the hug, Azula turns to the Greeks as her face once more takes a serious expression.

"You have two options, either set this warship down a mile away from Camp Jupiter, or be shot down. This is non negotiable, you have thirty seconds." she says.

"What?!" exclaims Leo. "You can't do that."

Azula merely raises an eyebrow, as her eyes once again begin to glow, the winds pick up, and thunder rumbles up ahead.

"Put the ship down away from their camp." orders Annabeth.

Leo goes to argue, only to see Annabeth's face set into a stern expression. With a nod he does as ordered and sets it down in the sea a mile away from the highway and the Caldecott Tunnel.

"Good. Now everyone will be leaving the ship and coming with me to New Rome, including that faun that's somewhere under the deck." says Azula.

Hesitantly, Leo goes down below deck to get Coach Hedge.

"You must be Annabeth." says Azula as she looks at Annabeth.

"Yes, I am. How did you know?" she asks.

"Perseus won't shut up about you. He keeps going on about you and architecture, frankly he sounds like a lovesick puppy." Azula answers, making Annabeth blush.

Before Annabeth can answer Leo returns with Coach Hedge.

"You're all here now, good. Everybody on board the egyptian boat." she says as she jumps overboard.

The demigods follow her to find that she is indeed standing on an egyptian boat. Jason recognizes it as Ambrosius' boat that can cut traveling time by a large amount.

Without another word, the demigods follow her into the boat.

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Tartarus, I have no idea how long I've been here. It could have been months, weeks, or a few hours and I wouldn't know. What I do know however, is that the war is still going. I found a few Cyclops that were more than willing to talk once they recognized me, apparently I've become something of a boogeyman to all enemies of Olympus that aren't at least as powerful as a titan.

I stop walking for a second and look at my surroundings. I don't want to admit it, but this place is messing with me. Tartarus is a place of pain and suffering for gods and mortals, designed to hurt. Between the acid air, water of sadness from the River Cocytus, and the ground made of broken glass, it looks like your standard depiction of hell without fire and brimstone everywhere.

It has a grayish atmosphere and the clouds are blood red. The ceiling is so high that it is invisible from the ground, stretching for miles and miles to plunge into darkness in the form of plateaus. Multiple pointed mountains and volcanic chasm adorn the landscape. A few long, thin, black trees grow in the flatter areas, and multiple monsters emerge like worms from blisters that form on the ground.

The main wall of the cave is made up of multiple precipices and obsidian cliffs, where the rivers of Hades descend, in the form of waterfalls. The landscape descends to the most dangerous area, where the heart of the primordial Tartarus himself is found apparently. I wouldn't know since I haven't been there and certainly don't plan on ever going there. The last thing I need is to draw the attention of a second primordial, Gaea is more than enough for me.

What makes this situation worse is the fact that just by being in Tartarus, demigods have their healing powers repressed leaving us at a much greater risk of injury or death. When I arrived here, it was by the riverside of the River Lethe, the river of forgetfulness. The river whose waters give people complete amnesia. Luckily for me Gaea underestimated me and thought that a legion of monster would be enough to either push me in or kill me. Joke's on her though, facing an army is just a regular Tuesday event for me. Honestly who sets a child of Neptune by a river and expects them to lose a battle. Although, I don't think that I'm supposed to be able to control the rivers from Hades, also who would have thought that firebending would work on the River Phlegethon. Then again Percy wasn't supposed to be able to overpower a primordial in her own domain.

Shaking my head of the idle thoughts, I refocus on my objective, finding the Doors of Death. Unfortunately I don't remember where it was in the books to begin to search. Since I don't know where it is, I've been wandering Tartarus looking for it. So far I've been to most of the major places in Tartarus except for two. The Deeper Abyss, also known as Tartarus' heart, and the Mansion Of Night, which is Nyx's Palace. I'm not confident enough to take on a primordial right now. However, I bumped into Stheno and Euryale earlier and managed to convince them to tell me where it is, just north of the Mansion Of Night.

Taking a deep breath I make my way to the River Phlegethon and walk in. Using my firebending I split the river to allow me to pass, eventually making it to the otherside. With my firebending I take a sliver of fire from the river and wrap it around my body, like an aura. In this hellish place, the River Phlegethon is the only thing designed to heal mortals and kill monsters.

Once out of the river I keep walking in the direction designated to me by the gorgon sisters. Eventually I come upon a horde of monsters in front of the Doors of Death. Before I can come up with a plan on how to deal with them, a voice speaks up from up front.

"Well if it isn't Ambrosius, the son of Neptune himself." says the voice.

"What do you say Perses. How long do you think we can torture him before his mind breaks." speaks another voice as the monsters make way for Perses and Koios

With a sigh I rub my hand on my face and turn my ring into its trident form before rushing them. Just another Tuesday for me.