BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

46.

EDEN WISHED SHE could eat more, because the Romans knew how to eat.

Sets of couches and low tables were carted into the forum until it resembled a furniture showroom. Romans lounged in groups of ten or twenty, talking and laughing while wind spirits swirled overhead, bringing an endless assortment of pizzas, sandwiches, chips, cold drinks, and fresh-baked cookies. Drifting through the crowd were purple ghosts in togas and legionnaire armor which just looked gross. Around the edges of the feast, satyrs trotted from table to table, panhandling for food and spare change. In the nearby fields, the war elephant frolicked with Mrs. O'Leary, and children played tag around the statues of Terminus that lined the city limits.

Eden wanted an elephant, really bad. She'd ask Piper later if they could get a pet elephant.

Reyna and a few of her officers ( including the blond kid Octavian, freshly back from burning a teddy bear for the gods, not the type of arson Eden liked ) sat with Eden's crew. Percy joined them with his two new friends, Frank and Hazel. Eden hated them all. So far.

As a tornado of food platters settled onto the table, Eden looked over at her girlfriend. "D'you think we could get an elephant for a pet in the future?"

Piper giggled, her nose crinkling. "An elephant?"

"Yeah, you know?" Eden relaxed next to her, and Piper put her head on her shoulder. "We could get a house, on a field, let him frolick around . . . grab a lot more exotic animals, those are the bomb."

"You go immediately to an elephant," Piper noted. "Not a dog or a cat."

"We should get both," Eden smiled. "Domesticated and also exotic. What do you think, Kaleidoscope?"

She was about to answer, but she stopped as Reyna called a toast to friendship.

After introductions all around, the Romans and Eden's crew began exchanging stories. Perfect Jason explained how he'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood without his memory, and how he'd gone on a quest with Eden, Piper, and Fire Boy to rescue the goddess Hera from imprisonment at the Wolf House in northern California.

"Impossible!" Octavian broke in. "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, and started a war between the camps. Now, be quiet and let Jason finish."

Octavian opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Eden smirked and turned to Piper. "God, that was so hot."

Piper rolled her eyes and leaned in to kiss her temple, and Eden just melted into the couch.

"So," Perfect Jason continued, "that's how we found out about the earth goddess Gaea. She's still half asleep, but she's the one freeing the monsters 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 awakening Gaea and destroying the gods by . . . what did he call it? Pulling up their roots."

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

Eden's most useless brother recounted his side of the story. He talked about waking up at the Wolf House with no memories except for one name — Annabeth.