𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢━━Nico di Angelo

102

The next day, the second since the battle, Romans and Greeks worked side by side to clean up the warzone and tend the wounded. Blackjack the pegasus was recovering nicely from his arrow wound. Guido had decided to adopt Reyna as his human. Reluctantly, Ajax had agreed to turn the green pet piglets back into Romans.

The Romans bivouacked next to the strawberry fields, where they insisted on building their standard field camp. The Greeks pitched in to help them raise the earthen walls and dig the trenches. Nico had never seen anything stranger or cooler. Dakota shared Kool-Aid with the kids from the Dionysus cabin. (Of course, Dakota and Ajax had the kool-aid drinking contest. And no matter how much Dakota whined, he couldn't prove that Ajax used magic to win). The children of Hermes and Mercury laughed and told stories and brazenly stole things from just about everyone. Reyna, Annabeth and Piper were inseparable, roaming the camp as a trio to check on the progress of the repairs. Chiron, escorted by Frank and Hazel, inspected the Roman troops and praised them for their bravery.

By evening, the general mood had improved somewhat. The dining hall pavilion had never been so crowded. The Romans were welcomed like old friends. Coach Hedge roamed among the demigods, beaming and holding his baby boy and saying, "Hey, you want to meet Chuck? This is my boy, Chuck!" Ajax and Frank had spent the most time with Chuck by far.

The Aphrodite and Athena girls alike cooed over the feisty little satyr baby, who waved his pudgy fists, kicked his tiny hooves and bleated, "Baaaa! Baaaa!"

Clarisse, who had been named the baby's godmother, trailed behind the coach like a bodyguard and occasionally muttered, "All right, all right. Give the kid some space."

"Er- I still have to give him his shots" Will said when most of the demigods were still surrounding the baby.

"Hell yeah, I bet being born is traumatizing" Ajax grabbed the baby under his armpits and swivelled around, making baby Chuck feel like superman, he looked so happy. Only Nico knew how much he cried after Coach Hedge had named him Chuck's godfather "Pour it up, he needs it!"

Nico was about to interrupt when Hedge began laughing and agreeing with Ajax, though he shut up when Mellie glared at the two.

At announcement time, Chiron stepped forward and raised his goblet.

"Out of every tragedy," he said, "comes new strength. Today, we thank the gods for this victory. To the gods!"

The demigods all joined the toast, but their enthusiasm seemed muted. Nico understood the feeling: We saved the gods again, and now we're supposed to thank them?

Then Chiron said, "And to new friends!"

"TO NEW FRIENDS!"

Hundreds of demigod voices echoed across the hills.

At the campfire, everyone kept looking at the stars, as if they expected Leo to come back in some dramatic, last-minute surprise. Maybe he'd swoop in, jump off Festus's back and launch into corny jokes. It didn't happen.

After a few songs, Reyna and Frank were called to the front. They got a thunderous round of applause from both the Greeks and Romans. Up on Half-Blood Hill, the Athena Parthenos glowed more brightly in moonlight, as if to signal: These kids are all right.

"Tomorrow," Reyna said, "we Romans must return home. We appreciate your hospitality, especially since we almost killed you –"

"You almost got killed," Annabeth corrected.

"Whatever, Chase."

"Oooooohhhhh!" the crowd said as one. Then everybody started laughing and pushing each other around. Even Nico had to smile. Ajax had his arm around his shoulder, so that might have something to do with his good mood.

"Anyway," Frank took over, "Reyna and I agree this marks a new era of friendship between the camps."

Reyna clapped him on the back. "That's right. For hundreds of years, the gods tried to separate us to keep us from fighting. But there's a better kind of peace – cooperation."

Piper stood up from the audience. "Are you sure your mom is a war goddess?"

"Yes, McLean," Reyna said. "I still intend to fight a lot of battles. But from now on we fight together!"

That got a big cheer.

Zhang raised his hand for quiet. "You'll all be welcome at Camp Jupiter. We've come to an agreement with Chiron: a free exchange between the camps – weekend visits, training programs and, of course, emergency aid in times of need –"

"And parties?" asked Dakota.

"Hear, hear!" said Conner Stoll.

Reyna spread her arms. "That goes without saying. We Romans invented parties."

Another big "Oooohhhhhhhh!"

"So thank you," Reyna concluded. "All of you. We could've chosen hatred and war. Instead we found acceptance and friendship."

Then she did something so unexpected Nico would later think he dreamed it. She walked up to Nico, who was standing to one side in the shadows leaning on Ajax. She grabbed his hand and pulled him gently into the firelight.

"We had one home," she said. "Now we have two."

She gave Nico a big hug and the crowd roared with approval. Ajax's voice was the loudest though. For once, Nico didn't feel like pulling away. He buried his face in Reyna's shoulder and blinked the tears out of his eyes.