Chapter Twelve LUNA SILVER I woke up early. I found Reyna and Thalia in a tent. “Hey, guys, is it just me, or is Nico giving me strange looks?” I asked. I couldn’t help feeling that the looks were threatening to me. Reyna took a deep breath. “Both of you, swear on the River Styx you won’t ever let Nico know this. He’ll destroy me.” We both swore on the River Styx that we would not tell Nico. “I suspect, Luna, that Nico has a crush on you.” My rage started. “The one vow of a Hunter, and he wants me to break it? My entire life? My mother’s meaning?” “Remember, you swore on the River Styx.” Reyna reminded me. “No fate can be worse than being loved,” I fumbled angrily. Thalia was mad too. “Artemis asked us, all three of us, to protect and look out for each other from one: Death, and I mean, literal death, not Thanatos; Two: Love; Three; Ouranos! If love is before a very powerful primordial god, then it must be serious! And it is! Also, do you remember that she listed them in order of importance?” I was many things at that moment, but I was not stupid. “Please, Thalia. Lower it down. He may hear us.” She lowered it down, as requested, and we all filed out of the tent for a very long day. That day was very uneventful. Amanda crafted a mini jet, and by the end of the day we were both in San Francisco and tired. “Camp Jupiter!” Reyna cried. And so we set off on another expedition to find Camp Jupiter. “Reyna!” Almost all the legionnaires swarmed the former and beloved praetor as we made our way through the street. She laughed and talked with old friends but eventually, it narrowed down to Frank and Hazel. “Frank Zhang, son of Mars and Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto are the praetors of Camp Jupiter for now. Don’t worry, they’re nice. Oh, yeah. They were part of the seven. What else? Oh, right. Frank can shape-shift and Hazel can control the Mist and they’re dating.” Thalia informed me. “Love? Artemis is right. It needs to be stopped.” I said scornfully of the relationship. “Look, you may not understand this, but love is nice for them. We protect people who don’t want to love. But that doesn’t mean we wipe out love.” Thalia said. “Oh, also, don’t tell them you’re a child of Artemis. They’ll make a whole deal out of that. Romans are strict on oaths. If they find out the one maiden goddess that they trusted never to have a child had a child… oh, well.” “But they expected Artemis to never marry,” I reasoned. “And she didn’t.” Thalia shrugged. “Say it at your own risk. But don’t come running to me when people come asking you if you have a belly button.” “What? Of course I have a belly button! Why not?” Thalia snorted. “Annabeth got that question a lot, and there are others like her. I asked her too. Remember what I asked you first thing when I joined? ‘Do you have a belly button?’. What questions will the Romans have for you?” “Good point,” I said, letting the matter rest. “Hazel! Frank! It’s so good to see you!” Reyna exclaimed as she met the two praetors. “Reyna!” the two exclaimed in unison. Then, the praetor on the left, and a girl with curly brown hair and luminescent golden eyes turned her gaze to Nico. “Nico! So nice to see you here!” “Nice reunion and all, but why did you come back here?” asked the praetor on the right, a big Asian boy I assumed was Frank Zhang. Reyna looked at us, and I assumed her first thought was, Tell them. They’ll send forces to help us. But then her sneaky hunter instincts jumped in. “Oh, the Hunters of Artemis were just scouting the area. A favor from Camp Half-Blood.” Hazel frowned. “Are you-” then she stopped herself. I smiled. Maybe I liked her after all. If she was smart enough to see through a ruse and know when people just didn’t need her interfering, maybe there was hope after all. “Okay,” Hazel said. “Is there anything we can give you to help you?” Wow. She even knew we were on a quest! (This is sarcasm). I mean, obviously. Why else would five Hunters show up in the middle of nowhere?” “No, we’re fine. But if you can, I’d like to take a look around here if possible. It’s still my half-home.” Reyna said. At first, I was confused at her refusing shelter, but then I realized if she asked for that she would have to reveal only five of us were here, and that we were on a quest. “Sure! I’ll show you around our new sights and Hazel can meet your Hunter comrades!” Frank said.
