Jessica sat in the empty meeting room, watching the images of Camp Half-Blood play on the walls. It was interesting that despite her short time at Camp Half-Blood that she felt rather attached to the place. As the image of vast strawberry fields was replaced by the Big House, Jessica couldn’t help but feel a bit sad that she was leaving.  It was even crazier to think that in just a few hours she would be back home, back to Camp Jupiter.

According to what Hera had told her, she had been missing for more than nine months. For more than nine months, Krystal, Irene...none of them knew where she was. Perhaps they’d thought she was dead. She wondered if they’d actually missed her as much as she thought they would. Maybe the camp was better off without her. Maybe they’d already given away her praetor position to someone else, someone younger and full of potential.

The door to the meeting room opened and Jessica let her eyes settle lazily on the newcomer. Calculating gray eyes met hers.

“There you are. I just called the others down for a meeting. We’ll be arriving in less than two hours so we need to prepare ourselves. We can’t have anything going wrong during this peace negotiation. I’d hate to find out exactly what the Romans are capable of given that you’re their leader.”

Jessica smiled at Seohyun’s words. “Trust me, even without me there my people are more than capable. My co-praetor, Irene Bae, is more unforgiving than I am. Get on her bad side, and there is little you can do but surrender.”

Seohyun came and took a seat at the head of the table, right across from Jessica. “Which is why I’m not taking any risks,” she stated, her tone hard and unyielding.

Jessica swiveled around in her chair so that she was no longer facing the walls but at Seohyun.  Jessica sometimes questioned whether or not Seohyun was Roman instead and Greek. The girl had all the qualities of a good Roman leader, discipline, wits, and fearlessness.

“Unfortunately, life is just full of risks, isn’t it?” she grinned down at the Athenian demigod who met her gaze unflinchingly.

The door burst open soon after causing the two girls to break eye contact. Sunny walked in, followed by Seulgi, and lastly Tiffany.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s get started,” Seohyun announced, standing up. “We’ll be arriving in Camp Jupiter in less than two hours. This is the first interaction between Roman and Greek demigods in over hundreds of years. As you all know, the last time we interacted, things did not go so well so the gods separated us. But this time, we cannot afford to be separated. Gaea is rising and the only way to defeat her is to join forces.”

Seohyun paused to look at every single person in the room in the eyes. “So no matter what, we must play nice. We’ll be on their soil, so we’ll be going by their rules. If you do anything to jeopardize this mission I will deal with you myself. Do I make myself clear?”

There were several nods. No one opposed.

“Now, here’s what’s going to happen.” Seohyun nodded satisfied that everyone was on the same page.

“Come in,” Irene stated as someone knocked on the door to her Praetor’s office. The door opened and in came Kim Taeyeon, her purple praetor cape swishing behind her.

Irene lifted her eyes off her paperwork and settled them on the newcomer. “Did you need something?” she asked, a small frown adorning her face. With the Greeks arriving any day now she was drowning in everything that needed to be done for their peace negotiations. One wrong move and instead of joining forces, it could mean war and the end of the world. So you know, no pressure on her or anything. Luckily for her, Taeyeon had stepped up to fill the other empty praetor position and had been helping her with everything she could.

“Yeah,” Taeyeon started. She reached up to her shoulder and released the clasp that held together her purple cloak. “I think I’m going to have to give this back to you.”

Irene raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean? Are you stepping down?” It didn’t make any sense. Only a week ago, Kim Taeyeon gladly took up the leadership role and for once Irene wasn’t carrying the whole camp on her shoulders.

“Yup,” Taeyeon grinned apologetically. “I know I just got initiated and it’s a huge role and everything but to be honest, I only accepted because you looked liked you needed the help,” Taeyeon confessed. “I hate authority, frankly, don’t do so well with it. But since Jessica is coming back, I figured might as well step down now,” she said, plopping the purple cloak onto Irene’s desk.

Irene eyed the cloak and fought back the sigh. “Fine,” she stated. She could only hope that Jessica would come back soon. She didn’t know how much longer she could be the sole praetor of Camp Jupiter without collapsing on herself.

Suddenly the door to the office burst open. Krystal came running in, her hair flying in all sorts of directions. Irene immediately stood up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked. She worried there was another attack on Camp. They were still rebuilding the damage from the last attack.

“It’s the Greeks,” Krystal breathed out, her eyes shining with hope. “They’re here.”
 

Taeyeon’s eyes bulged out in surprise and excitement. She turned to face Irene with a giant smile on her face. Without another word, she ran out the door, Krystal following close behind. Irene felt her heart quicken in excitement as well even if she tried hard not to let it show.

Jessica was back.

Irene rushed out to the edge of the camp where all the other campers were already lined up. She could spot a tiny speck in the sky getting closer and closer - the Greeks’ warship no doubt. She reminded herself to ask the Vulcan children to look into developing something similar for Camp Jupiter. She hurried down to stand in the front of the ranks, the demigods separating like the Red Sea in front of her. Taeyeon quickly came up to her side.

“Woah. Wait a second. Why is everyone armed?” Taeyeon asked alarmed, eyeing the swords, spears, and full body armors. “I thought this was a peace negotiation!”

Irene eyed Taeyeon from her peripheral. “It is. I’m just taking counter measures in case anything goes wrong.”

“What?!” Taeyeon screamed. “I know the people coming. There’s no way they’re going to hurt any of us. They’re here for peace,” Taeyeon stressed. “And most of us are still injured from the Giant’s invasion.”

“No one will attack unless provoked. I hope your people are here for what they say they are,” Irene stated coldly as the large warship finally landed. And for a moment, Taeyeon felt fear for her old camp mates. She’d seen Irene get serious on the battlefield. The girl was deadly, unrelenting, and precise. She would hate to face Irene on opposite sides of the battlefield.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to.

Seohyun frowned as they got closer and closer to the ground. “Jessica,” she called out.

“Yeah?” the blonde answered back distractedly. Her eyes were too busy sweeping in the crowds down below trying to locate her friends. She could single out Irene standing in the front with her golden praetor cape and medals, but she had yet to find her sister.

“Why are they armed?” Seohyun asked sounding very displeased. Her eyes took in the formations of the Roman demigods, clean and effective. It was as one would’ve expected of the Romans.

“I’m not sure the Romans understand what a peace negotiation is,” Tiffany scowled instinctively reaching for her bow which was slung across her back. “They look like they’re going to war.”

Jessica smirked. “We’re bringing a warship right into their camp. You expected them to welcome you with hugs and kisses? Especially since the last time our two camps interacted it went so well.”

Seohyun’s frown deepened. “Fair. I just hope your people are as friendly as you made them out to be. Otherwise, this war will start a lot sooner than we thought.”

“Do you think they’re really attack us?” Sunny asked worriedly.

Jessica frowned, letting the tiniest bit of worry seep in. The Romans wouldn’t do anything rash, especially not if Irene was still in charge. That girl was almost exactly like Seohyun in the sense that both were the type to plan everything out and made sure every little detail went according to plan.

“We’ll be fine,” Jessica drawled. “The worst that might happen are some middle school pranks. Joy has been known to mess with the newcomers.”

Seohyun disliked the sound of that even more. “I thought you Romans were known to be disciplined?”

“OMG!” Tiffany squealed. “I see Taeyeon!”

Everyone waited in bated anticipation as the doors to the warship opened, revealing a long staircase down.

Irene could feel the tension among the Romans. Her own hand tensed on the hilt of her blade attached to her hip. She had to make sure nothing went wrong. She could feel the burden of being a lader, the eyes of all the demigods behind her.

Suddenly, there were footsteps and a figure came dashing out of the warship. Before anyone could react, the figure tackled Taeyeon down onto the floor.

“You idiot! I was so worried for you! How can you just go and disappear like that?” the girl cried, straddling Taeyeon on the ground. Everyone around her tensed up, instinctively reaching for their weapons. Irene unsheathed her sword.

Taeyeon groaned with a smile. “I missed you too, Tiff,” she joked, shooting her best friend a pained smile.

Irene relaxed the grip she had on her sword and sheathed it back up. She eyed Tiffany warily. That girl definitely had fire, she noted, an admirable trait. Suddenly, her attention was drawn away as more footsteps sounded from the ship.

Light blonde hair glinted under the gleaming sun like pure gold. Dark brown eyes met hers from afar and Irene couldn’t help the sense of relief that flowed through her. To hear that she was alive and to see that she was alive were two very different things. She wanted nothing more than to run to the girl who had taught her practically everything she knew but she had a duty to perform. She was not just Bae Joohyun, she was Irene Bae, praetor of Camp Jupiter.

Krystal however, had no such restraints.

“Unnie!” Sprinting across the fields, the girl tackled her sister into a much needed hug.

Jessica clung onto her sister’s body and laughed, inhaling her scent. “Soojung-ah. I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too, stupid,” Krystal sniffed into Jessica’s shoulders, tears welling up in her eyes. “I’d never thought I’d ever see you in orange. It’s hideous,” she commented.

With a laugh, Jessica dropped Krystal to acknowledge Irene who had been patiently standing there and staring. “Joohyun. I see you’ve managed to keep the Camp together in one piece. I knew I could count on you.”

Irene beamed proudly though she tried hard not to show it too much. “You had nothing to worry about.”

Jessica and Irene shared