"Are you alright?" I asked Jason.

Jason, Gwen and I rested near the entrance of the cavern, far away from the others while they packed and cleaned themselves up. Jason sat on a green crystal, Gwen sat crosslegged on the floor in front of him, and I leaned on another large crystal beside him.

Jason fiddled with his armor. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine."

Gwen and I traded glances. Gwen scooted closer to Jason. "Are you sure?"

Jason pulled at the straps of his armor, as if they were too tight. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you keep asking me?"

"Well," I began. "You were asked a morally grey question and you gave a rational answer to said question."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Is that bad?"

Gwen played with the small rocks on the ground. "No. It's not. It's the most realistic and logical answer to that kind of question."

"An answer that someone like Annabeth would give." I added.

"But," Gwen continued. "That's not an answer Jason would give."

Jason eyes darted between us while he pulled on his armor straps, hard. He diverted his gaze to the ground. "What? We're you both expecting a speech or something."

Gwen and I nearly gasped when we glanced at each other again. He was deflecting. Another example of non-Jason behavior.

Something was definitely wrong.

Gwen stood up. "Okay, let's stop beating around the bush here. Jason, what's wrong?"

Jason kept his gaze pointed at the ground. "I'm fine."

I pushed off the crystal to stand besides Gwen. "Yeah. Your being uncharacteristically stand off-ish right now."

"How so?" Jason asked, while he re-strapped his armor.

Gwen lightly knocked on his head. "Jason, c'mon, your being annoying now. Just talk to us."

Jason's hair sparked, zapping Gwen. "Ow!" She exclaimed.

Jason raised his head, his electric blue eyes glowing with anger, but it quickly faded into guilt. "Gwen, I'm sorry...... We need to focus of finishing this quest and ending this war. I'll be with the others."

Jason summoned the winds and shot up into the air towards the others.

Gwen flicked her hand. "Gods that hurt."

I stared at Jason while he walked aimlessly between the others. Trying to look busy, but not doing much at all. "Something happened while he was away." I said.

"Clearly." Gwen said. "We can try interrogating Percy."

I dug into my pocket and grabbed Jason's..... Our coin. "No, he's right. We need to focus on the mission ahead. We just need to trust him. He's never let us down before."

Gwen's good hand found itself wrapped around her necklace gifted to her from Ben. "Even the best of us can fail, Rey."

********************

"Rebecca, report." Max ordered, his back facing her as he analyzed the war map laid across his table.

Rebecca swallowed, glancing nervously at the golden sword resting in Max's hand. She readjusted her armor, careful to not let the note she received from the Dakota slip out from beneath it. "The Greeks have arrived in Colorado, having crossed the Kansas border an hour ago. They should arrive by nightfall via the Nature Center."

"Good." Max noted, his eyes still trained on the war map. "Status on the legion?"

"Ready for anything and everything." Rebecca said. "Sentries have just cycled out shifts. Scouts are strewn all across the valley. We've experienced some delays from scouts patrolling around the Trading post to the southwest. There not meeting their reporting deadlines."

"The reason?" Max questioned, glancing behind him.

Rebecca shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary. There is heavy foot traffic going in and out of the various buildings."

"Heavy foot traffic?" Max questioned. "Cohort four's mages casted a spell to deter all mortals away from the garden within a certain radius. The trading post is within that radius."

Rebecca shrugged again, cursing herself as the note she held in her armor shifted upwards. She readjusted her armor. "I'm not sure. Our scouts-"

"Are supposed to report any and all activity, including that of mortals." Max cut her off, rising from the table to face her.

Rebecca took a few steps back. Max has always been large and imposing, but recently, he had become down right scary. His black eyes beamed with blood red light, making Rebecca's skin crawl. His very presence filled her with despair and... rage? The note beneath her breastplate grew heavier with each passing second. "Send the first cohorts scouts this time, they'll make sure the work gets done." Max ordered.

Rebecca nodded. "Yes sir."

Rebecca turned to leave, but Max placed his hand on her shoulder. "Is that all you need to report?" He asked her.

Rebecca turned slowly, her hands sweating profusely. "Uh, yes, Max."

"Are you sure?" Max pressed, his grip tightening.

Rebecca clenched her fist. "Please let me go....... sir." She said.

Max leaned forward so his eyes were now directly in line with hers. "Will do." He said and wrapped his hand around her neck. In one quick motion, he lifted her up with one hand and walked out of his tent.

"ROMANS! ATTENTION!" Max shouted, to the legion.

The legion had set up a fort in the center of the garden, where tourist would usually gather on its paths to gawk at the two large rocket formations towering over them. Of course, thanks to the legions mages manipulating the mist, mortals avoided the Garden of the Gods like the plague. Using the tall rock formations on either side of them as cover, the legion built a fort around the Gardens central hub. Even now, legionnaires were still building tents, barracks and watch towers for the inevitable assault from Camp Half-Blood.

Max slammed Rebecca into the ground, forcing all legionnaires working around his tent to stop dead in their tracks. "I SAID, ATTENTION!" Max shouted.

Legionnaires dropped everything and focused on Max and Rebecca. Rebecca groaned and spit out sand from dust from her mouth, trying to get back to her feet. "Let me remind you the oath you all have taken to the legion. An oath that our dear friend Rebecca has forgotten!" Max shouted, kicking Rebecca in the gut, forcing her on her back. Max dug into her armor, pulling out the note given to her from Dakota. He scanned it briefly and tossed it aside.

"If the rats in the fifth cohort haven't already high tailed it out of here, I want them captured immediately." Max ordered. "Scout around the tech company's to the west, they might be hiding around there. As for you..."

Max picked up Rebecca and shoved her over to two legionnaires nearby. "Take her too the holding blocks. I want to know what those traitors in the fifth cohort are scheming. Round up all members of the third cohort and bring them here. We need to make sure their alliances are in the right place."

The legionnaires uncharacteristically stayed in place, watching Max as he stared at them. "Well!? You have your orders, get a move on!"

The legion eventually complied, but not without leaving an air of uncertainty behind them. Max stormed back into the tent and leaned over his war table, breathing heavily. Eventually, Max fell to his knees.

"Ben," Max whispered to himself. "You were right! Rebecca did plan to betray us. Betray the legion. But the others don't see it. I'm.... I'm doing everything I can. But the legion doesn't understand. I can feel it in the air. Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

Max waited for Ben to speak to him. As he has for many nights now, but only silence answered him. Silence that struck fear into Max's heart. "Ben, my love, are you there?" Max begged.

"I'm here." Ben's voice spoke clearly in Max's mind, cutting through the anxiety Max felt instantly. "I'm here, my love. I always will be."

"What should I do about the troops?" Max asked the voice in his mind. "They question our judgement."

"I remember the many times you questioned me." Ben said softly to Max. "Always trying to find a reason to end yourself. To make the sacrifices of your friends meaningless. But what did I always tell you?"

Max sniffled. "That I am worth it. That my life did....... Does have meaning."

"Yes," Ben agreed. "And even now, you still question me. I can feel it in your heart. But if your going to succeed, you need to lead. Lead them, no matter the cost."

Max wiped his eyes, the angry red light returning. "Will destroying the Greeks.... Will this bring Luke too me?"

Ben's voice remained silent for a moment.

"My love?" Max questioned.

"Yes." Ben said. "Yes it will."

***********************
"Rey, wake up." Someone whispered to me, shaking me awake.

I groaned, rubbing my eyes. "Is it my turn to take watch?"

As my vision focused, I could see Percy standing over me. "No, but I need your help."

I sat up and stretched. We had made a stop to rest after walking for miles. We rested in a abandoned British military bunker located deep within the labyrinth. The metal walls were rusted over and cracked as roots pushed their ways through. Tables strewn with old World War Two equipment were caked in layers of dust and debris. We had made camp in the center of the room, using an old lantern to light our surroundings. The light had dimmed considerably since we had fallen asleep.

Gwen slept nearest to the lantern, using her Fanny pack as a pillow. Rachel slept on one of the tables, using her arms to prop her head up. Argentum and Aurum stared at a new pathway on the right side of our exit that must have appeared overnight, a cold breeze wafting into the room.

"When did that door appear?" I asked Percy.

Percy shrugged. "Dunno, but it leads to Mount Othrys, in San Francisco. It's the titans home base. I just came back after doing some scouting."

"Mount Othrys?" I said while yawning. "In San Francisco? Are you going crazy on me?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Your telling me that New Rome has been right next to Mount Othrys this whole time and none of you noticed?"

I stared at Percy, waiting for him to drop the act, but he held his poker face way longer then I expected him too. "Your.... Serious? Wait, Is it that spooky mountain in San Francisco? Mount Tamalpais?"

"I don't know the mountains real na- Yes! Does it matter? I found the bad guys base!" Percy exclaimed, forcing me to hush him.

"Okay!" I whispered, watching Gwen as she rolled over. "I get it. Rome has a lot of internal problems going on right now, if you couldn't already tell. We never noticed. But why does that matter? We don't have the man power to raid their headquarters."

Percy swallowed, not meeting my eye. "Rey.... We can end this." He said. "Once and for all. If.... If Kronos or Luke or Justice... If we can find them, no one else needs to get hurt."

Percy's eyes portrayed a mixture of fear and determination. "Percy...." I said, my voice trailing off.

"No more unnecessary deaths. No more-"

"What about the war between our camps?" I cut him off. "The labyrinth operates under a different time scale. We could be wasting valuable time."

"If that's the case, then why are we resting?" Percy countered. "Look, you said we could go do crazy stuff together if it's just you and me, remember? And I don't see a badly injured Nico over there, soooo......"

"It's a terrible idea, Percy." I told him.

Percy shrugged. "Alright, I guess I'll go by myself...... Unsupervised........ Against the baddies army........ Alone..."

I rolled my eyes. Common sense told me this was a terrible idea. Going into Saturn's (Kronos, whatever) lair without any plan to escape, nor any idea what we'll find was a certain death wish.

But, Percy had a point, we could deliver a devastating blow to Saturn's plans with minimal losses. This opportunity may not come up again.

"Percy...... If anyone asks, and we some how survive this, this was your idea." I said.

Percy smiled. "Deal."

I took his hand and joined him.