Chapter 430
The daughter of Zeus couldn't hold it much longer as she grabbed
Jason in another hug. This time however the action was answered with
a hug from Jason. The siblings held each other as warm tears rolled
down their face. At last, they were whole again.
"What in the name of Mars is going on over here!" A loud and
bumptious voice called out causing everyone to look away from the
touching sister-brother reunion.
Percy saw the Romans open a path through which two new demigods
arrived. They both had a golden set of armor on and a purple cloak
over it. Each had a Gladius on the side and their chests were
decorated with medals.
The first woman was a older teen, probably 17 if not 18. She had
golden blonde hair with warm brown eyes. She also had a very curvy
figure, her chest threatened to pop out of her chest piece and her hips
were wide enough to draw the eyes of every boy there. Even Percy
looked for a second before he reminded himself he had a girlfriend who
could throw lighting bolts out of her hand. 'Curse you Goblin's Growth!'
The second person was a man, 16 years old with the beginnings of a
beard on his chin. He had long brown hair and black eyes and a very
square jaw. He looked like the kind of person who Percy would expect
in a Mr. Muscle pageant. He was covered head to toe with muscles,
the big rippling kind that some girls found repelling. On his back was a
lone spear that looked imposing to some, but ridiculous to Percy, after
all if the shaft was so big how could he use it properly? He would have
to waste so much energy just to make sure the spear doesn't go flying
off somewhere every time he spun it around.
Julia Roberts, Praetor of Camp Jupiter
Lv- 17
Robbert Bigwheel, Son of Mars
Lv- 21
'These two must be the praetors,' Percy realised as he stepped in front
of Thalia and Jason, "hi Praetors. My name is Percy Jackson, and we
have a lot to talk about."
Rob narrowed his eyes, "okay Percy, tell me something, why the fuck
does everyone think you're a Greek?"
"It's because I am," Percy repled, "we both are actually," pointed to
Thalia who had now broken her hug, but Jason stood by his sister's
side, "we came at the request of the Gods."
Julia narrowed her eyes, "and what proof do you have of this?"
Percy scratched his head, "ah,... I don't really have… oh, I know! I
swear on the Styx that we were sent by the Gods on a quest to find
camp Jupiter."
Suddenly the clear blue sky rumbled with the sound of thunder
indicating that the deal was done.
"You idiot!" Thalia yelled hitting Percy across the back of the head,
"don't use the Styx as a type of polygraph! It's an ancient promise
between a man and the Gods, not a lie detector test!"
Julia nodded, "she is right. That was a very foolish thing to do."
Rob huffed, "no wonder everyone thinks you're a Greek."
Percy threw his hands up, "I can never win."
Julia sighed, "okay fine, so you were sent by the Gods. You say that
you are Greek but I find that hard to believe. You two look 16, much
older than any normal demigod. Your scent must have attracted many
monsters to your location, how have you survived?"
"That's because we have a camp of our own," Thalia spoke up
addressing Julia's question, "it's called camp Half-Blood, and it is the
Greek demigod camp site."
The gasp went through the crowd of Romans as they all began to talk
in low whispers. Jason on the other hand was confused.
"Thalia?" Jason asked his sister, "what do you mean Greek Camp?
Aren't you a daughter of Jupiter?"
Thalia shook her head, "no Jason, I'm not. I'm a daughter of Zeus, the
Greek version of Jupiter."
"Legionnaire Jason," Julia said startling the son of Jupiter.
"Yes Praetor Julia," Jason stood at attention.
"Do you know this woman?" she pointed at Thalia.
"Yes ma'am, she is my sister."
Julia raised an eyebrow, "do you mean through your father?"
Jason shook his head, "no ma'am, through our mother. Thalia is my
true sister."
"They are here to kill us all!" someone from the crowd yelled out.
"Let's kill them before they attack us!"
"Are you crazy?! She's the daughter of Jupiter! He'll kill us!"
"She's a Greek! Jupiter won't mind if we take out the trash!"
"Wow," Percy said looking at all the commotion around them, "so much
racism, so little time."
"We are not racist," Rob said, "we are just stating the facts. And the
facts is that you Greek and sly, scheming little pieces of-"
"Robbert!" Julia hissed, "do not insult our guests."
Robert bleached, "b-but Julia! They aren't our guests! They are
Greeks!"
"Yeah Praetor Julia!" someone from the crowd yelled out, "they are
probably waiting for us to lower our gaurd and then plan on invading
us!"
"We need to get rid of them before they try anything!"
"Yeah! Kill the Greeks!"
"Kill the Greeks!"
"Kill the Greeks!"
Percy was pissed off. He was about to step in when suddenly Julia
spoke up.
"Silence!" She yelled with a loud angry voice, "do you not remember
the message the Gods sent us last night? Juno herself appeared
before us and told us to expect guests soon that would help us win this
war with the Titans!"
Percy was impressed, not only was Julia a looker she also seemed to
know how to control the camp. She was so unlike most of the girls he
knew. Something told Percy that if there was anyone in this camp that
he could trust it would be her…..and that has nothing to do with her
huge tits, no, nothing at all.
"And you think we need the help of these Greeks?" Rob spat out, "do
you really think the Roman legion is that weak?"
Chapter 431
Percy rolled his eyes, 'I think Rob might be compensating for
something, why else would a guy need so many muscles and such a
huge spear. Hehe, oh that's a good one. I should remember that.'
Percy chuckled under his breath while Thalia stepped up, "look we
mean you no harm. We come under a banner of peace, nothing else.
We have no alternative plans or schemes. Look I was given this quest
personally by Zeus, I mean Jupiter. Kronos, ah...wait, who is the
Roman equivalent of Kronos?"
"Saturn," Percy and Julia supplied at once.
Thalia nodded, "right, Saturn. He's alive and he's growing stronger day
by day. The Gods want us to join forces so that we can fight him
together."
The Romans began to speak among themselves as Jason looked at
his sister in amazement. She was so confident and reassuring, if she
was a Roman Jason was sure she would have been a Praetor.
"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Rob asked with narrowed
eyes.
Percy sighed, "dude why would we be lying to you?"
"Because your-"
"-And I swear to the Gods if you say it's because we are Greek I will
kick you ass," Percy snapped narrowing his eyes at the Praetor.
Rob glared back, "please, as if you can. Weak ass Greek, no muscles,
no armour, nothing. What type of demigod are you?"
Percy raised an eyebrow, "a pretty good one considering I don't have
to wear armour. Also who the hell wants to look like you? Personally I
think you look like a peice of shit that Hercules popped out that
somehow grew muscles."
Rob was furious while a few Roman laughed at Percy's comment,
"silence!" Rob roared out.
"Percy do you have to piss off everyone we meet?" Thalia huffed in
frustration.
"It's not my fault the racist asshole is being an asshole," Percy replied
with a shrug.
"I am not a racist!" Rob shouted.
"Dude I have already been through this argument with one of your...ah,
legionaries? Yeah, one of your Legionaries. So just shut up and accept
what you are, a weak, muscles bound idiot that is obviously
overcompensating for something below the waist."
"WHAT?! I'm not compensating for anything!"
"That giant spear strapped on your back says otherwise."
A lot more Romans laughed this time while a few forand.
"Oh my Gods Percy shut up!" Thalia hissed, "we are on thin ice as it
is!"
"Right, sorry," Percy fell in on himself, he may be able to fight 30 foot
zombies but Thalia still scared the shit out of him.
Julia snickered at the last comment as well, "I have to say Greek boy
you must have pretty big stones to outright insult the leader of the
enemy camp you are currently standing in the middle of."
Percy shrugged, "well I don't see it like that. I think of it more as a camp
that is yet to become our ally. And the insulting is just my way of
showing friendship."
Julia smiled, "I see…..very well, come with us. We shall discuss what
to do with you and your….proposal."
"What?!" Rob shouted, "Julia you can't be serious! We can't allow them
into the camp!"
Julia sighed, "it is not our decision to make Robbert. The Gods have
asked us to consider their request, would you fight against the decision
of the Gods?"
Rob looked like he wanted to argue but didn't. He looked away in anger
but remained silent.
"That's what I thought," she turned to Percy and Thalia, "follow me. Oh
and you as well Legionnaire Jason."
Jason gulped but nodded. The Praetors lead the Greek demigods
further into camp while a small group of roman soldiers handed back,
walking a few paces behind just in case.
Julia and Rob lead the group with Percy just behind them and Thalia
and Jason at last as the two siblings started to catch up. Percy looked
around at the sights. Every building here was beautifully created. Say
what you will about the Romans, but at least they knew how to build.
They saw a building advertising for chariots, a shop that repaired
togas, another one which sold togas. Then there was a bakery by the
side and even a stable which was filled with….were those unicorns?
"What's that over there?" Percy asked pointing to a large building to the
side. It was large with white collars on the front and marble steps
leading up to the entrance. It was draped with flags with an eagle swon
on and the words SPQR written on top.
"That's the barracks for the first cohort," Julia explained, "every cohort
has a barrack and a symbol to represent them."
"The First cohort is the best of the best, so it is obvious that I came
from the cohort. We only take in the best fighters," Rob explained
inflating his chest with pride, "and as such our symbol is the Eagle."
"The second cohort has the bear, the third has the wolf, the fourth has
a horse and the fifth has the prairie dog," Julia explained as the group
took a left at a T crossing.
"Prairie dog? Why does the 5th have something so lame?" Percy
asked, "why not.. I don't know? A tiger or even a lion? Why a prairie
dog?"
"Their symbol was a lion," Julia explained "but after certain...difficult
circumstances they chose to to change it."
"Huh, more like forced to change it," Rob said, "stupid fifth cohort. Lost
the camp's treasure in a quest gone wrong. Fucking losers the lot of
them."
Thalia turned to Jason, "which cohort are you Jason?"
The blonde haired kid blushed, "f-fifth cohort."
"Ha!" Rob laughed, "no wonder you're related to a greek boy! Fifth
cohort is filled with nothing but Greeks and losers."
Jason flinched as Percy and Thalia narrowed their eyes in anger. Julia
looked at them from the corner of her eye. They looked like they were
going to do something, but luckily cooler heads prevailed.
"So what does a cohort do?" Percy asked holding in his anger.
"It is a group of the army," Julia explained as she took them further into
the camp, "each legionnaire is assigned a cohort and then they are
trained in said chorot." Julia then went on to further explain the working
and dealings of the cohort.
Chapter 432
The small group soon arrived at a two story wedge of white marble with
a columned patio like and old fashioned bank. Roman guards stood out
in the front and over the dorray was a large purple banner with the
words, 'SPQR' written on it with gold.
They entered the building and Percy was again enchanted by the
sights before him. On the ceiling was a mosaic painting of Romulus
and Remus underneath a giant wolf. If Percy remember his Roman
history right that wolf was Lupa. The floor was polished marble and
along the walls was a glass display filled with medals and awards.
In the center of the room was a huge desk filled with paperwork and
scroll and on the other side was two chairs with two different
workstations. One station had papers neatly arranged and organized
while the other was complete chaos.
Julia sat down in the organized area, Percy figured her for the serious
type while Rob just looked like he liked to punch things and didn't really
seem like the kind to sit behind a desk.
"So," Julia began, "explain."
"What do you want to know?" Percy asked.
"Everything."
For the next ten minutes Percy and Thalia took turns explaining all they
knew to Julia and Rob. They told them about the civil war, about how
the Gods separated them using the Mist and about how each God had
two forms, one Roman and one Greek.
At the end of the explanation Julia spoke up, "you want to join forces.
Why?"
Thalia answered, "it would be easier to fight the Titans with a
coordinated attack force rather than doing it separately."
"Okay, reasonable answer," Julia nodded, "but why do you want to?"
Thalia looked at Jason, "so that I can protect my brother."
"You believe that he is in danger?"
"As long as he is a child of Ze-Jupiter, he is a child of the prophecy and
he is in danger."
"You speak of the great prophecy," Julia asked an Thalia nodded. "Do
you believe that we cannot protect one of our own?"
"No, but I'm his sister, I don't care if your are capable or not. I will
always believe that he will be the safest with me."
Julia nodded, "understandable. Alright….we are going to call a meeting
of the senate. We shall consider your demands there." Julia then wrote
down something on a piece of paper which suddenly disappeared in a
flash of gold.
"What happened to the paper?" Thalia asked.
"It was sent to all the members of the senate," Julia explained, "we
should be hearing back from them soon. If we are lucky we can have
the meeting in an hours time."
"A senate?" Percy asked.
"Yeah senate," Rob spoke, "we aren't the leaders of the Roman camp,
just the military base. It is the senate that makes decisions on what
camp Jupiter can or shouldn't do."
Percy was impressed, "damn, you guys basically have an entire
system government planned out. I'm impressed."
"Of course you are," Rob huffed, "after all you are a Greek. What is the
governmental body you serve? A dictator?"
"Well we don't really have a governmental system per say," Thalia
explained, "we just have the heads councillors and Chiron to lead us."
"You don't have any proper leader?" Julia asked in shock, "your battle
strategy must be in ruins."
Percy shrugged, "we manage."
"Well we don't have an official leader," Thalia explained, "but we do
have someone we all listen to."
"You?" Jason asked.
Thalia chuckled, "no little brother."
Jason was confused, "then who?"
Thalia looked at Percy, "him."
"Him?!" Jason asked in surprise.
Percy chuckled, "why do you sound so surprised little dude?"
"It's just- I mean, you're not- well, not exactly," Jason took a deep
breath and calmed himself down, "what I mean is that you don't exactly
feel the type."
Percy smiled, "yeah I know. I tend to give people that feeling."
"I-I'm sorry," Jason apologized, "it's just that Thalia was a lot more,
well, open than you and I-"
Percy laughed as Jason talked so fast he tripped over his words, "relax
little dude, it's fine. And it's understandable, Thalia was on a role, so
there was nothing for me to do or say. And I don't know about you, but I
have found that doing anything to interrupt or irritate you sister is a bad
thing."
"Yeah, like waking her up by pouring water on her," Thalia mumbled
under her breath.
Jason nodded, "right...sorry again. It's just that, you seemed kind
of….laid back?"
"That's because I'm kind of a laid back guy."
Thalia laughed, "yeah right! You're only 'layed back' when you're with
me or a friend. You basically spend your free time killing zombies and
training. You, Percy Jackson, are one of the least laid back people I
know."
"We coming back to the, 'I don't know how to have fun' argument aren't
we?"
Thalia nodded, "yeah, we are. And we will be returning to that, the
moment we go back to camp, leader."
Rob laughed, " Haha! This little shrimp is your leader?!"
Thalia nodded, "yeah, and?"
Rob was stunned at Thalia's bland tone of voice, "b-but why?! You are
clearly stronger than him. After all you are a daughter of Jupiter and
he's...ah, what are you again?"
"Son of Poseidon," Percy said with a casual shrug.
"What?!" Rob shouted as he stood up in shock. Even Julia looked
surprised at that while Jason just looked startled.
Percy blinked, "ah, did I say something wrong?"
"Your a son of Neptune?!" Rob yelled out.
Percy nodded slowly, "ah, yeah, I guess."
"Oh shit," Julia cursed as a look of tension came on her face, "this so
bad."
"Why is this bad?" Thalia asked.
"Because a son of Neptune is considered bad luck," Jason explained,
"camp Jupiter used to be in the San Francisco Bay area, but then a
child of Neptune accidentally caused a giant earthquake killing lots of
people and forcing us to move."
Percy was in shock, "woah, that must have been quite some child of
Neptune. I don't think even my powers are strong enough to do that."
"Really?" Thalia asked in surprise, "that seems strange."
Percy nodded, "yeah, but it makes sense. A child of a God or Goddess
with many domain can only focus on one domain of their parent. Like
Nico and Bianca, Nico is great at shadows controlling, but Bianca is
better at controlling the Earth, see? I'm not perfect at Earthquake
control, but I am very good with water. Maybe John can use
Earthquake control better than me, but he hasn't really tired."
Chapter 433
Thalia nodded while Julia and Rob were busy discussing amongst
themselves. Finally they came to an agreement and Julia spoke up.
"Percy I want you to promise us that as long as you are here you
shouldn't use your Earthquake powers."
Percy nodded, "done. No problem."
"No, I mean I want you to swear on the Styx."
"Hmm, my Earthquake powers are a big part of my powers, is it alright
if I only swear to only use them if there is an emergency?"
Julia and Rob shared a look and they nodded, "that is acceptable."
"I Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon swear to only use my Earthquake
controlling powers within Camp Jupiter if there is an emergency."
Thunder roared outside and the two Praetors looked visibly relaxed.
"So, how long do we have to wait till the Senate get's back to us?"
Percy asked.
"A hour," Julia replied, "it shouldn't be any longer than that."
Percy nodded, "so….what do we do until then?"
Thalia and Jason were already talking to one another. Jason told his
sister all that had happened to him over the last few years. It seemed
that Jason grew up in camp Jupiter, not unlike Annabeth in camp Half-
Blood. He was basically raised by the people in camp and they treated
him like family.
Thalia was glad for that last part, she was so worried that he was
mistreated that Percy could sense it without the use of his Empathic
powers. Eventually though the topic of conversation came to Thalia.
"So I have been meaning to ask," Jason said, "why do you look so
young?"
Thalia laughed, "simple brother of mine, I died."
Jason and the others looked surprised. Thalia then went into her story
about how everything went down. How she died protecting camp and
was turned into a tree. How the tree was poisoned by Kronos's army
and how Percy got the Fleece to save it. And how the fleece
accidentally healed her as well bringing her back to life.
"So that's why you don't look like you're 20," Jason nodded in
understanding.
"Wait, so how old are you?" Rob asked.
"Well seeing as I was dead for so long, I would assume I started
ageing again the moment I got brought back, meaning I am right now
15."
"When's your birthday?" Julia asked,
"22nd December," Percy replied. Thalia looked surprised, "oh don't
look so surprised. It's my job to know such things."
"Wait, you're going to be 16 in 6 months time?" Rob asked, "that
means-"
"-That you have the highest chance of being the one the Great
Prophecy speaks about," Julia finished.
Thalia nodded, "yeah, I know."
Julia sighed rubbing her head, "we at first thought Jason was the child
of prophecy, we have been training him to be so. But now with you
here…. Percy, who old are you?"
"I'm going to be 14 in a month's time," Percy told them.
"So you are the next candidate for the prophecy if anything happens to
Thalia," Julia thought out loud as she rubbed her chin in concentration.
Thalia sighed, "yeah, I also wished I wasn't the chosen one. In all
honesty Percy would make a much better chosen on than I ever could."
"Thalia we talked about this," Percy told her in a warning tone, "stop
belittling yourself."
Thalia nodded, "yeah yeah I know."
"Wait your serious?" Rob asked surprised, "the daughter of Jupiter is
freely admitting that she is weaker than someone? And that someone
being a son of Neptune? Are you sure you're a daughter of Jupiter?
Where is your pride woman?"
Thalia glared at him, "I am a daughter of Zeus. Would you like a
demonstration?" Her hand started to spark with wild electric sparks.
Rob shook his head, "no, I'm good."
"Smart boy," Thalia said cutting the electricity, "and I do have my pride,
it's just not blinded by arrogance or hubris. It's obvious Percy is
stronger than me, it doesn't me I like to admit that, but it's true."
"Bullshit he's stronger than you," Rob said, "you're a daughter of
Jupiter for crying out loud! How can the son of that stupid water God be
stronger than you!"
"Dude my dad is one of the Eldest gods," Percy said in a calm voice,
"he controls around 70% of the Earth, do you really want to go and
insult him?"
"We Romans don't care for Neptune," Rob explained, "to us he is
nothing but a crazy water God who is barely better than a Nymph."
Percy felt his anger rise, "hey shut up! You don't see me insulting
Ares!"
Rob turned to Percy, "how did you know I was the son of Mars?"
"You have a giant spear attached to your back, a stupid grin on your
face and you pissed me off the moment I saw you, of course you're a
son of Ar-, I mean Mars. The only thing left is the tendency to act like a
madman and we have a perfect match."
Rob growled, "my father is not a mad man!"
"Yeah he is, and he's also a traitor," Percy spat back.
"How dare you!" Rob stood up, "I should have you hanged for that!"
"You can try asshole, and when I kick your ass don't go crying to your
daddy because I kicked his ass to!"
"Lies!" Rob shouted, "how could you possibly do something like that!
Mar is the best fighter ever!"
"Simple, I took the Master bolt, which he helped steal from Zeus might I
add, and I shoved it up his ass. I then sent a blast of thunder up his
behind!"
Rob was seeing red, "lies! My father would never fall to someone like
you!"
Percy shrugged, "like I care what you believe. You can believe the sun
is blue, doesn't mean it is."
Rob growled, "that's it! I demand a fight for you!" Rob grabbed his
spear and leveled it at Percy.
Percy scoffled at the spear, it looked like a giant version of Clarissa's
own spear, "and why should I fight you? I have nothing to prove."
Rob growled, "fight me, or else you admit that Neptune is a weak God."
Percy growled, his eyes turned Red and stayed that way, "insult me if
you wish, I can take it. But if you ever say anything about me dad I
will rip your heart out!"
Rob was visibly frightened at the aura of anger Percy gave off. He
could feel the Bloodlust in Percy voice, it was so thick that Rob felt like
it was choking him. But he couldn't give up now, it would make him lose
face.
"I-I still demand a fight."
Percy's eyes glowed red as he smiled, "fine I acc-"
Thalia hit Percy upside the head startling the boy, "knock it off sea
brains."
Chapter 434
Percy looked at Thalia and immediately the aura of anger and the
Blood lust all went away. Percy rubbed his head, "that hurt Thalia."
"Yeah, it should," Thalia put her hands on her hip, "we came here to
get their help, not fight them."
"But he insulted my dad!"
"So you were what going to kill him?" thalia asked putting Percy on the
spot light.
"No…..just beat him up a bit. Maybe break a bone or two."
Julia were taken back by what just happened. Julia couldn't stop Rob
from running his mouth, again. It was true that the Romans didn't care
for Neptune, but they still gave him respect out of fear. Rob however
went overboard with the insult and had pushed their guest. Julia was at
first worried for Percy, Rob had been known to hurt people that insulted
him in anyway, and Percy had just insulted his dad, who Rob looked up
to.
But the moment Percy opened his mouth she stopped being scared for
him, and started being scared of him.
The way the anger and Bloodlust poured out of Percy was just
phenomenal. The power he radiated was almost toxic, it called to her
and Julia for a split second felt like she would be lost in those red eyes.
She felt a wave of overwhelming power that was almost seductive in
nature. But just as it came it left. All it took was one look from Thalia
and that powerful and dangerous person she saw disappeared
replaced with the guy who was currently getting scolded for over
reacting.
Thalia sighed, "look I get it okay? But you can't just go around beat the
shit out of people we are trying to be friends with."
Percy lowered his head, "I'm sorry."
Thalia then turned to Rob, "and you," the Praetor yelped, "don't even
insult a God in front of their child. It doesn't matter who it is, Olympian
God or minor God, don't do it."
Rob nodded, "yes ma'am."
Percy glared at Rob, "don't think this is over asshole."
Rob gulped. Julia sighed, "maybe we can settle this some other way."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "how so?"
"A test," Julia supplied, "a test between you and Rob. You both will
wager something and the winner gets all. This way you two can work
out your issues before it becomes a problem in the senate floor."
Percy and Rob glared at each other. Now that Rob didn't actually have
to fight Percy his confidence was back. He knew that Percy was
probably more skilled than him, judge by the power he radiated. But
Rob had one skill he knew Percy couldn't beat him in.
"I have an idea for a challenge," Rob said with an arrogant smirk.
Percy nodded, "what is it?"
"A test of strenght," Rob smiled, "we see who's stronger."
"And the wager?"
"I wager my spear," Rob said motioning to his weapon, "it was given to
me by Mars himself."
Percy nodded, "must be pretty confident huh?"
Rob grinned, "I am the strongest roman in the camp. I was once told
that my strength was nearly Herculean."
Percy narrowed his eyes at the Praetor;
Robbert Bigwheel, Son of Mars
Lv- 21
HP: 1,500/1,500
MP: 200/200
Race- Demigod
Str- 49
Vit- 32
Dex-22
Int-12
Wis-7
Luc-1
The son of Mars, Robert was raised by a single mother who sent
him off to camp at the age of 8. He rose through the ranks and
eventually was raised to be a Praetor in the middle of a battle. He
is known to be impulsive and rash but inside he cares about his
fellow demigods beyond anything else.
Likes: Mars, Julia, Rome, Training
Dislikes: Greeks, Percy, Anchovies
He hates Percy and wants to humiliate him
He is feeling excited and confident
Percy scoffed at his strength level, for a demigod it was impressive, but
nothing compared to Percy, "fine the. A test of strenght. I agree."
"What's you wager?"
Percy opened his inventory and looked for something to give. And
suddenly he spotted just the thing. He smiled as he reached inside and
pulled out the shield of Ares, he got it in during that time in the
amusement park and he had it ever since.
Shield of Ares,
It is the shield of Ares which is charmed to be unbreakable and
can withstand godly amounts of force. It is also charmed to give
the wielder a + 20% on all attacks.
The shield itself was plain made out bronze with the omega symbol
etched onto the surface. "The shield of Ares," Percy said holding it up,
"I got it after doing your dad a favour. He tried to use this to start a war,
luckily I was there to stop him."
Rob grumbled, "I'm, going to enjoy taking that away from you."
Julia however was more concerned about where he pulled the shield
from, "where did you store that shield? I didn't even see you pull it out."
"I have the ability to create pocket dimensions," Percy explained, "I use
one to store items for safe keeping. Think of it like an inventory you
would find in video games."
Julia nodded, "I see….do you have a limit?"
Percy shook his head, "nope. I can store anything, along as I can move
it inside I can fit it."
"So you mean you can only store things you can lift?"
Percy nodded, "yeah."
Julia nodded as she got up from her seat, "interesting. Tell me more
about this as we go."
"Go?" asked Percy, "go where?"
"You didn't actually think I was going to let you have your competition in
here did you?" Julia asked looking amused, "we are going to the field
of Mars, our training ground. You can fight there."
They nodded and soon the group set off once again. This time they
were taken through the back of the military encampment. People were
looking curiously at the sight of the two Praetors leading the Greek
demigods so slowly more and more people started to follow them.
Julian turned to one of the Legionnaires that was following them, "call
Hannibal and get it to bring two large marble blocks to the field of Mars,
we are going to have a competition between the Greeks and Rob."
The legionnaire saluted and took off while the rest of the following
members talked in hushed tones about what they were about to see.
In the back of the military encampment was another door that opened
up to a road. The road went forward and forked into two paths, on
towards that hill with all the temples and the other towards the city that
Percy saw before.
Chapter 435
But instead of going on the road Julia and Rob lead them off the trail
and into the grassy plains surrounding them.
The fields of grass soon lead towards a large stretch of land that was
rocky and rough. Percy could tell that the terrain had been stepped on
repeatedly over and over, this was probably where the Roman
demigods trained.
"This," Julia said, "is the field of Mars,. This is where we train, where
we fight and this is where you two will settle this little argument of
yours."
Percy nodded and turned to Rob, "before we begin I would like to
change our wager a little bit."
Rob smirked, "why? Scared you'll lose the shield? I don't blame you,
hell any Roman here would kill for a weapon of Mars."
The Romans suddenly broke out into talk.
"The Greek has a shield of Mars?"
"How did he get it?"
"This is no fair! He is a Greek! He shouldn't be allowed to even look at
it!"
"How dare he!"
Percy rolled his eyes, "I don't want to change my wager, the offer still
stands. And besides I never use this shield anyway, useless thing."
"How dare you!" Rob roared, "that is the shield my father gave to you!
You should treat it with the respect it deserves!"
Percy yawned, "yeah yeah, look let's get down to buisness, I don't want
your spear, okay? It's kind of useless, it won't serve me well. I'll just do
to it what I did to the shield, put it away in my storage space and let it
collect dust."
Rob growled, "fucking Greek."
"What I want from you though is an apology," Percy said with narrowed
eyes, "you insulted my dad and that I something I can't forgive. I want
you to apologize over and over again, whenever I ask you will say,
'Neptune is the greatest, and I am a stupid dumb son of Mars'."
Rob snorted, "fine. I'll say that, I have no problem saying that. If you
win that is, son of Neptune."
The declaration of Percy's parentage instantly set off a chain reaction
inside camp. Everyone started to speak out about him bringing bad
luck and how he wanted to destroy camp.
"Get rid of him!"
"Throw him out!"
"Take his shield and then throw him out!"
Percy rolled his eyes again as Julia went into overdrive trying to control
the people and assure them that everything was taken care of. After
she told them that Percy promised to never use his powers over the
Earth inside camp most calmned down. Some were still furious about
what Percy said about Mars, but they kept quite.
Just then a giant elephant came out of the military encampment and
into the field of Mars. Percy watched the giant thing move slowly as it
dragged forward two 15 foot tall blocks of marble.
"I'm assuming that's Hannibal?" Percy asked.
Julia nodded, "yes."
"You didn't mention he was an elephant."
Julia shrugged and soon the blocks were unloaded. Percy and Rob
stood in front of their respective blocks of marble. Percy gave the
shield to Thalia to hold and Rob gave his spear to Julia.
Behind them the Romans were all cheering, for Rob. They booed
Percy and cried out insults. It continued like that for some time before
Thalia got angry and summoned a bolt of lighting threw it in front of the
crowd shutting them up.
Rob smirked, "if you truly are the leader of the Greeks then that means
your loss will prove that Romans are better."
Percy smirked, "then I'm going to enjoy proving you wrong. And
besides what do you mean Romans are better? You guys basically
plagiarized everything from our cultural and called it your own. You
guys are like the Dane Cooks of cultures. You steal things which aren't
yours and then claim you are better for it somehow."
Rob and the other Romans growled in anger as Thalia face palmed
herself, 'this just turned super bad super fast,' she told herself.
"We will fucking kill you Greek!" someone shouted, but was promptly
ignored by all.
"I'm going to make you eat those words," Rob turned to his block of
marble and drew back his right arm. He stayed perfectly still for a few
seconds before he launched his fist forwards and into the marble
cracking it and forming spider webs that were growing along the stone
block.
Rob took his arm out and shock it, Percy could see blood around his
knuckles. Rob had completely shattered the stone around the area of
impact. Pieces of rocks were knocked loose and were on the ground.
The cracks on the marble reached the edges, but Percy could tell they
weren't really deep.
"Damn," Percy said whistling, "that is impressive."
Rob smirked as he held his throbbing arm, "your god damn right
Greek. You might as well hand that shield over right now."
Percy nodded as he walked around his own marble block, "tempting,
but no." Percy then released all of his six seals causing his strength to
increase exponentially;
Seal Release: Layer 6, Time: 26 hours.
STR- 69,120 (+20)= 69,140
Percy stood to the side facing away from Rob's block of marble and
pressed his hand up on the surface of his marble block. He used as
little force as he could he pushed it forward pressing bother stone
together.
Percy took his hand off the stone and saw his hand print imbedded into
the stone. Percy smirked, he drew back his hand and launched it
forward.
The moment his hand touched the stone the block shattered into
pieces. The force of the punch didn't stop there however as it hit the
stone block next to it destroying that as well.
Pieces of stone flew everywhere as the force of the punch sent them
flying forward like leaves in a hurricane. The marble blocks were
grounded into nothing as a large amount of the marble turned into dust,
only a few pieces remained as a solid, and even then they only were in
the form of small stones.
Percy patted himself, the marble dust was everywhere. He walked
towards the crowd and reactivated his seals.
"So," Percy began looking at the stunned crowd of Romans, "which
one of you wanted to kill me?"
Chapter 436
"Again."
"Neptune is the greatest, and I am a stupid dumb son of Mars."
"Again."
"Neptune is the greatest, and I am a stupid dumb son of Mars."
Percy smiled at Rob, "are you beginning to see the truth?"
Rob nodded, "yes."
"And what is the truth?"
"Neptune is the greatest, and I am a stupid dumb son of Mars."
Percy nodded and turned to the group of Roman demigods, "now, who
the fuck wanted me dead?"
The crowd parted and there standing all alone was a skinny
Legionnaire with his spear clutched tightly to his side. Percy looked at
his title;
George Mathews, Legionnaire
Lv- 14
"So?" Percy asked crossing his arms, "you going to do it or what?"
George gulped, "ah-I ah, I didn't mean-"
"Come on George," Percy smirked as the boy was surprised Percy
knew his name, "come and get me."
"H-how did you know my name?"
Percy smiled an evil smile, "because I'm death. And it's my job to
know the names of all those who are going to die."
"EK!" George said as his eyes rolled to the back of his head before he
fell forward unconscious.
"He killed George!" someone yelled out.
Percy couldn't control himself as he suddenly broke out laughing, "oh
my Gods! He actually fainted! Oh this is too good! He actually fainted!
World's best army my ass!"
"Percy!" Thalia hissed hitting him across the head, "stop scaring
people!"
Percy pouted, "but they started it….."
"I don't care who started it! I'm ending it!" Thalia roared.
"She's crazier than him!" one of the Roman men said.
"Jason," a legionnaire from the 5th cohort called out, "your sister's kind
of hot."
"Shut up Mark!" Jason hissed out as his friend chuckled.
"Now then," Julia walked forward, "this competition is finished. And just
in time too," Julia held up a piece of paper, "I have received word that
the Senate has been assembled, we should go there now."
Percy nodded, "right. Okay then, what are we waiting for?"
"Wait you can't be serious!" Rob called out, "we can't let this guy into
the Senate! He could kill us all with one punch!"
Percy rolled his eyes, "dude we talked about this, I'm not here to fight,
I'm here to make friends."
"You literally wanted to fight a few minutes ago!"
"You insulted my dad," Percy shrugged, "by the way remind me again
what you are."
Rob looked like he was about to argue, but he realised he couldn't. He
had made a deal in front of all these Roman Legionaries and if he
backed out and didn't keep his end of the deal, it could hurt his image.
So Rob sighed, "Neptune is the greatest, and I am a stupid dumb son
of Mars."
Percy nodded, "right. And if it makes you feel any better I promise on
the Styx not to kill anyone while in the Senate, unless provoked or it's
an emergency."
Thunder roared as most looked at Percy in wonder. Percy blinked,
"what?"
"YOU IDIOT!" Thalia roared at him, "how many times do you have to
be told not to swear on the Styx?! And what the hell do you mean by an
emergency?!"
Percy gulped, "you know….in case someone threatens us with a bomb
or something. Or-ah,I don't really know. I just kind of-"
"-Enough," Julia spoke up, "first off Thalia is right, you should have not
done such a thing Jackson, it could mean your life if anything goes
wrong."
Percy shrugged, "I can manage."
Julia nodded, "right, and thank you. The promise does make it easier to
trust you," she turned to the Legionnaires there, "I trust this is enough
for the son of Neptune to do in order to ensure our safety?"
The Legionnaires all agreed and soon they were off.
The went back to the road leading away from the Roman encampment
and towards the far off city Percy saw before. As they drew closer and
closer the images of the houses became more and more clear. The
houses were white with a roof covered with red tiles on top or a domed
roof. Percy could see the beginnings of what looked like a replica of the
Roman Coliseum in the back along with parks and restaurants all over
the place. It truly looked like a piece of heaven had dropped down from
the sky.
As soon as the reached the city limits Percy noticed a marble status in
their way. The Praetors and Legionaries all slowed down and Percy
and Thalia did the same.
"This is the Pomerian Line," Rob explained in a low tone, "basically it's
the borderline of New Rome, beyond it no one is allowed to carry any
weapons."
Percy raised an eyebrow, "I assume it's because they don't want
anyone dead like Julius Caesar?"
Rob nodded, "yeah."
"Single line people! And have your ID's ready when you enter!" The
marble statue suddenly came alive.
Percy studied the statues closely, it was the marble figure of a man
with no arms and everything below his waist was still one big block of
stone. Percy looked at the moving statue's name and title;
Terminus, God of Boundaries
Lv- ?
"Terminus?" Percy asked aloud.
Julia raised an eyebrow, "you know your Roman mythology Percy, yes,
this is Terminus, the God of Boundaries, he guards the Pomerian line
and makes sure no one carries a weapon inside."
Percy nodded as they quickly reached the statue who greeted them.
"Ah Julia, how are you Praetor?"
The Praetor bowed, "fine Terminus, thank you for asking."
Terminus nodded and then looked at Percy and Thalia, "and who are
these two?"
"The boy is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and the girl is Thalia
Grace, daughter of Zeus. They are Greek."
"Greek?!" Terminus shouted in surprise, "you are going to bring Greeks
into New Rome?!"
Percy rolled his eyes, "why does everyone hate us? I mean you don't
even know us and already with the hate."
Terminus grumbled, "I do not hate you boy, I'm just…..weary."
"Right….. Sure you are."
"Enough," Thalia said, "let's get this over with before we have another
fight on our hands."
"Technically that was a challenge, not a fight," Percy clarified which
was rewarded by Thalia glaring at him, 'I am so going to get it now.'
"Right, now where is my assistant? Janet? Janet?!"
"Coming Terminus," a woman called out. She had blonde hair and
green eyes with the same shade as grass. She had just finished
collecting the weapons of the other legionnaires and had them all
stored away on a big cart to the side. The woman turned and walked
towards Percy and his group, "another weapons collection?"
Chapter 437
Terminus nodded, "yes. Now you two, empty your pockets, and don't
try and pretend you don't have any, I can sense them!"
Percy raised an eyebrow, 'I wonder whether he can sense all the
weapons I have hidden inside my inventory?' Percy put his theory to
the side as he took out Waverider and Riptide, both in pen form.
"I don't know whether you can hold on to these," Percy said, "they are
charmed to always return to my pocket."
"I'm sure we can keep them from wandering off," Terminus said as his
blonde assistant took the pens along with Thalia's spear in the form of
a can of mace.
"So can we go?" Percy asked.
"No!" Terminus yelled out, "what's that on your wrist?"
"Me?"
"No not you, the girl!"
Thalia pointed to her braclet, "this?"
The God nodded, "yes that."
"Well it's my shield," Thalai pressed it and activated it causing the
imprinted face of Medusa to appear before them scaring the
Legionnaires along with Terminus.
"Don't do that!" the God yelled out, "that can be considered a
declaration of war!"
Thalia shrugged, "sorry."
"And what's with that hair?! Blue dye is not allowed according to
protocol! And your clothes! The both you are dressed atrociously!"
Percy looked down, "what's wrong with my clothes?"
"It's leather! And your shoes! How do you even run in those! Swap
them out for sandals this instant!"
Percy turned to Julia, "can we go?"
Julia chuckled, "yes."
They turned around and left leaving Terminus yelling for Percy and
Thalia to come back claiming he had more things to tell them. Percy
checked his pockets and found that both his swords hadn't returned to
him, it seemed whatever magic Terminus had blocked the charm both
Riptide and Waverider had.
But just then a familiar weight came into Percy's pocket. Percy looked
in and saw Waverider in there.
"Guys we have to go back," Percy spoke up stopping everyone in their
tracks.
"What? Why?" Rob asked.
Percy held up his pen, "my weapon came back to me."
"What?! How is that even possible?!"
Percy shrugged, "I don't know. Guess the charm on Waverider was too
strong for Terminus to hold back."
The group quickly turned round and walked back to Terminus and his
assistant who were busy freaking out.
"Something wrong?" Percy asked startling both people.
"Yep!" Janet yelled as she covered her hand with her mouth.
"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong, why would you think so?" Terminus
asked though Percy could tell he looked nervous.
"Really? You sure you haven't lost something? Like one of my
weapons?" Percy asked pulling out Waverider.
Janet and Terminus sighed in relief, "oh thank the Gods," Terminus
said, "I thought we lost that! Wait! How did you get that back?!"
"I told you it has a very strong charm on it," Percy explained.
"B-but that's impossible! No mear charm can hold up to the power of a
God!" Terminus looked like he wanted to pull out his own hair, but he
didn't have any hands to do so.
Percy shrugged, "I don't know….so what exactly are we supposed to
do?"
"I don't know! This has never happened before!" Terminus all but
yelled.
"It's alright," Julia spoke up, "he can bring the pen with him."
"What?! Absolutely not!" Terminus shouted, "the rules clearly state that
he is not allowed to bring his weapon inside New Rome!"
"But Terminus he swore an oath not to-"
"Rules are rules!"
Julia sighed and turned to Percy, "I'm sorry. I tried. Is there anyway you
can deactivate your pen's charm?"
Percy scratched his chin, "well…. There is one thing I could do." Percy
then transformed Waverider into it's trident form and stuck the prongs
into the ground. Percy then stepped back slowly, "stay."
Thalia laughed, "you really think that's going to work?"
Percy shrugged, "I hope so."
"Good Gods boy!" Terminus shouted, "where did you get such a
weapon?!" Terminus was staring in awe of Waverider.
"I made it," Percy replied.
"You made that?!" Rob said as he also admired the weapon, "you sure
you aren't the son of Vulcan?"
"Vulcan? Do I look like Mr. Spock?" Percy asked.
"No Percy," Thalia said, "Vulcan is the Roman version of Hephaestus."
"Oh, then no. I am sure I'm not a Vulcan, though the power to paralyze
someone with a touch does sound pretty cool."
"Such power," Terminus continued practically drooling at the weapon,
"truly a weapon fit for a God!"
"Alright then let's move on, the Senate is waiting for us," Rob said as
the group quickly moved forward.
Luckily this time Waverider didn't return to Percy's pocket, the verbal
command to stay must have worked.
Percy entered the city and was immediately struck by how many
people there were inside. Each of them was ether a demigod, a
Legacy, or a former Roman Legionary. Percy wondered what would
happen if anyone attacked New Rome, with no weapons inside the city
the people won't be able to defend themselves. But considering that
every adult here was at least level 20 Percy would guess that the
citizens of New Rome could handle themselves pretty well.
There were many college age kids around, several of them waved at
the legionaries as they passed by. There were parents outside walking
with their kids, the shop keepers were busy trying to score customers.
People were everywhere hanging around fountains talking, relaxing,
and just having a good time.
"This place is amazing," Thalia said looking at everything in wonder.
"Yes it is," Julia nodded in agreement, "most would say this is worth the
10 years of service required to enter."
"Do the Greeks not have something like this?" Rob asked snarkily.
Percy shook his head, "no. But I'm beginning to think that maybe I
should build one."
"Build one? You're just going to build a city?" Rob asked skeptically.
Percy nodded, "yeah. I am," Percy looked around as he saw demigod
couples everywhere enjoying life.
From a military standpoint this made sense. Have a place for soldiers
to rest after war and if the time comes you can call on them again. And
any child they have will also automatically join in the war, that is
probably why there are so many members of the Roman camp when
compared to the Greek camp.
Chapter 438
Since the Roman demigods get to retire and live a life, they get to have
children, who are also accepted into the camp, making sure that the
Legion never ran out of members.
But it wasn't just that. He wanted this life for himself and the other
demigods, a future where they could be safe. When all the war and
fighting was over, just a place for them to retire to.
Ping!
Legendary Quest Alert!
Create a safe Haven for the Greek mythology!
Requirements for the Quest to be considered complete;
Obtain a minimum of 6 Km stretch of land under your name
Establish a barrier around said piece of land. (Note: Barrier
should be strong enough to not let high level monster inside.)
Build a minimum of 20 buildings
Have enough living room for 100 people.
Have the basic utilities needed for living, (Water, Electricity,
Drainage, Hospital, Pool, Wifi, Wifi, Wifi)
Establish a college and shcool inside the Haven
Name the Haven
Rewards,
10,000,000 Exp
300 Points
20 Level Skill disk (5)
10 Level Skill disk (5)
5 Level Skill disk (5)
1 Level Skill disk (5)
Failure,
All the Greek demigods will die young and will never see old age.
Personal guilt
Do you accept?
YES/NO?
Percy's eyes shot open so quickly he felt like his eyelids were about to
tear open. '10 million Exp?! Fuck yes I want to accept!'
Percy pressed yes and the box dissolved itself. Percy smiled until
suddenly realization dawned on him. 'Wait….I have to build a city?!
What the fuck?! How do I do that?! I can't even build a shelf!'
Percy was ripping his hair and hitting himself in the face over and over
again while Thalia and Julia looked at him from afar.
"Should we try and stop him?" Julia asked.
Thalia shook her head, "it's times like this when I learnt that the best
thing you can hope for is for Percy to just calm himself down."
And sure enough, like a switch had been flipped, Percy suddenly
straightened up and a look of calm fell over his face. He had activated
his Gamer's mind and used it to calm himself.
'Okay think Percy think. The first thing you need is funds. Lots and lots
of money. Okay that won't be a problem. I have a freaking treasure
chest filled with gold, good thing I didn't give it to Chiron yet. I can use
the Gold to buy the land to build the haven on. Then I need to build
actual buildings…..maybe I can get the Hephaestus kids to help me
with that. Maybe they could draw up the designs and I can build it
myself, or even ask Annabeth. That's it! I'll ask Annabeth! I'll get the
designs from her and build it myself!. After all I do have super strength
and super speed, what else do I need?'
Percy kept thinking about his new problem and soon they reached
Senate building. The building itself was located on the west of the
Forum, which was basically the heart of the City. The building had a
white-dome on top with pillars holding up the ceiling. The steps leading
up to the senate was also marble and looked polished form frequent
use.
The Legionaries and Percy entered the Senate and inside reminded
Percy of a mix between a high school lecture hall and the Amphitheater
back at Camp Half-Blood. The hall was in the shape of a semi circle
filled with cushioned seats all facing the raised stage on which was a
podium and two chairs.
The Legionnaires quickly took the seats on the left of the stage near
the back, while Julia and Rob lead Percy and Thalia towards the front
rows. There Percy saw the front row was also occupied by ten other
senate members most of whom were all older demigods, one even
looked around 50, which meant Edward Neak wasn't the oldest
demigod Percy had ever seen, this guy was.
Julia and Rob got onto the stage and the Greek demigods followed
them.
"Ah hm," Julia cleared her throat but no one paid her any attention.
Many of the senators were discussing amongst themselves.
"Attention!" Rob shouted startling everyone with his booming voice.
Percy simply raised an eyebrow, if he remembered correctly Rob had a
thing for Julia, ah the things we do for love.
"Thank you," Julia nodded to Rob, "now senators I am sure you are all
wondering why I have gathered you all here today."
"Is it about the Greeks that have supposedly come into camp?" one of
the senators, an older man with black hair and a thick beard asked.
Percy looked at the man's name and title;
Edgar Winston, Son of Mercury
Lv- 27
'Wow, a son of Hermes,' Percy realised, 'I never would have guessed.
He doesn't quite look the part.'
It was true, Edgar was frowning, and that was scary. Percy had rarely
ever seen a son of Hermes frown, the last one he saw frowning was
Luke, and that was when Luke had to go back to spy on Kronos.
Julia nodded, "yes, it is Edgar."
"Are the two behind the Greeks?" another senator asked. A chubby
man with brown hair and a sweaty brow. Charles Lame, son of
Bacchus.
"Yes, they are," Julia stepped to the side, "make your case."
Thalia and Percy nodded and stepped up.
"You want to take this?" Percy asked in a whisper.
"Why?" Thalia asked.
"Your a daughter of Jupiter, they like Jupiter. Plus I might accidently
piss them off, again."
Thalia nodded as she spoke up, "Romans, greetings. I am Thalia
Grace, daughter of Zeus, or in your case, daughter of Jupiter."
The senate went into a ruckus, everyone started talking about Thalia
and what she represented.
"I have come from the Greek equivalent of Camp Jupiter, camp Half-
Blood," Thalia continued, "we were sent here by the Gods in order to
form an alliance against Kronos-I mean Saturn, and his forces."
"Why should we trust you?" one of the Senate members asked.
"Because Kronos wants us dead just as much as he wants you," Thalia
shot back.
"And what guarantee can you make that you will not betray us?"
"Simple," Thalia crossed her arms, "mutually assured destruction. If we
betray you then we won't have the manpower to stand up to Kronos."
"Then why should we ally ourselves with you?" another voice asked.
This time it was a blonde boy who was so thin Percy wondered he was
just a skeleton wearing a human face. His name and title floated above
his head;
Octavian, Legacy of Apollo
Lv- 13
"What do you mean?" asked Thalia surprised.
"I mean you are Greeks," Octavian spat out with hate dripping out of
his tongue. Percy was impressed, for a 11 year old he certainly had a
lot of hate to give out. "And we all know how Greeks are," Octavian
said addressing everyone in the room, "she will back stab us the
moment we have our backs turned!"
Thalia raised an eyebrow, "we are allied with the gods. If you don't ally
yourself with us that means you do not ally yourself with the Gods.
Does that mean Camp Jupiter wishes to ally itself with the Titans?"
Chapter 439
"What?! No!" Octavian shouted.
"Really? Because that's what it sounds like to me," Thalia said
narrowing her eyes at him.
"I-I didn't mean it like that! I jus-"
"-Give up kid," Percy spoke, "you lost this one."
Octavian blushed and sat back down. Percy could tell the hate hadn't
gone anywhere, it was still there, festering, growing. 'Maybe I should
keep an eye out for this guy.'
"Yes, like I said we need to come together on this," Thalia said,
"Romans, Greeks, together."
Many of the Senators spoke and most were looking uncertain when
suddenly Julia stepped in.
"Senators before you give an answer I must tell you one thing," Julia
then proceeded to explain to them what Percy had done. How he
casually swore by the Styx to non violence in the Senate and how she
believed he genuinely wanted peace between the camp.
While before the Senators looked suspicious, the mention of Percy's
oaths swayed them towards trust rather than doubt.
"See," Percy whispered into Thalia's ear, "it all worked out well in the
end."
Thalia glared at Percy, "don't think you got off easy Mr. I am still going
to kick your ass when we get back to camp."
When Julia was done the Senate began to talk amongst themselves
again. Finally Edgar got up, "we understand you all wish to join forces,
and the fact that you are willing to swear on the Styx to that is truly
impressive. But you have to understand, we have spent thousands of
years fighting and fear the Greeks. We need to be sure of your
commitment."
"What do we have to do to prove ourselves?" Thalia asked.
"Simple," Edgar replied, "what do you know off the symbol of our
camp?"
"You can't be serious!" Julia cried out, "Edgar that is suicide!" Even
Rob nodded, the look on his face told Percy he was scared for them.
"We need to be sure they are on our side Julia," Edgar simply repeated
himself, "this will prove their power and their loyalty."
"But Edgar-"
"-Enough!" the man said in a harsh tone shutting Julia down. He turned
to Percy and Thalia, "so what do you know of our camp's symbol?"
Percy and Thalia shared a look. "Nothing," Thalia admitted.
"Then it is time I gave you a history lesson," Edgar said as he began
his tale, "you see we have lost something, something of great value to
the whole camp."
"Yeah, thanks to the fifth cohort!" a Ghost floating in the back spat out.
Jason and the other Legionnaires of the 5th bowed their heads in
disgrace, but Edgar ignored them.
"This symbol was a large Eagle made out of Imperial Gold-"
"-Wait," Thalia interrupted, "Imperial Gold?"
Egar and the other Romans looked surprised, "yes….you have never
heard of this?"
Percy and Thalia shook their heads, "we mainly use celestial bronze
weapons in the Greek camps."
Edgar and the other campers nodded, "I see… well the imperial gold
was a metal made during the time of ancient Rome. It was made by the
priests of the time using very ancient and powerful sorcery to create it."
'Like Waverider,' Percy realised as he idly wondered whether about the
process of creating the metal. Percy remembered that he had an
imperial gold spear stored somewhere in his inventory, maybe he
should check it out later.
"Imperial Gold was Rome's answer to Celestial bronze, which was rare
itself. We used to have more…, but after the incident with the Fifth
cohort and the Eagle..."
"What happened?" Percy asked, his curiosity peaked.
"There was a Praetor, Marcus Varus from the fifth cohort. He believed
himself to be part of the prophecy of seven and wished to bring glory to
the camp to fulfill it."
"I'm sorry prophecy of seven?" Percy asked.
Edgar sighed, "it is an ancient prophecy, with no signs of being fulfilled
any time soon. But that is not important. What is important is that
Marcus believed himself to be one of the chosen demigods in the
prophecy. He consulted with an Augur-"
"-An oracle," Julia supplied seeing Percy and Thalia's confused faces.
"-And he found that the answers he needed was in Alaska. So Marcus,
in his hubris, took the whole of fifth cohort, most of our imperial gold
weapons and the Eagle itself and set out to prove himself…..he never
came back. He disappeared in that land, no one knows what happened
to him."
Percy narrowed his eyes, "wait that doesn't make sense. How can
someone just disappear like that?"
"Alaska is the land beyond the Gods," Julia explained, "once Marcus
went there the Gods could not help him. Whatever killed him managed
to stay hidden up there, scouts found not a trace of the missing cohort,
the weapons or the Eagle."
"What's so important about this Eagle anyway?" Thalia asked, "isn't it
just a big decoration piece?"
"It is more than just that," Rob said, "it is fused with the powers of the
Gods themselves."
Percy's eyes widened, "so that means-"
"Yes," Edgar nodded, "the Eagle that was stolen was empowered by
Jupiter," he turned to Thalia, "your father. The Eagle would destroy all
the enemies of Rome in it's path, victory was always guaranteed when
the Eagle was at the head of our army. We lost it once before, but
luckily we found it. The second time we lost it…..it stayed lost."
"So you want us to go to Alaska and get your Eagle back?" Percy
asked.
Edgar and the other senators nodded, "yes."
"Although it is understandable that you may not be able to do so,"
Octavian spoke up, "after all Alaska is a very big place. And if the entire
Roman legion can't find it, what luck are two Greeks going to have?"
Percy and Thalia shared a look. "Do you want to take this quest?"
Percy asked.
"Do you?"
Percy gave her a smile, "I'm always up for an adventure."
Thalia smiled back, "so am I."
Ping!
Quest Alert!
Go to Alaska, find and retrieve the Golden Eagle!
Rewards,
You will be considered as a friend of the 12th Roman Legion
forever
Honorary membership
200,000 Exp
10 points
Failure,
Your death
Alcyoneus will be released onto the world.
Do you accept?
YES/NO?
Percy was surprised reading the failure option, 'who the hell is
Alcyoneus?' Percy wondered as he pressed yes.
Chapter 440
"We accept," Thalia spoke out surprising the Senators and the
Praetors.
"Are you sure?" Julia asked, "it will be dangerous, I can't guarantee
your life."
"We'll be fine," Percy assured her, "it's going to take a lot to put us
down."
Thalia nodded, "yeah," she turned to the Senators, "just to be clear, we
get this giant golden Eagle for you and you agree to become our allies
in this war?"
"We were already allies," Edgar said, "this will just prove to us that we
can trust you."
Percy nodded, "understandable. Just because we both serve the Gods
doesn't mean we like each other. Hopefully our success in this quest
will change your mind."
Edgar nodded, "yes, hopefully."
With that the Senate meeting was dismissed and Julia approached
Percy and Thalia, "do you have any idea what you two just did?" she
hissed out.
"I am assuming we did something very stupid," Percy said with a shrug.
"Not just that," Julia shot him a glare, "you also endangered this fragile
alliance. If you had denied this quest then the Roman would have still
worked with you! Couldn't have ever said no to your request! Edgar is
an old fool, he remembers his brother dying in the fifth cohort during
the expedition of 85, that's why he tricked you into this! And you two
feel right into his trap!"
Percy and Thalia looked down, "we're sorry."
"But in our defence he did have a point," Thalia said.
"We need to prove to them that they can trust us," Percy said with a
node, "and this is the only way."
Julia rubbed her temples, "Gods give me strength."
"Excuse me," Jason spoke up, "but I would like to join this quest."
Everyone looked at Jason, the boy looked confident, ready. Thalia
spoke up, "Jason it's too dangerous."
"It would be easier with the three of us," Jason replied.
"Not really," Thalia shook her head at her brother, "Percy and I have
been training together for a long time. We know each other's moves
and powers. If you come you would just get in the way."
Jason was stumped that his sister just said that, "b-but-"
"-Enough Legionnaire Jason," Julia spoke, "she is right. Plus this is a
quest for the Greeks, they have to do this alone."
"But why?!" Jason asked in anger, "I just found my sister and now she's
suddenly going on this dangerous mission and I can't do anything to
help her!"
"Relax Jason," Percy said stepping up with a calming smile on his face,
"nothing is going to happen to Thalia as long as I'm around. I promise, I
would sooner die than let anything bad happen to her."
Jason looked surprised, "w-why would you promise something like
that?"
"Because I care for her, duh," Percy said bringing a fist up, "so we have
a deal Jason?"
Jason looked unsure when Thalia spoke up, "I would take up the deal
Jason," she smiled, "after all Percy was responsible for reviveing me in
the first place. And I happen to know for a fact that he always does his
best to keep his promises."
The blonde boy looked at the first. He smiled as he fist bumped Percy,
"yeah, we have a deal."
Percy nodded and soon the group moved out of the Senate. The group
of legionnaires following them quickly broke up into little groups flying
all around New Rome and Camp Jupiter to spread the news about the
quest given to the Greeks.
Julia and Rob lead Percy and Thalia into a cafe and bought them
coffee and some snacks to eat. Percy offered to pay, but Julia refused.
In her words, 'consider it a last meal of sorts.'
Percy really didn't appreciate the lack of confidence. Jason joined the
Praetors and the Greek demigods and they all sat down near a corner
of the cafe. They immediately started talking about the quest.
"So do you two have any idea on where to even start?" Rob asked as
he sipped his triple shot espresso.
"No," Thalia admitted as she and Jason shared a lemon square,
something that brought back fond memories of the past for the siblings.
"I think I might," Percy said remembering back to what he read about
Alcyoneus guy. The name sounded familiar but Percy had no idea why.
"What is it?" Julia asked.
"A name," Percy said, "I don't know how it's related to the quest, I just
know that it is."
"And the name?"
"Alcyoneus."
"Never heard of him," Julia said shivering from the cold. Was it just her
or did the temperature in the room drop?
Percy noticed the room had gotten cold the moment the name
'Alcyoneus' was mentioned. The others explained it off as a breeze, but
Percy knew better. This name had something to do with the quest. If he
was to guess it was the name of the monster that the expedition of 85
faced and died too. Meaning he needed to get as much information he
could about this monster.
"Do you guys have a library?" Percy asked.
Rob nodded, "obviously. We have a college here and you don't think
we would have a library?"
Percy glared at him, "fine, I'll admit that was a stupid question."
"Maybe it would be best to split up," Thalia said, "if we are going to
Alaska we will need clothes and other provisions."
Percy nodded, "right. How about you get the clothes and other items
we might need. Like a map."
Thalia nodded, "I saw a clothes store a few buildings down. I can go
there."
"And I'll go to the library and dig up all I can about this Alcyoneus guy.
Hopefull I can find out something that will lead us right to him."
Thalia nodded, "you have cash?"
"How much do you need?"
"A thousand bucks, just to be safe." Percy nodded and took out the
amount from his inventory and gave it to her without a second's
hesitation.
"And what about finding out where this guy is?" Thalia asked.
"I think I might know of a way to find out where he is," Percy replied
scratching his head, "what about transportation?"
"Couldn't you just take us there the way you brought us here?"
Percy shook his head, "way too far for me. Boat?"
"Do I have to?'
"Would you rather fly?"
"Boat it is. How are we going to get a boat?"
Percy turned to Julia and Rob, "can we borrow a boat?"
"Ah, we don't exactly have a boat," Julia said.
"Hm, fine. Maybe I can ask dad for a favour," Percy grumbled out, "I'll
ask him later tonight." Thalia nodded and just like that they had formed
their plans for the quest.