Been a while since I wrote fanfiction in the PJOverse, and it will be a while as I try to figure out just how I do it.
In the meantime, I thought I'd make something of the attempted drafts of mine for my basic ideas and post them. The ideas are adoptable, and perhaps they can give people ideas of what to do.
The general gist of it is I have two ideas for possible stories. This and the second one posted will be based on the second rough idea, which you could call the _ Wars.
Note now that these will contain elements of The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase, as well as very likely the R.R presents series of stories.
The _Wars Draft 1: The Assault on New Rome
He had toiled and prepared for this moment for decades.
In the shadows of all, he had been gathering the information and skills he would need to save the world. To remove the chains that choked them all.
The chains that would one day kill them all.
Was he the only one who saw how wrong it was?
Regardless, he would fix it.
The Chaos Circuit would be formed.
His hands rose from their task, symbols floating from his lengthy fingers as they infused his creation.
He stood back as the runes and the hieroglyphs flowed into the clay, causing the construct to glow. It expanded, taking on the rough form of a man.
Its left hand was a sword, clay made but sharp.
The right hand a shield, thick and strong, but lightweight and nimble.
The construct took its first step, as a smile came across his face.
"I figure that would be enough time to perfect, if I'd say. 5000 Shabti will do for the first great act. You will find your brothers at the Obelisk. Take a position and await your commanders instruction." He told the construct, who stomped away in an orderly fashion as his gaze turned to the wall.
The throbbing wall, upon which three sacs grew from it.
Within were the commanders. The first recruits, found only after he obtained the solution.
They would not the last.
"You came to me as the raw potential that is the greatest being in all realms: a Demigod. A mortal's lack of restraint, a god's powers and access, with them you are capable of being everything and anything! It is but your limited time and the limits on your powers that weaken you. However you have been perfected! Your powers stand greater than any of your kind, while you are still unbound by the restraints of ancient rules and repetitive minds! As I promised, you are the first to lead the world to an actual future! Awaken and be reborn: The Perceptive, The Mighty, and The Duality"
The pods hissed, releasing golden steam that smelled of ichor and blood. A line seamed the pods, as they exploded into a deluge of liquids.
And out of them came hands.
From the leftmost pod emerged a girl, her skin the color of the earth. Her eyes were pure white, though he could tell she could see perfectly. Even better than when she had found her. Her body was slim, but power could be felt from her arms. Her eyes briefly widened, a minute reaction that belayed the extent of what she was now seeing. She stood stoicly, waiting for him to speak and uncaring of being in but a sports bra and undergarment.
The center had a pair of arms that were muscled greatly, echoed by a bellow from the ginger head that followed. The bellow came but from sheer power as he marveled at a body that had added to his already respectable height and muscle mass. The bellow he was making was in sheer appreciation of what he felt of himself, even as electricity sparked along his extensive covering of hair along his arms, chest, and side burns. He suspected that the power bellow was distracting him from the fact he only was in a pair of white briefs.
The rightmost arm stood between the two, between pale and the color of the earth, as it did in extreme of musculature. The youth that stepped out moved with both control and power, even as a pair of blue eyes made it seem control was all there was. But he could see the tension just below the eyes, waiting to snap in the direction required like a rubber band of death. His brow moved with the inquisitive observation of a high intellect, observing his own body, and that of the others in the speed it took a lesser mind to note one. He was clad in boxers.
To them he outstretched his long fingers as he spoke.
"As I promised, I have delivered. You were unfortunate to have been born Norse: the powers are less flashy than many of their others. The powers of war gods are hardly special, in comparison to tricksters and sea rulers and masters of the end. Jotunn simply don't sleep with humans much, they seem to lack the universal godly turn on that is pun-inducing names. But I have fixed it, and now you stand beyond even Hercules in your power. You owe many things to it, among them to Chaos Circuit."
"Is that wise? The Chaos Circuit is needed to save the world. To use it on is..." The rightmost, the Warrior, observed with some concern.
"The Chaos Circuit is fed constantly. Even with the Titans defeated, the lingering clashes of monsters and Demigods that occur are enough to fuel your rebirths without setback. However as it stands it will take far too long to fuel the Circuit. Chaos must be generated in great concentrations to reach our goal, and before it is placed in peril. The Earth stirs with the spawn of evil, and other ill omens stir from the Sea of Chaos to Lyngvi. Action is needed."
"And it shall be taken. Where must we go to do it?" The leftmost, the Perceptive, inquired with a focused tone as he nodded.
"Not only must we strike at concentrations of order to make chaos truly flow, but we must strike at the forces that put the world at risk by their stagnation. The world knows great danger when it is not just gods that are inflexible."
"So it's the Per Ankh then?" The center, the Mighty, declared with an eager cracking of his fists together. Their impact unleashed a wave of force that ruffled all their hairs, and filled the air with a sizzling sound.
"Eventually, yes. The House of Life has become a House of Cancer, and must be destroyed and rebuilt. However we are not ready to face their organization. We need not 360 such as yourself, but you alone are not enough to take it down, let alone do we have enough under us. No, we will take on a smaller, more concentrated target."
"New Rome." The Duality surmised.
"Yes. The Legion is bloated with the chains of legacy politics. It must be dealt with. The fall of Order to Chaos will greatly feed the Chaos Circuit."
"Romans huh...that won't be any fun? Can any of them actually fight?" The Mighty almost pouted.
"You will see your battle. There exist three beings whose clash you would cherish: one is still developing her potential and another is but a wandering visitor, a hero of Greece invested in the raw potential mentioned before. They have the bond of blood. He may not even be there, while I suspect she would be one to take to our side. That leaves the Champion of Rome, perhaps Jason Grace will give you a true show of your great power."
"Jason Grace...I'll remember that." The Might grinned as he extended his long fingers before the three of them, as they glowed with the powers of many magics.
"You have 5000 Shabti, you may recruit as you please. Be wary of those whose loyalty may be tied, to the Earth or to the Emperors still living. Remember that monsters may be of chaos, but it is not to any end. You must direct them, or they will hinder you as much as an enemy."
The light faded, as the three were made ready for the battle to come.
And the battles after it.
The Perceptive was now garbed in black, her legs to her shoulders garbed in a fabric that was light and silent, not making a sound as she moved her limbs in testing motions. In her left hand had appeared a bow of similar color, which the Perceptive strung out of curiosity. A light smile appeared on her face as she felt the tension in the string, and even more so as a eerily rainbow light formed in the string, an arrow formed from the Bifrost itself.
Nothing would like to feel the burning death such a arrow would bring upon impact. Few could hope to survive it.
The Mighty he admitted to taking a shortcut. The clothing of his father: the dark jerkin, the metal gauntlets, and the exposed arms and upper chest hair would make it quite clear he was the son of Thor. Thor was a God he could admire, and the Mighty had no issue with his choice of get up. He seemed to quite appreciate the hammer that had appeared in his hand: a war hammer as long as many a spear, tipped with a hammer end large enough to cover the face of a hound. Mighty spun the hammer like a baton, despite the great weight it carried, and grinned as he felt just how powerful it would be simply to slam it into the earth with his full force.
He could see an entire Phalanx collapse from the shock wave alone.
The Duality was garbed in a cloak of cotton, underneath which stood the simple garb of a swordsman. Sheathed at his hip was a sword, shimmering as did all Imperial Gold. It was a Long Sword, a fitting weapon to defeat the Gladius. His right hand held a long wooden staff, the weapon of a master of the magical arts. He used his left hand to feel at his backside, where a sheath for the staff lay in case of it being needed.
The blade and the spell were equal weapons to him.
"We shall leave for New Rome immediately. It will fall within three days." The Duality told him confidently.
"Having the Legion fall within a week is fine. All I care for is that the Chaos Circuit is fed." With that, the three sped in the path that the 5000th had walked.
The world will live. No matter what had to fall to save it, the world would live.
The night was not going as Nico had expected it to.
The week had been weird enough as it was. Wednesday had him spend dinner with Percy, his mother, and his step father. Nico wasn't sure what he should feel about such things.
On the one hand, he liked being fed, and there was something nice about Percy wanting to include him in things.
Percy was...a complicated subject for him, but one thing he could always say was that Percy never ignored him or wanted him to go away. It was more like 'I'm enduring art museums with Annabeth, hanging with Grover, teaching young Demigods, being pointed at Monsters to stab, and randomly made to go find Apollo's backup singers and I barely have enough time for high school' sort of thing, which Nico was torn if he'd rather have Percy just ignore him.
On the other hand, feelings. Just...feelings.
That wasn't even going into Thursday. The only good thing about Thursday was Persephone didn't blame him in particular for what happened, and he probably would retain his status as a member of Kingdom Animalia for the time being.
Saturday was supposed to be a normal day. He'd go to New Rome, get lunch with Hazel, avoid being pick-pocketed by Fauns, normal stuff.
New Rome being on fire was not normal. Not even on chariot nights.
"Rrrgh!"
Not was it being filled with clay soldiers with swords for arms, swinging the blades around. The one attacking him was parlayed and sliced, but two more were coming his way, staring at him with fake eyes.
Not missing eyes, not controlled eyes, fake eyes. Like something made out of clay. Which perhaps made sense, but it was still bizarre.
"Hazel, how's popping these things going!" From within a formation Gwen shouted behind her, where Hazel was out of immediate striking range as a solid bunch of the remaining members of the 5th Cohort were defending her.
The reasons was simple, as the two clay soldiers coming his way exploded from within as his sister blew them up from their clay insides out, even as the clang of swords against shields showed dozens more going at the formation.
"There is something protecting these things! I can get through it, but it isn't normal!" Hazel shouted frantically.
It was probably the same thing that was keeping him from rising up an army of the dead to help them. It was still possibly something in this city, but at regardless the lack of undead warriors to aide them was not good.
Still, his other powers were working fine, given the three clay soldiers that fell due to the lances of shadow he stabbed through them...
The distant sound of an arrow flying his way caused him to instinctively raise a wall of earth in front of him. It rose just as the arrow struck, sending him flying back and crashing into a ruined coffee shop with all the fun impact of a Mrs. O'Leary tackle.
Without the tongue.
From the remains of the wall hung a colorful haze, even as another arrow swished through the air.
Not at him this time though, it went straight for the formation.
Landing right in the chink of the other Centurion, Dakota.
His scream of pain was met with the sound of something fizzling, as his skin began to glow a rainbow color, much like what was hanging around the rocks. The rest of the Legion barely had time to jump out of the way as Dakota, for lack of a better word, exploded.
His armor sent flying did knock a clay soldier away from one of the 5th cohort before Hazel blew it up, but it was hardly worth it.
Because the clay soldiers kept coming, and now they had a sniper on their hands. A sniper that made you explode like one of those candies the Hermes kids put in soda bottles.
She stood atop the Aqueduct on the northern edge of New Rome. From there, she could see every legionnaire.
Every citizen.
Every thing in New Rome, in Camp Jupiter...even beyond into the hills.
She could see the mole on the 1st cohort's foot, could she hit it?
She strung her bow, smelling the burning scent of the Bifrost from which she forged her arrows. She fired it.
A smile came upon her lips as she saw that she, indeed, could hit the mole on his foot.
"We should probably strike down the temples too. Concentrate on those for a while: I want to see what the Romans will do next." She was told. She acknowledged, and turned her bow towards the temple of Jupiter.
What a gaudy thing, she would hit it first in the right pinkie toe. Beside her, she noted the staff of her partner glow with magic.
"The girl we were warned about keeps breaking through my protective enchantments. I can't give it more power without risking her brother summoning the armies of death."
"I can take care of her." She declared as she noted the melting foot of the failure king. She'd go for his left eye next.
"No...I'd rather not. I think she could be recruited. She and her brother...surely they can see the reason we fight. They could become like us: The Riches would be a good title for her, and I'd probably think of something for her brother after we are done here. Try not to kill him either if you can."
She nodded in acknowledgement as she sent a burning arrow at the weak spot of the burning statue's temple. The resounding crash that followed seconds later was enjoyable.
"Can you keep him from doing anything to them?" She inquired as she moved her sights to Janus's temple next.
Her partner shook his head in merry amusement.
"I doubt he'd kill them too quickly. They aren't mere legacies, he'd find fighting them fun. He'll take his time: he doesn't go for limbs like you do."
True. He was very inefficient like that.
He swung his hammer.
Celestial Bronze-Blood Steel alloy crushed a Legacy's armor like paper.
From what he understood, his hammer had just taken the life of the Centurion of the 2nd Cohort. His name was Larry.
Larry was an unworthy fight. Legacies were all like that. None were impressive.
The sound of shattering dirt from behind caught his attention before he could pursue the dozen remaining of Larry's cohort as they fled from him.
It was a vine, now choking his neck.
A vine, interesting. This might be good. He'd let the Shabti kill those Legacies, this could only a Demigod.
"Die!" A female voice told him as the vines tightened around his neck.
He tapped the vines with his hands. They sizzled before exploding with electrical force, as he turned around to face the one who had attacked him.
"Tell me your name." He told the Centurion behind him, who glared at him as more legionaires came up behind her from the shadows of the burning buildings.
"Leila, Daughter of Ceres! Daughter of Rome! Centurion of the 4th Cohort, veteran of the destruction of Mount Othrys! You have killed enough tonight, now you will die."
"A demigod, finally!" He declared in response as he swung his hammer. His sheer force stewed up a gust that knocked several of her fellows back, but she held firm with difficulty.
Clearly there were more of them to find, and of better quality, the lower you went. The higher cohorts were for legacies and the pet demigods of Legacies, it was down below where the true talent was.
"For choking me with your power, you are the first Roman to make a true effort against me. I'll remember your name when Rome has fallen." He declared as he charged at the line, hammer swinging with arcs of electricity cracking along it.
She held her own weapon up to counter him, and he couldn't be happier about it.
At least four hundred of the clay soldiers had fallen to them, but the 5th Cohort was not looking so hot.
Not counting himself, Gwen had only twenty left among what was supposed to be twice that many. Hazel was still alive, and after him she probably had been doing the best, but most of the others were being looked at by the two medics among them.
It was a quiet period, at least around them. In the distance Nico could hear the thunder of Jason Grace, and the burning of the temples.
"Ambassador." Gwen spoke up, getting his attention. He looked at the remaining Centurion, who was looking at him with a calculating, almost hopeful look.
"Yes?" It was weird, having people look at you like that. Was that how people looked at Percy?
"Can you leave?" She asked. Nico blinked at the response, before giving her a dark glance.
"I'm not leaving my sister to die here." He told her darkly. Paling, Gwen shook her head rapidly.
"No, no, that's not what I meant at all. I was wondering if...you can get help?"
He wanted to tell her no, no he couldn't. Even if he knew Roman aligned groups outside of here, he couldn't shadow travel in an entire army. That would kill him, and he'd probably scatter them all in China for all the good it would do.
He also wasn't Percy: he didn't have friends. He couldn't go up to random groups and go 'hey, it's Percy. I'm the guy everyone likes, even the man hating asexual archeress, my uncle who is sadly not blue and voiced by James Woods, and Hera to some extent: I need some help fighting evil'. He was the sort of thing people stabbed, not help stab other things.
And what was he supposed to do: go up to people and tell them to go help a random group of complete strangers from mythological death? The only one who'd jump at that would be Percy...
He sighed as that thought ran through him.
"...I could, I think I know someone. He's...not really legion material, but he's a friend. He'd definitely help, but there would be consequences bringing him here."
"It can't be worst than this!" Another member of the 5th cohort declared as the sound of the Senate House exploding went off in the distance.
"He's the Son of Neptune." Nico half lied as he noticed a few legionaries exchange nervous looks. Hazel was looking at him in surprise, though more in a 'you have a friend?' sort of way.
It was a deserved comment, he had to admit.
"Well a flood would actually help right now I think. Get him Ambassador." Gwen told him seriously.
Nico nodded, aware of what he must do.
Well, hopefully by the time this was all over Octavian would at least be dead. Then he might be able to get out of this with Hazel alive and no demigod civil war.
And so, he vanished into the darkness.
"The Son of Hades vanished. The Centurion sent him for reinforcements."
Her declaration was met by a curious breath from her partner, who stretched out his sword hand.
"Interesting...I wasn't aware Rome had allies. They hardly possess Hunters, nor Centaurs, to call buddy buddy. The Amazons perhaps?"
"The Amazons have Arion." she checked.
"I see, but I doubt even Arion can save Rome now. He can pull great weights, but putting him a chariot is impossible to any Amazon right now, nor the son of Hades. It was a desperate move by the Centurion, and a gamble that will fail. I'd be more concerned with the army of wolves descending behind us."
She had already noticed them, and had already fired an arrow. It would take a few more to drive them off, but those reinforcements would not save New Rome.
As would the ones called by Centurion Gwendolyn.
Nico shadow traveled into his room.
One minute he was alone, admiring the custom New York Rangers Jersey he had won at Goode. Jackson 16 it said.
Winning contests were always good after all, he had won very few.
It had also come with hockey tickets: three specifically. While his mom and Paul were busy, he'd probably share them with some camp friends.
Nico appearing was good for that.
"Nico, I wasn't expecting you, but this is actually good timing. Want to go to a hockey game?"
Nico stared at him in confusion at the random hockey invite, but shook his head and told him in rushed breath.
"I need your help."
It was after Nico's comment that Percy noticed that Nico's clothing looked...beat up. Like he was just in a fight.
A big fight.
"I need you to come with me immediately..." Nico didn't have to continue as his new jersey was immediately removed. Nico gave him an odd look as he grabbed his Camp shirt and armor from under his bed.
It was a odd combination of mortification, and that look Annabeth gave him when he wore plad on that date that one time, at least before he explained what happened to the rest of his clothing.
Good thing his parents were out of town right now, shouting that he had to go into a massive fight with Nico wasn't something his mom always took that well.
Moments after his armor was fastened on, and Nico's face regained its lack of color (though where the color came from on Nico's face for a brief moment eluded him), Nico grabbed him and they entered the shadows.
Another arrow whistled towards Reyna.
Jason Grace could sense it flying through the air, and so formed another wall of air a few yards in front of her.
The air blocked the arrow, which exploded into rainbow fire and rained down on more ruined buildings.
The explosion jolted her, but she sent a nod his way before hacking down another one of the clay soldiers.
The moment no one was looking, he took a ragged breath that was sorely needed.
How many of those had be blocked? How many more could he block?
"Praetor..." A young voice spoke behind him. He looked over his shoulder, and stood up taller as he noted who were behind him.
The children of New Rome, all he could find and save, were behind him, covered by the husk of a mostly in tact building. The future of New Rome, the children of veterans.
Most likely orphans now.
"Don't worry. We'll make it out of this." he told them confidently, at least to their ears, before turning back around as a clay soldier lunged at him.
Ilvis took care of it with a sharp stabbing motion, the clay soldier collapsing as he heard another arrow fly their way.
He had learned from past attempts that he had to put his air constructs in the path it would be going pretty far, and thus the arrow exploded a bit too close to the remains of the 1st cohort for his liking, sending Micheal Kahele tumbling but otherwise alive.
"A little faster next time, would you care to try?" He heard Octavian shout his way from the last bits of the Legion defending itself to the last.
Why he was still alive was a question he'd ask Juno, should he survive this.
Still, the arrow made him realize something...the arrows were not flying his way.
Why?
"The answer to that is simple." A voice told him as the air in front of him shimmered. He held Ilvis in his hands tensely as a figure walked out.
Clad in a cloak, the figure had a staff in hand which he quickly stowed behind him as he reached for a sword at his hip.
"Directly blowing up children is a bit...excessive."
"If you are claiming that you don't hurt children, you're a bit late to claim that." Jason told this person darkly as a face stared back at him that wasn't much older than him, if at all. He drew a Imperial Gold Sword, though not one of a style they'd find here.
Longswords weren't Roman after all. They weren't even 'Greek'.
"There is a difference between my partner striking a building that collapses on a child, and hitting a child who has contributed nothing to the restrictive cancer that is Rome. In fact, if it makes you feel better I'm not going to kill them. Perhaps legacies unpolluted by politics and established family ideals can be elevated as we were, and help us save the world."
"I fail to see how you plan to do that. You don't save the world by killing the greatest legacy the world has ever known." Jason barbed back.
"If I was doing that, I'd go find some Persians to fight." His opponent snarked back before lunging at him.
Jason responded in kind, as their blades clashed with the gold of the empire.
Stabs were blocked, maneuvers were made.
He swung. Jason dodged.
He feinted, but Jason read it and countered.
Their blades met once, twice, three times, both of them dancing to avoid contact.
All the while his opponent's eyes were rapidly reading him, picking up minute details.
Jason was also getting a read on him, and what he noticed...was not good.
This person had immense talent, but it was innate. Unlike his own, this person had never fought like this before.
He was learning as he went along. What was letting Jason stay on top of him in this clash was his experience, and his opponent was working to shrink that gap.
That also implied this was their first battle. Their first battle was the sacking of Rome, and they were doing a good job at it.
That was frightening.
Also, why were there no more arrows flying?
"My partner's watching for your Ambassador. He apparently went to get help. I'll admit to having no idea yet how to block shadow travel, but the moment he returns he'll taste the rainbow, sort of speak."
That was a terrible pun and you should never make it again.
Jason would have sent a prayer to Juno to help the Ambassador and help him live, but doing so would open him up to stabbing.
Speaking of which...Only a sudden burst spared his ribs from a rapid strike by his opponent.
Reyna's power had coursed through him that moment, giving him a extra few seconds to protect himself. Still, he could see the new tear in his shirt from the attack.
Terminus would get on his case for it...
Wherever he was now.
As if called by his thought, a Terminus statue was sent flying his way from the side. Only a leap into the air saved Jason from being crushed by it, only for his opponent to fire a bolt of light from his sword, preceded by a momentary symbol of, something.
Jason avoided it with with a quick dive down, though now he was quite aware of it.
His opponent could also use Magic. A child of Hecate, or did she prefer Trivia? He never got an answer on that one.
"You took down Terminus? With that magic I presume." Jason declared as the opponent grinned.
"He's fine if you are curious, but stuck in a time loop. Not moving really, he'll be back to normal once you all are gone. Now...if doing things separate isn't working, I'll try combining them."
A symbol flared up around him again, and Jason wasn't sure what he meant.
Then his opponent seemed to grow larger and more muscular, and snarled as he charged at him.
Jason blocked the swing, only to wince as the attack pushed him and rang through his bones like a struck instrument.
That was what he meant: he used magic to make himself stronger.
Even with a surge of Reyna's energy flowing into him again, Jason was still being pushed back by the continued force of this man.
Even as he saw a arrow fly overhead and towards elsewhere in New Rome.
The Ambassador and his reinforcements.
The arrow struck Percy the moment he appeared out of the shadow.
Nico was flung back by the expression, barely caught by Hazel as both were sent tumbling to the ground by the impact.
"The reinforcements!" He heard a 5th cohort member cry in terror as their hope was dashed. Gwen held up a 'wait' hand though, even as Nico got untangled from Hazel and both got back on their feet.
For the rainbow smoke was fading, and Percy was fine.
Except for his right shoulder, which was burning with rainbow fire, so fine probably.
"Well...that was rude." Percy simply declared as the 5th cohort stared at him in shock.
"Dude, you are on fire!" the same 5th cohort member exclaimed.
"Yeah, I noticed." Percy agreed as he swatted at the fire, which spread to his left hand in response. He rose said hand up as a stream of water flowed from somewhere nearby and engulfed it. The flame was smothered, as said water went to his shoulder to spare more of his shirt and armor from the blaze, before shooting it a legionnaire.
Her shout of terror died out once the water covered her broken wrist and began healing it.
Lowering her bow, she could only stare at the Demigod still standing after being struck by her in shock.
"How..." She declared in shock. She narrowed her eyes as she focused on him again.
She'd have to aim better next time. Everything had weak points, she'd have to study her target.
Percy was pretty sure there was more to this than Nico was saying.
Sure, the 'people need help' thing was definitely true: a burning city and soldiers made of clay were never a good thing. He'd have come regardless just for that.
Helping them wasn't even a heroic thing to do, it was just decent.
But there was something...off about this place.
Even beyond the night place being set on fire with rainbow colored fire, something about it made Percy feel uneasy.
Like he was being stared at by things that were uncannily off. He couldn't put his finger on why, but something about this place made him feel as out of place as that time he accidentally got shoved into the Zeus Cabin.
...Man, Zeus sucked at interior decorating.
Zeus's failings as God of Interior Design aside, the people Nico had gotten him to help were also a bit odd.
He didn't recognize them, though he felt he could maybe guess a parent or two (especially if he got a last name. There was a rule about demigod last names, and if any names sounded violent, thievy, pretty, planty, or some other pun it was safe to assume), and they fought oddly.
It was organized in a large unit, and rather disciplined. Sort of like a phalanx.
It worked, but it seemed a tad limiting to Percy. What about people with special abilities, it didn't really seem set to exploit them. Pretty generalized.
Like that dark skinned girl that Nico was often covering. He could just tell that she should be racing around like he or Nico would, abusing the heck of whatever powers she had.
She and Nico, his ADHD noted, were rather cute together. Was that why Nico was here: was she his girlfriend?
That was nice, he should give Nico some dating advice after this.
WIZZZ!
Another arrow flew into him, striking him right at his left armpit.
The explosion of intense light and the resulting rainbow fire didn't hurt at all, but he'd defiantly need a new shirt. Sleeveless didn't really work for him.
"Percy!" Nico shouted in concern, though Percy assumed the following stab to a clay soldier would alleviate Nico's worries.
"I'm fine! It takes more than explosions to beat me! Still, I swear whoever is doing this at that point just wants to make me shirtless."
His joke was possibly proven correct when the next arrow flew straight at his chest, burning off what remained of his shirt and armor.
Why did he even bother with the armor in the first place, come to think of it?
She smiled as he washed the flames away from his chest.
Well, this was a Demigod. Muscular, slim, not hairier than a bear, and utterly immune to explosions.
Perhaps they'd try to recruit him when this was over. After all if you could not beat them, have them join you. If he was bothering to protect Romans, he'd surely want to really help the world with them.
The power he might possess...they could see the Chaos Circuit completed in a week.
He'd need a good code name though: The Relentless, the Unstoppable, the Hunk...
Oh, no, she'd just call him that to herself.
Nico tried to ignore the shirtless Percy now wrestling two clay soldiers with his bare hands while Riptide was returning from being thrown into the face of a clay soldier that had snuck up behind them.
He really tried to ignore Hazel blushing as she blew up two more soldiers.
"Ambassador, where did you find him, exactly?" Gwendolyn shouted about Percy.
She didn't seem to be blushing, but then again it was from a distance. He couldn't see her face.
"...The coast, why?" Nico stayed vague as he heard the Centurion stab a clay soldier.
"Who trained him? He's experienced clearly, but with no fighting style I've seen. He's not flailing about."
"...A centaur out East. he's nothing like most of his kind." What were the odds of him keeping everything under wraps?
"A centaur? Like Chiron?"
"Something like that." Exactly like that, but lies were good. Lies were life.
Like lying that he wasn't struggling to not look at his muscles. Especially as a wave of water was sent flying from a nearby sewer to impale a dozen clay soldiers at once.
"...Think he'd join us after this? We'll need all the new blood we can get, and everyone loves a war hero." Gwen asked in idle curiosity, as Percy regained Riptide and slashed a clay soldier apart, before intercepting another arrow, that looked aimed at them this time, with a wall of water.
"Not a chance." Nico said with complete certainty.
"Hey, I just finished off the other Cohorts...hey you got to fight Jason Grace?"
Just Jason's luck. He was barely holding back the other guy, his advantage of experience melting away like ice, and some behemoth strolled casually behind his opponent, carrying a massive hammer.
A hammer that was stained red with...
The other cohorts!?
"Did you get all of them?" His opponent asked the newcomer, who shrugged one massively hairy shoulder.
"2nd to 4th: the last one was actually fun. Too many legacies in the other ones."
"The 5th cohort was still standing, last I saw." his opponent told his partner casually.
"Great! They have demigods, right? Tons and tons of them if they are all fresh and un-lettered. Any good ones?"
"Does a daughter of Pluto work for you?"
The hammer guy grinned wildly.
"Awesome. Hope they have some more surprises for me."
The massive water fist that flew by was a surprise to Jason certainly, and to the two opponents if he had to make the guess as said fist flew into the red head and sent him flying into a building.
The source of said water fist...an unknown demigod without a shirt, brandishing a bronze sword leading the 5th cohort behind him...
A 5th cohort that was massively short handed. Where was Dakota?
He only saw Gwen.
His opponent blasted him, a small blast that Jason dodged easily. It was meant to disengage, seeing as his opponent was now at the side of the downed hammer user, who had pulled himself out of the rubble.
"...You know, I rather liked that surprise." He declared as he pointed the hammer at the unknown Demigod with a grin that was way too large to be normal.