Disclaimer: Miss Author does not own PJO/HoO.

First chapter in a new story! woo hoo! sorry for the late post, but i was busy.

please review!

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Rose tasted metal on her tongue. She tried to get rid of the taste without looking stupid.

"You okay?" Lucy elbowed her.

"Just fine," Rose tilted her chin into the air. She pursed her mouth. She hated feeling stupid. She hated when people worried about her.

Lucy looked skeptically at Rose, but she shrugged it off and she turned her gaze back to the small four by four foot square of dirt that she could barely see in the crowd.

The Temple of Bellona was pearl white. Four columns supported a triangular roof. An inscription on the front wall read Templum Bellonae. Behind that rose a majestic limestone dome.

"Come on, let's go in. See the ceremony," Rose said, standing on her toes to get a better view of the temple over the blue plumed helmets of campers.

Rose and Lucy pushed through campers and made their way into the temple. Michael's purple cape fluttered around his muscled body. Rose swallowed.

Natasha, the other praetor, handed Michael a spear.

Michael shouted, "Romans!"

The campers stomped and pounded their shields. The campers outside, hearing the noise, joined in the stomping and pounding.

Michael paused to let the campers stomp, but continued in a few seconds. "The Greeks have declared war. They stand now, in orange shirts and messy armor. Their defenses are weak. Their offenses predictable. We will crush our enemies into dust. The ashes of their wimpy camp will forever be a scar in history. The day the Greeks fall will be the greatest day for the Twelfth Legion Fulminata!"

"The Twelfth Legion Fulminata!" The campers echoed as one.

Michael threw the spear in his hand into the dirt before him. The dirt symbolized foreign soil and the spear represented the conquer.

Rose just couldn't wait to beat up some Greeks.

~oOo~

Jasper made a face as his girlfriend tightened the straps on his armor.

"Sorry, but this has to be done right," muttered Jacqueline as she yanked his armor.

Then entire camp was gathered in the arena in full battle armor.

"Um, hi," Fred said awkwardly to the crowd. Fred was big, burly, and buff, but you can expect as much from a son of Hephaestus. "So, the Romans have declared war."

The campers booed.

"They think they can destroy us just because they're snobby war-obsessed idiots. They think they can burn down our camp, destroy all the campers, and be out of here in a day. But they're hopelessly wrong."

"Yeah, they are!" someone in the crowd shouted.

Hayley, Fred's sister, grinned, then said, "We outnumber them by almost fifty campers. We have the power of the Ancient lands. We can defend ourselves. We can conquer the Romans. We can bring about the second fall of the Roman Empire. The day the Romans fall will never be forgotten!"

"Now, who's ready to beat up some Romans punks?" Fred shouted and jabbed his sword into the air. The campers shouted in and followed Fred's example.

"Gods, why can't we just make peace?" Jasper muttered only soft enough for Jacqueline to hear as the rest of the camp shouted.

"What a unaggressive mushball," a silky voice called. Jacqueline and Jasper whipped around to see Isabel, daughter of Aphrodite, leaning against the wall.

"Don't you dare say—" Jacqueline started to say as she lunged at Isabel.

Jasper pulled her back. "Jackie, don't."

Jacqueline satisfied herself by sending death glares at Isabel.

Jasper sighed. He wished people wouldn't go to war so easily. He wished people could just forgive each other, set aside their differences, and get along. He sighed again. But if his friends were going to war, he'd follow them anywhere.