Jason: Chapter 1

Jason sat at the edge of the ocean, looking out onto the bay, which was sparkling with the light from the setting sun. He let his feet dangle over the water's surface, gripping the craggy rock with his hands to make sure he wouldn't fall in.

He sighed.

The city of Venice, his city, lay sprawled behind him.

'Well I guess you have to be a prince to own the city.'

Lucky for me, I do rule the city.

Jason turned to look at his right- hand-man, Frank, who was standing beside him.

"Frank, do you think we'll ever be able to live normally, just as regular citizens of Greece?"

Frank took the question as an invitation, and sat down next to his leader, his best friend.

"No, not after what they did to Thalia."

Thalia.

His sister Thalia, who fought for this city.

Who guarded this city.

Who was killed as an example by the city.

Whose family was incriminated by the city.

Who's city dumped him on the streets.

Jason dug his finger nails into his palm. He stared at the ocean a bit longer.

"I guess you're right."

They both stood, and climbed over the rocks back to the beach, were they were greeted by a motley group of people. They held in their hands an assortment of fish, spears, nets, bread, food, rope, baskets, and other oddities, but they were all waiting for someone: Jason.

These were his people, the people of Venice, the prosecuted and the exiled. He understood their pain, and he theirs. There were cripples, homosexuals, the deformed, philosophers, scraggily orphaned kids; you name it, just all the outcasts.

And they all looked to him.

"Everyone, great job! We'll head back to the canals."

To avoid the soldiers of the city and the stones of the lawful citizens, we stuck to the back water canals, maneuvering through the filth in small boats. With these boats, we brought back supplies we had salvaged from our excursions to the coast to feed all of the people back at base who couldn't come with use. We took care of most everyone who came for shelter, mostly kids and women. We provided work for men and women supporting their families on the right side of the law; at least those who would affiliate with us.

The canals were murky and stank of garbage as usual, but they served us and our exploits well. All was quiet; we didn't want anyone to hear us. All that could be heard was the creaking of wood and the rustling of cloth. That was at least until we rounded the last bend and entered camp through the old tunnel.

The children of the camp ran towards us, yelling in excitement as they jumped into our waiting arms.

"Yay! Yay! The Thunder Legion! Hooray for the Legion!"

Frank picked up one of the little buggers and threw her into the air, catching the giggling girl before she hit the ground.

"And soon," he paused to blow a raspberry into her belly, "You'll be a part of the Thunder Legion too!"

I looked down at a little boy, Thomas, who was pulling at my shirt. He pointed at his feet, which were bare and dirty. I laughed and pulled him into my arms. I drew his new pair of shoes from my basket and gave them to the happy kid.

"f'thank 'ou Jas-on!" he gushed around his missing front teeth.

I laughed and threw him into the air, only to be felled to the ground with a kid on my chest and shoes in my face. Frank almost died laughing at this. Gosh the whole camp was chuckling, including myself. I got up again and took him in my arms until we reached the center of the camp were Rheyna waited. She was my fellow leader in directing our gang, affectingly called the Jupiter Gang by the kids. According to them, the gang was separated into several sections: the gathers and boat crew were the Thunder Legion, the branches of fighters were the Cohorts, and the leaders, Rheyna and I were the praetors.

I set Thomas down when I saw Rheyna and her scowl.

Rhena was a serious brunette with her long hair plated down her back and her serious brown eyes always fixed on you. At her feet were her greyhounds, Arget and Aurt, one a dilute and the other a bay. They were heftier than most greyhounds, more of war dogs than rabbit catchers. They raised their heads, but lay back down; they knew me.

She shooed Thomas away, but promised him that he could play with her dogs later if he stopped by tomorrow. She indicated for me to sit beside her by the fire.

So I sat.