On Matters of the Heart
Chapter 1
"Lupa, I respect you, but right now, you're just being ridiculous."
The patron of Rome looked down at Thasus from her rock perch, a somewhat confused look in her eyes. She obviously wasn't used to having people call her ridiculous. She was used to people following her orders with unquestioning loyalty. This was something new.
She growled deep in her throat. "What did you say?"
"That I think you're ridiculous," Thasus said, mustering up all the courage he could.
"If you wish to die, then so be it. Attempt to save your camp. You will not succeed though. You will be facing a monster army by yourself. Not even the 'Hammer of Rome' could succeed in that task." Lupa said.
"We're facing the army now, Lupa!" Thasus shouted.
"You must help us defend this place," Lupa instructed, "The camp will live. There are other heroes out there that will save the camp."
Suddenly, a lone wolf howled in the night, followed by another, and then another, until the entire Wolf House erupted in the howls of wolves. And then the sounds of war spread out from the forest. Lupa leapt off from her perch without even a single look back at Thasus, and then disappeared into the thick forest.
"Should we go?" Brody asked, hefting his large battle-axe.
Just then, a large Cyclops stumbled into the burnt-out shell of the Wolf House, followed by a cluster of monsters- centaurs, Earthborn, more Cyclopes. The lead Cyclops charged towards them.
"I got this guy," Brody said, "You and Fletcher deal with the rest of them."
Thasus nodded. If anyone could take down a giant Cyclops, it was Brody. In fact, it definitely wasn't a very fair fight at all. The Cyclops rushed forward and found himself dead in about a minute, a battle-axe cleaving his skull. Unfortunately, the monster didn't stay dead for long.
"Death still isn't free," Thasus muttered, as he stabbed a centaur through the throat with his spear, but even as he stood there, it began to re-form.
"Hey, Mr. Laqueatores," Fletcher shouted, "Why don't you use that stupid rope to get on them?"
Thasus nodded. He swing his lariat around the nearest centaurs torso, just like if he was roping calves at a rodeo, and used it to catapult himself onto the centaurs back.
The centaur definitely was not happy. He bucked and ran everywhere attempting to get his unwelcome rider off his back. It was everything he could do to stay on.
"Incoming!" Thasus yelled as the centaur barrelled towards the lead Cyclops, which was still locked in battle with Brody. The centaur ran straight into the Cyclops, and Thasus launched himself off, and dug his spear into the Cyclops, which thrashed and jerked, before dropping dead.
"That should give you some breathing room," Thasus said, as he finished off the centaur, and then quickly butchered an Earthborn. But no matter how much damage they did, the monsters simply kept re-forming.
"This is hopeless," Fletcher said, as he trotted over to the other two, "I'm almost out of arrows."
Thasus stabbed his spear through an approaching Earthborn. He stood over it, waiting for it to reform… But it didn't.
"Guys," he shouted an enormous smile on his face, "they can die now!"
Thasus cast his spear aside and unsheathed his gladius. He stabbed the nearest Earthborn in the stomach, and then nearly decapitated a centaur. Neither of them came back to life. They stayed dead. But still, more monsters were piling into the Wolf House.
And then Lupa blitzed into the room. She tore apart anything that got into her way. Her maw and claws were stained red with blood.
Together, the four of them fought into the daylight, until there was no one left. Most of the monsters hadn't even stopped; they had continued on their way south without hardly a second thought about the wolves. All the other monsters that had been caught we're dead. It was going to be a long time since any of them came back. The bodies of the fallen wolves were buried, at the request of Thasus.
"Hero," Lupa said to Thasus, just before he left, "Find the graecus. He will guide you."
"Guide me where?" Thasus asked.
"Just wait, pup," Lupa said, "All will be revealed in time."
"Lupa," Brody said, when they were safely out of hearing distance, "is nuts."
Chapter 2
Nobody even saw them coming. Thasus, Brody, and Fletcher walked right through the Caldecott Tunnel, through the Decumanian Gate, and down the Via Praetoria. The only person to stop them the whole time was Terminus, the OCD border guard.
"Identification," Terminus demanded.
The three heroes flashed him their tattoos, dropped off all their weapons with the assistant Julia, and entered New Rome.
The city was its usual bustle. Vendors hawked their wares; young children ran around the park, under the close eye of their grandparents; college-age kids frequented the coffee shops. A group of men haggled over the price of a slightly-used chariot. A normal day in New Rome.
Or it was until Thasus saw his name on a recently-constructed marble memorial.
"Guys," Thasus said, "I think we're dead." He read over all the names on the small memorial- 11 in total. As he read the names, his eyes watered.
"All dead." He said, trying not to sob.
"But… but how?" Fletcher asked.
"I guess what almost killed us, killed them." Brody said.
Thasus shook his head in disbelief. He snapped his fingers, and a few poppies manifested themselves at the foot of the memorial. "It's the best I can do." he said.
The three of them hurried across the open courtyard and into the Senate House, barging right into the middle of a very tense Senate meeting. One of the Mars kids had actually drawn their knife. Thasus wasn't even sure how he had gotten it into the meeting. He immediately marched up to the kid.
He didn't make it. Three steps into the Senate meeting, someone jumped in front of him and promptly began squeezing the life out of him with a hug so hard it hurt.
"Nora!" Thasus shouted. His smile was so big it hurt his cheeks.
Nora nuzzled her face against Thasus' neck. "I missed you so much." she breathed.
Thasus continued kissing her, even though he could feel the stares of all the other senators in the meeting. A few of the elderly citizens of New Rome who came out for the meetings looked away in disbelief. How times have changed.
Her lips against his, tongue to tongue, her touch, his fingers running through her hair … It all came to him in a flash. It was all so perfect.
From the base of the Senate House, Reyna cleared her throat loudly, to get their attention. Thasus pulled himself away from Nora reluctantly, but he knew he had business to attend to. It wasn't everyday a group of demigods came back alive from questing for seven weeks.
In fact, it was totally unheard of.
Nora, her cheeks red with embarrassment, stumbled back to her seat, and Thasus, Brody and Fletcher marched down the path toward the high chairs occupied by the two praetors.
Since when was there two?
And was that Jason standing off to one corner?
Nora had rushed at Thasus so soon, he hadn't even had a chance to notice everyone else's reaction's to their return. Octavian was recovering from his shock- he had dropped his sacrificial teddy bear mid-stab. He even looked paler than usual. Reyna had nearly fallen out of her chair. There had been audible gasps from nearly everyone in the senate.
It felt good.
"Thasus," Reyna said, in disbelief, "You're alive. All of you are."
"Yep," Thasus said, "And it feels good."
"Really good." Fletcher chimed in.
"So, tell us what happened." Reyna said.
Chapter 3
"I don't think there's much to tell," Brody admitted, "Most of it was just seven weeks of nothing."
Wait, what?" the boy in the other praetor's chair asked in shock. He had black hair, sea-green eyes and an air about him like he was a god, or someone not quite Roman.
"I've never quested for more than a week," the black-haired boy said, "Seven weeks?"
"Forty-eight days, exactly." Thasus said.
"I hear Bert Sugar's dead," Fletcher said, worried, "Is it true? It is, isn't it?"
"Reyna," Thasus said, "Believe me, we wanted to come back and save the camp, but Lupa wouldn't let us. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Reyna said. She gestured towards Percy. "We had help." Reyna quickly summarized Percy's, Frank's and Hazel's quest to Alaska, how they had freed Death, brought the eagle standard and a chariot loaded with Imperial gold weapons back to camp, and killed two giants. Thasus was definitely thinking it topped his quest.
"Believe me, our quest is definitely not as good as that. You probably don't even want to hear about it now." Brody said.
"Did you find it?" Octavian asked tentatively.
Thasus stood still for a split second, and then suddenly charged at Octavian. The augur gasped a moment before Thasus tackled him to the ground. And then someone was pulling him off of Octavian.
"You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face." Thasus spat.
"Shakespeare's not going to help you now." Octavian retorted.
"Caenum!" Thasus snapped.
"Need I remind you, fatue, that you were the one that accepted the quest in the first place." Octavian said coolly.
"Enough with the Latin insults," Percy said, "No one can understand you."
Now," Reyna said, "Thasus, speak."
"Should I tell you about how Octavian arranged this quest just to kill me?" Thasus asked edgily.
"And why," Octavian asked, "Would I ever want to do that? You were never anything more than the chicken keeper. If you honestly thought you were a threat, you are delusional."
Nothing more than the loser pularus. Thasus had heard that way too many times. He had had to prove himself quickly just to escape the ridicule. Now no one dared speak out against him except for Octavian.
He looked over at Nora. She smiled at him, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Shall we settle this on the battlefield?"
"Tonight, scum." Octavian said.
"War games, war games!" the assembled senators cried. They wanted blood. Preferably Octavian's, but anyone's would sate them at this point.
Romans, Percy noted, were notoriously bloodthirsty.
"Myrmidons versus everyone else? Or is that not fair for the others?" Reyna teased.
Chapter 4
The entire camp was extremely thrilled about the war games. It was going to be a good one. It had been far too long since the entire camp had fought against the legendary Myrmidons. Named after the famed warriors of Achilles who had fought with him against the Trojans, they were the elite. Unbeatable. The bane of monsters. The personal enemy of the Titans, the giants, Gaea, and everyone else in the world who meant harm to Camp Jupiter. The gods themselves feared them.
And their leader was the Hammer of Rome.
Thasus.
The Myrmidons that day were playing defense, but they had no intentions of staying within the fortress. Especially not Thasus.
"Today," Thasus shouted from the top of the fortress, "Today, we fight for the Imperator Crown! We fight for power. A senator shall be made today. Which one of you will it be?"
The fortress shook with the force of the Myrmidons cries. They wanted this.
"So," Percy said, from his spot across the field, "Who exactly is this Thasus guy? And why are we even playing this game? We should be heading to Rome. The giants aren't wasting any time."
Before anyone could answer him, Reyna blew the horn to start the game. The gate to the fortress slowly opened, and facing him was an army of black and burgundy armour.
The Myrmidon's charged forward, and the Cohorts raced out to meet them.
Chaos ensued.
Percy went into auto-mode: cut, stab, and dodge. He darted among the Myrmidons, causing panic among their close-knit forces, while behind him, Hazel swung her spatha from atop Arion, as the horse stamped and bit at anyone who got near him.
"Is anyone even defending the flag?" Frank asked.
"They don't need to," Hazel said, "The Myrmidons, they say, are unbeatable."
Percy swung his sword and took out the nearest Myrmidon, then bashed his sword over another one's head. He slashed Riptide at someone's shin, and then crashed his hilt into the armour of one of the defenders.
"Seems they aren't totally unbeatable." Percy said.
Percy swung Riptide, and then felt the shock travel up his arm as his sword collided with another's. He slashed again, and then cut and stabbed, but his opponent blocked every one of his strikes. Percy grunted as his shield took the full blow of a gladius strike, and then another and another. Percy ducked a fourth, consecutive strike, and the spun around and pushed his hilt into the helmet of his attacker, knocking it off.
It was the boy from the Senate meeting. His short blonde hair was caked with sweat, and his head was beginning to bruise from the hit. Suddenly, Hannibal the elephant trumpeted loudly and stormed right past Percy. Thasus used the distraction to his advantage. He shoved past Percy, swung a rope up over Hannibal, and crawled up.
Wow. They definitely did not learn that stuff at Camp Half-Blood.
Thasus quickly turned Hannibal around, and charged him back towards the cohorts, most of who panicked and scattered, leaving the attackers' flag wide open.
Hannibal triumphantly ripped the flag out the earth with his trunk and tossed it up to Thasus, before charging back towards the wall.
It was complete pandemonium there. The Myrmidons were slowly being beaten back by the combined force of the cohorts, but they hadn't yet managed to break through. The game had practically been won.
That was until a giant elephant trampled them from behind. Hannibal rumbled into the fortress, where Thasus slid off, flag in hand.
"The game's been won!" Reyna shouted from atop Scipio the Pegasus' back. "Assemble for honours!"
The cohorts grumbled off to the centre of the field, while the Myrmidons cheered triumphantly.
"Thasus!" someone in the crowd shouted.
Thasus looked up to see Tommy Martin, one of the kids from the Third Cohort, rushing over to him. He looked panicked.
"I hope we didn't hurt you too hard," Thasus teased, but then stopped when he saw Tommy's face. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"And for the first time in many, many years, we have a victor of the Imperator Crown," Reyna was announcing.
"It's… it's," Tommy stuttered.
"Thasus Greenleaf!" Reyna shouted
The Myrmidons cheered loudly and lifted him up if his feet, carrying him to where Reyna waited with the crown.
"Nora!" Tommy yelled, "Its Nora! She's gone! Something took her!"
The Mrymidons stopped immediately. A hush fell over the crowd.
"What do you mean gone?" Thasus asked, his voice steely calm.
"I… I was with her, and then suddenly she just disappeared. I'm… I'm so sorry."
"Thasus," Reyna said, "We'll discuss this later." She pinned the Imperator Crown onto his cloak.
"We shall discuss this now." Thasus said. "Tommy, come. I want to know everything. Reyna, I'll be waiting for you at the Senate House. Bring everyone."
And with that, Thasus Greenleaf marched off the field, Tommy in tow, the new Imperator Crown flashing in the dying sunlight.
Chapter 5
The Senate House was unusually full that night. It seemed as if the entire Third Cohort was there, along with many others. Even their golden cohort staff- a short metal staff topped with a golden bull- was propped up in the corner.
It wasn't every day one of their centurions was kidnapped.
"What happened?" Thasus asked again.
"One minute she was there," Tommy said, "And the next, she was gone. A huge crack opened up in the ground, and then she was swallowed up."
Percy leaned forward in the praetor chair. "What about the earth?" he asked.
"You don't think…" Hazel began.
"Yep," Tommy reiterated, "Swallowed up by the earth."
"Pluto," Thasus breathed, "It all makes sense. It was just like with Proserpina. Pluto rose from the Underworld and abducted her. I should have known he would try to get back at me. He hates me."
"Pluto, er, Hades, hates everyone. Don't take it personally." Percy said. Sometimes the whole 'different forms' thing got confusing.
"I don't think it was him." Hazel said.
"But why?" Frank asked
"No connection whatsoever." Jason put in.
"Could someone please explain to me what you're all talking about?" Thasus asked.
"Gaea," Percy said, "You can't be serious? What does Thasus have to do with any of this?"
"Thasus," Jason asked, "Have you at any time pissed off Mother Earth?"
"I've pissed off a lot of monsters, gods, what have you, but I think I would remember having angered Gaea. Look, it doesn't matter anyways. I'm going to go find her."
"No!" Reyna said. She had sat quietly throughout the entire meeting, but now she was speaking out. And Thasus didn't like it one bit.
"What?" he asked, a dangerous note creeping into his voice.
"I forbid you from going," Reyna said, "We'll send some other group to rescue her. You must stay here."
"We'll go!" Most of the Third Cohort shouted.
"But she's my girlfriend. I'm going to go rescue her. We've wasted too much time as it is."
"If he's going, so am I," Percy spoke up, "I would have done the same." Percy paused for a moment. "Oh wait, I have."
"Absolutely not!" Reyna said loudly.
"You're afraid," Percy said.
Shock flashed across Reyna's face, but she quickly regained her normal composure. "What would I have to fear?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter," Thasus said icily, "I'm going to find her, no matter what."
And with that, Thasus turned and left the Senate House. No one tried to stop him. Not even Reyna.
Chapter 6
Percy and Annabeth lay in the grass, looking up at the stars. The constellation of Zoë the Huntress looked especially bright that evening.
Annabeth laid her head on Percy's chest.
"This is a lovely place," she said, "Why don't we get a city?"
Percy laughed quietly. "When this is all done," he said, "We can build a city together."
Annabeth kissed him on the lips. "You're so generous." she said.
Suddenly Percy sat up. "I saw something."
A figure was standing outside the Decumainean Gate, his form silhouetted by a flickering rush light. As Percy watched, he shouldered a backpack and began heading up the grassy slope that would take him to the bridge to cross the Little Tiber.
He didn't seem to notice them as he crossed the bridge and made his way to the Caldecott Tunnel, the main entrance and exit to Camp Jupiter. Percy silently stood up and raced to cut him off at the tunnel, Annabeth in tow.
"How did you manage to convince me to let you come?" Thasus asked, slightly irritated.
"I think it's because you value your life." Percy said.
"I suppose that could be the reason…" Thasus began, then, "So, this Greek thing, is it real and all? There are really the Greek forms of the gods running around?"
"Seeing as I'm a Greek demigod, yeah." Percy said.
"I could have gone without the sass," Thasus said, "So, uh, what have you Greeks been up to lately?"
"I'm beginning to regret coming with you. Wait, what's that?" Percy said, stopping.
Thasus stopped too, and listened intently. At first everything was quiet, but then he heard a branch crunch somewhere in the woods off to his side. Thasus put his hand on his sword hilt. And then, in a blur, something leapt of the trees. Thasus ripped his gladius out, and brought it crashing down on the beast. The figure squealed in pain, and disintegrated into gold dust at the first touch of the Imperial gold on its skin.
"What was that?" Percy gasped. Thasus watched as Percy pulled out a black ballpoint pen out of his pocket and uncapped it. The pen turned into a three foot blade made of something not quite Imperial gold. The sword shined dimly in the night.
Percy swung the sword around, illuminating the surrounding area. The bushes seemed to be clear, but just beyond that was a dark forest which sloped up towards the top of the Caldecott Tunnel. It was the same place Percy had first entered the camp from hardly more than a week ago.
"Do you have absolutely any idea where we're going anyways?" Percy asked.
Thasus was staring intently into the shadows of the forest. Every few second he would see a flash of eyes and then it would disappear. He held his sword out by his side and stepped into the thicket. The moment he stepped under the shade of the trees, a massive figure leapt put at him. Thasus sidestepped and swung his gladius. It just barely missed. The monster recovered quickly, turned around, and bit Thasus. Percy leapt forward but got knocked to the ground by a second creature. And within a few second they were surrounded.
Being surrounded by monsters is never very high on anyone's wish list, because it's usually a good indicator that your life span just got a lot shorter. But being surrounded by monsters you had never actually seen before in all the years you'd been battling them was definitely not very good. This was Percy's situation. Five of the most terrifying beasts he'd ever had the misfortune of laying eyes on had the two heroes trapped in a tight circle. Each of the creatures had the body of a man, but the head of a snarling dog- the kind of dogs that the army would use for some brutal killing. Percy glanced at Thasus, who was still down on the ground, and saw the look of absolute terror on his face.
"Demigods," one of the dog-headed men spoke in a throaty voice somewhere between an angry snarl and a person's, "Eat 'em, aye?"
"Measter," a second, smaller dog man said, "Measter might want."
"Maybe just a nibble?" a third asked.
"There will be no such thing!" Percy said loudly, putting on his most commanding tone.
The first dog man laughed, a terrifying sound, and stepped closer. Percy instinctively stepped away from the toothy mouth.
"Nope, nope!" one of the monsters yipped, as Thasus tried to jump up and swing his sword through the nearest beast, but instead got pummelled back into the ground.
"Now listen up," the first dog monster said, "We are the Cynocephali, the most terrifying and ferocious monsters to haunt the outskirts of civilization. And now we hang out here on the payroll of our Mistress who is Hades bent on destroying you and all you pitiful, puny demigods, and then with you out the way, we monsters shall begin our domination of the world of Men, ok? Ok. Now there's just one little hitch in her plan: you two. Well, you two and all those other seven demigods of that accursed prophecy, but seeing as we have you two in our clutches, we're going to blame you. Understood?"
"Do you have her? Do you have Nora?" Thasus asked.
"Do we have a Nora?" a bulldog faced on asked.
"Must have been the one we saw, maybe."
"How about you let us go," Percy said, "So we can go get Nora. We won't kill you, promise."
"Sorry about your luck, but we can't make that same promise."
Four of the cynocephali jumped forward then, and pinned Percy to the ground. He swung Riptide wildly, chopping one of the beasts in two and disintegrating another at the touch of the Celestial bronze. Thasos struggled with the three monsters that had him pinned against a tree, his bitten shoulder searing with pain.
Suddenly all the cynocephali stopped immediately, one of them mid-attack, and ended up impaled on Percy's sword.
"Mistress?" the lead one said to no one, "What? Now? Yes. Yes. Men, move out!"
And just as quickly as the cynocephali had arrived, they disappeared into the forest.
"What… What just happened?" Thasus asked.
"I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out" Percy said. He led Thasus up the hill over the Caldecott Tunnel. "So, do you have any actual idea where she was taken?"
Thasus didn't respond right away but slowly walked toward the forest. He knelt down in the grass and just stayed still, his hand on the earth, his eyes closed. In a few seconds he stood up, dusted off his hands and walked back towards Percy.
"She's that way," Thasus said, pointing towards the northeast.
"How could you possibly know that?" Percy asked.
"The earth told me." Thasus said as he shouldered his pack and headed off into the forest.
Percy just shrugged his shoulders and followed. He had heard a heck of a lot of weirder things than "the earth told me." He himself could just casually tell anyone his exact coordinates whenever he was out to sea.
The two of them walked through the forest in silence for a while, just the two of them ensconced in nights' soft embrace. The sun wouldn't be up again for hours. Finally, Thasus broke the silence.
"Thank you," he said quietly, " I mean, you know nothing about me, but you're coming out here on some crazy quest just to help me find my girlfriend. You should be sailing to Rome."
"I remember," Percy said, "how I felt when I lost Annabeth once. She kind of tumbled off a cliff with a manticore into some weird portal in the ocean and ended up in the clutches of the Titan Atlas. I was so worried for her. I would have done anything to get her back. I ended up fighting Atlas."
"Never fought a Titan myself," Thasus said, "I suppose being the son of Poseidon does come with its benefits though, right? You know mastery over the watery element and all."
"Who's your godly parent?" Percy asked, "I feel if I'm coming on this quest with you I at least deserve to know that."
"My father is Somnus, the king of sleep, tranquilizer of minds and soother of care-worn hearts," Thasus answered, "Or at least that's what Bullfinch says of him. And before you ask, Somnus, you must understand, is quite different than his Greek form. In fact, I'm a bit of an insomniac. What his Roman form, and children, specialize in is making people fall asleep. And I'm very good at controlling that power, which is why you're currently not passed out on the ground snoring."
Percy nodded, and the two of them walked in silence for a while more.
After a time, Percy asked, "So, what's up with the whole knowing where Nora is just by touching the ground?"
"My grandmother" Thasus said, "Was an oread, a nymph of the mountains. Just as the naiads have their pools and the dryads their trees, the oreads have the earth. I know you might think I'm crazy, but the earth speaks to me, and I can understand her."
"Okay," Percy said, "I suppose I have heard stranger things." Suddenly Percy stopped. "Thasus," he said, "Do you have any actual idea where exactly Nora is, or how far away she is. We're walking on foot and whatever took her has a head start of quite a few hours, if whatever took her is even travelling on foot. We have no clue about anything." Percy ended and looked over at Thasus who appeared upon the verge of tears. "Don't cry," he continued softly, "I know how heartbreaking this all must be for you, but you need to stay strong for her."
Thasus nodded slowly, and wiped away his tears. "She's close though," he murmured, "I know it. The earth never lies. I can feel the footsteps of whatever took her. It's just like tracks for hunters, just that the tracks are invisible. They're fresh though…. She's close."
Thasus took a step forward and then fell to the ground. He looked around him, but all he could see was a blurry outline. He saw the fuzzy image of Percy kneel down next to him, and could feel him shaking him. He could see Percy's mouth moving but whatever he said sounded distant and far away. "Door of Death," he heard himself mumble, almost incoherently, "Door of Death." And then the dark forest around him disappeared, and the world went black.
Chapter 7
The first thing he heard was the crying. The sounds of mourning were everywhere. Next he noticed the mass of bodies all gathered him, compressing him. And then the actual words came into focus, as did the image.
Thasus was standing in a gigantic crowd of people. Quite a few of them were dressed in ordinary clothing, but thousands were garbed in black robes, and Thasus identified them immediately as nuns. As he watched a few priests scuttled by, and a scarlet-clad cardinal pushed his way through the crowd and hundreds of people ran around, shoving through the people, trying to get closer to some bare patch that all the hundreds of thousands of mourners had gathered around. And in that bare patch was a swathe of white cloth, kind of like some immaculate bed being carried, and there was man lying on it. He was dressed in resplendent robes, perfectly white, and crowning his head was a slightly conical hat, with red ribbon hanging down from it- a bishop's mitre.
It was the Pope. And the Pope was dead.
Thasus gazed across the vast crowd, all gathered in an overflowing St. Peter's Square. The funeral procession of the Pope went in a large loop through the square, beginning at a large door, through which the treasures and marvels of the Holy See were just visible. The open gates' two bronze doors had been thrown open.
"The Doors of Death," Thasus whispered, "How hadn't I managed to figure it out earlier? They didn't even change the name!"
The moment Thasus said that, he felt himself being pulled away. The crowd disappeared and he found himself in a dark cavern. The dirt floor had been trampled smooth but there were no signs of anyone ever having been down there except for one lone light.
There was a boy in the light. He looked just a few years younger than Thasus, and had long shaggy hair, black, torn jeans and a black t-shirt, an aviator's jacket, and a silver skull ring on his finger. The boy looked up and shouted at Thasus "Thank gods, Father told me you would come. Quickly, you must do it! You are the only one! Now!"
Thasus reached for his gladius and pulled it out, the Imperial gold glowing dimly in the dark. From somewhere nearby he heard an evil hissing sound.
"It was my father's gift," the boy said, "Now do it!"
Thasus plunged the sword into the earth, and the whole world began shaking. The horrible hissing noise began again in earnest, and then everything went dark once more.
When Thasus came too once again, he found himself in the forest. But now there was light. A small campfire had been lit, throwing a protective bubble of light over the otherwise black forest. Percy sat comfortably, eating a smore, and next to him was a girl he never thought he'd see again.
"Thasus," Percy exclaimed, "You're back! You've been lying there for about five minutes!"
"That long?" Thasus mumbled, slowly sitting up.
"Oh yeah," Percy said, "It's been a bit. By the way this is-"
"Vesta," Thasus said in a near whisper, "Enchanted, as always."
"Ooo-kay," Percy said, mystified, "I'm not going to question it."
"Thasus," Vesta said, "You are aware what this means, right? The time has come. This is the beginning of the rest, so to speak. You must unlock your talents, or you're going to die… And I don't want that."
Thasus opened his mouth to speak, but Vesta cut him off.
"No," she said, "Just listen. Remember the last time we spoke?"
"Time already?" Thasus asked sadly.
"It's been years," Vesta said.
"Yeah I know. I was just hoping it would never happen."
The goddess of the hearth reached into her shirt, pulled out a sheathed knife and passed it to Thasus, who unsheathed it.
The blade was about 9 inches long, by Thasus's best guess, and made of Imperial gold. The most amazing thing about it was that there was a flame dancing across the metal in time with the fire the three of them gathered around. The knife gave off a good amount of heat too, but still felt cold to the touch.
"When your world is cold, when even the sun seems frigid, you will always have a bit of heat with you to warm up your heart. Remember that. And you," Vesta- or Hestia to Percy-continued, turning to face Percy, "You're greatest adventure is about to begin. The world depends on the fate of the Seven, and you will have to lead them. Gaea hates you most but only because she knows what you are capable of. She's afraid of you."
"I can do one last thing, my heroes," the goddess said, "Look into the fire."
Thasus looked into the fire and before his eyes he saw a tunnel of flame appear, and in the far end of the tunnel, kind of like the view through a binocular when you look through it the wrong way and everything is miniscule, was Nora surrounded by a formidable force of monsters.
"Bring out your weapons now," Vesta instructed, "You're going to find yourself on the middle of that army."
Percy uncapped his ballpoint pen, and it grew into three feet of celestial bronze, and Thasus un-sheathed his gladius.
Thasus could feel himself being towards the image at the end of the tunnel. He was travelling through space, and when he reached the end he hit the dirt hard.
Fire-travel is never very easy for the first time.
Chapter 8
The monsters didn't take kindly to having two demigods crash their party or whatever it is monsters do in their spare time. And they definitely didn't take kindly to being stabbed to death with the two metals that sent them back to Tartarus instantly.
Unfortunately, monsters rarely get what they want. The ones closest to Percy and Thasus got killed before any of them could even register the fact that there were two demigods in their midst.
The mass of monsters were an odd mix- mostly Earthborn, with a large amount of Cyclopes and some cynocephali and centaurs mixed in.
Thasus rushed at anything that got near him and killed it with a few quick shots. He couldn't see Nora but he know she was near, and that made him fight all the harder.
"STOP!"
Immediately the army of monsters ceased fighting and backed away, forming a large circle around Thasus and Percy. The circle parted to make a pathway for three figures.
"Welcome," one of them spoke when they reached the centre of the circle.
"Deimos!"Percy shouted!
"Look who it is brother," Deimos said, smiling wickedly, "Our little friend, the son of Poseidon."
"Percy, right?" Phobos, his brother, asked, "The little upstart who got in that fight with Dad way back when."
"Isn't this lovely," the third person spoke up. It was girl who looked in her late twenties with frizzy hair, black jeans and a red jacket. Her eyes had an evil glint in them, and her face was turned in a sneer. "Not even do we have tour objective, but we have a great little add-on too. Our Mistress will be so pleased."
"Mistress?" Percy asked, "You work for Gaea!"
"Trust me," Deimos said, "We have no qualms about working for the winning side. The most progress any of the gods have made is that Dionysus and Demeter are making some pact in the plant war. The gods can't win this one."
"You're wrong," Percy said, "The gods have the Seven. The prophecy will come true, and we will win."
"Not if one of the Seven isn't alive to go on the quest," Phobos said, "Monsters, attack!"
The army of monsters came crashing around them, while the three gods hung back and watched, evidently enjoying the prospect of a couple demigods being slashed and torn and eaten.
"Percy," Thasus shouted, "I'll take the gods, you deal with the monsters."
Percy nodded grudgingly and slashed an Earthborn in two. The best part about the whole thing was that they actually stayed dead. Death was doing what he was made to do.
Thasus stabbed his way towards the three gods and rushed at Deimos. The god of terror drew a long hunting knife and ran up to meet the demigod.
"You are a fool," he said, as he repelled Thasus's attack, "Do you honestly think you alone can stand up against the might of three gods?"
Thasus stabbed with his gladius, but Deimos stopped him. He then countered, but Thasus sidestepped, thwacked Deimos on the head, spun around him and pressed his blade against the gods' neck.
Before Thasus could drag his sword across Deimos's neck, Phobos ripped him away from his brother and shoved him into the dirt. Thasus rolled away, leapt to his fight, and slashed at the closest thing to him.
The girls' cheek welled with blood.
"You will pay for that!" she shrieked. She grabbed him by his arm and dug into his skin with her fingernails. Thasus stabbed his gladius forward, but she dodged it and then kicked him in the shins. Thasus fell to his feet.
"And now you will die." Deimos said.
Thasus reached into his pocket and pulled a long silver dog-whistle. He put it to his lips and blew three quick, shrill notes.
Phobos dragged him to his feet and looked him in the eye with a devilish grin. "Is this what you fear the most?" he asked, "Your death. Your girlfriend will die too if you fail. Look at her."
Phobos spun Thasus around so he could see a long stake piercing the sky. His heart felt as if there were birds fluttering around in it: There was the girl he dreaded he would never see again. Nora was tied to the stake. Around the base of the stake was a mound of wood, shining with gasoline. Thasus felt sick. They were planning on burning her to death!
Thasus just smiled though. He had a plan. He closed his eyes and focused hard on his powers. He felt his walls go down, and laziness began drifting out of him. He willed himself to stay awake as his powers took effect. Within seconds, Phobos fell to the ground, fast asleep.
He opened his eyes lazily and yawned. Phobos was snoring on the ground. The girl who he had cut was rubbing her eyes and yawning constantly. Even a few of the monsters near him had drifted off to sleep. Only Deimos was awake.
Perfect. He wanted revenge.
"Kill him!" the girl goddess shrieked!
Just then a massive black shadow fell down from the sky and crashed down on the screaming girl, whose shrieks for blood turned into screams of fear. A shaggy red wolf ran into the battle zone next and stood beside his master.
"Laelaps," Thasus said, "Go help Percy. I suspect he could use the assistance of a killer wolf. As for you Deimos, have you ever met a peryton? One ancient historian speculated they played a role in the fall of Rome. Mine has certainly played a role in the downfall of your friend there."
Thasus rushed towards and god of terror and smacked him with the flat blade of his sword. Deimos stumbled but stayed on his feet and countered. His long knife nearly stabbed Thasus through the armpit, but he dodged just in time, and brought his sword hilt crashing down on Deimos's head. Maybe gods have solider skulls than mortals, because he hit the dirt but instead of being totally knocked out, he attempted to struggle to his feet.
Thasus kicked him into the dirt again and pushed his knee into the gods' chest.
"I'm so glad you managed to resist my powers," Thasus growled, his eyes fiery with anger, "I'm going to enjoy teaching you a lesson."
Deimos smirked like some psychopath villain who didn't care at all what happened to him. He was just there to inflict as much pain as possible. "She will burn," he said, his smile filled with cruelty.
When the first punch landed, Deimos' smile evaporated. By the second punch, his lips were too swollen to even smile.
"She… will die" he mumbled through his swollen lips.
When Thasus landed his third punch, Deimos made a small gurgling noise, and his head slumped onto the ground. Just for good measure- and out of pure anger- Thasus pounded his face once more.
Thasus glanced over at Percy, but there wasn't really anything he could do. With the help of Laelaps, Percy had disintegrated practically an entire cohort-size of monsters. The few that remained had begun to scatter when they noticed their fallen leaders.
Thasus wasted no time. He raced towards the peryton- a massive, fully-grown stag deer with a giant pair feathery wing that could just as soon flip you over his head and kill you as he would prance off into the forest- and scrambled onto its back. The deer fanned out its wings and began running towards Nora, using his wings to propel him forward.
But the winged-deer wasn't the only thing racing towards Nora. A centaur had broken away from horde of monsters, grabbed a flaming torch and was cantering towards the gasoline-soaked wood at the base of Nora's feet. The centaur knew they had lost, but he had every intention of dealing as much pain as possible. Running behind the centaur was the girl who had been previously pinned down by the peryton.
Thasus knew they wouldn't make it in time. Nora was about to be burnt alive in front of eyes. His whole body felt cold.
And on his belt, the knife he had been given felt hot.
Thasus held the knife in his hands, did a quick prayer to Apollo and Diana for the knife to fly straight, and to Vesta, just in case, and threw the knife.
It sliced through the air, unwavering, and dug hilt-deep into the centaur skull. His momentum brought him forward a few steps before he crashed to the ground and exploded into golden dust.
The peryton half flew, half ran the rest of the way to Nora. Thasus jumped off his back and picked up the knife from the ground.
"It's no use," Nora moaned, "The chains are adamant. Nothing can cut through them. Just leave now, it's a trap. You're more important than I am, New Rome needs you. Go now."
"No Nora, we've won," Thasus said.
But the moment he began cutting the chains, he thought he hadn't won. Nora was right; cutting through her bonds was impossible.
But the more he cut, the hotter the blade became, until it looked like molten gold. Then the first chain melted. Thasus ran to the next, which melted in a matter of seconds.
With the chains gone, Nora fell off the stake, right into Thasus's arms.
For a second they looked at each other, and then their lips met. It was one of the best moments of his life. When they kissed, there was no war, no giants. The world wasn't on the brink of destruction. There was no Gaea; just the two of them, with no worries, no heartache, and no pain. Then she slumped against him, her feet no longer working.
Percy came running up to them then. He took one look at Nora, her eyes closed, a small smile on her face. "What happened?" he asked.
"She, uh, fell asleep." Thasus said sheepishly.
Already it looked like Percy was getting ready to take a nap too. Thasus closed his eyes and raised his mental walls again, shutting off the power of sleep.
"You'll never win," a voice cackled. It was the goddess, the only immortal who remained. "You don't even know where to find the Doors of Death. The bait will die, the offering given, and Rome shall be brought to its knees." Then she disappeared, probably to go shriek at some other people.
"Come on," Percy said, "Let's get home. I have a ship to catch."
"And I have all that matters in my heart," the son of sleep said, kissing Nora gently.