The rogue demigods came out of nowhere. They attacked Camp Half-blood at the end of the day, when everyone was getting ready for bed. They quickly took control of the camp with synchronized attacks.
They were a force of about sixty, but they were seasoned fighters. Most of them were Roman Demi-gods who had supported Octavian, when he was in charge of the legion, with blind loyalty.
They were led by a son of Apollo named Christian. He had always admired Octavian. When he died during the battle with Gaea, Christian blamed the Greeks. He hated how Reyna had so easily accepted peace with them. Romans were far superior in his mind. The only way to prove that, was to wipe out the Greeks, for good.
The first thing they had to do was take out the big threats. Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez and Nico Di Angelo. Teams of five were sent to take of each target. There was some difficulty taking Percy down, but in the end he was unconscious on the ground with the others.
The next step was to attack the camp with all they had. They lost a few soldiers to injuries but before dawn, all those in the camp were caught and put into the make-shift holding area that was the dining pavilion.
Most of the campers were accounted force. The few that weren't there were, according to their scouts, on a quest. Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean and Hazel Lavesque were gone. Christian had decided that he would bait them to come back to camp and lure them into an ambush.
When the sun was completely up, he decided to check out the prisoners. As soon as there was enough light around the dining pavilion, Christian would have Percy send a message to Annabeth, telling her to come back to camp.
To his delight, Percy was already awake when he got to the dining pavilion, chained to a stone table, bruised and bloody. His orange camp shirt was torn and covered in dried blood, but with how much blood was on his shirt, it couldn't have all been his. His eye was swollen and starting to purple. The sight of the beaten demigod made Christian's chest swell with pride. "Ah! The might Percy Jackson, son of Neptune! So glad to see you again."
He looked puzzled, "First off, it's Poseidon. Secondly, we've met before?"
Christian's blood started to boil, how dare this Greek forget him. He was in the temple with Octavian when he arrived at camp. Granted he wasn't right in the main area, but he was still there.
"My name is Christian, son of Apollo. I was one of Octavian's assistant augurs. He was helping me develop my talents of prophecy."
Percy bit his lip slightly and shook his head, "Sorry, I got nothing."
Christian wanted to smack the insolent Greek, but instead he straightened his back, cleared his throat and raised his chin slightly, "No matter, the important thing is that I have overrun your camp. Now, if you don't want anyone here harmed, you will do as I say. Do I make myself clear?"
Percy scowled, "What do you want?"
Christian smiled evilly, "I want you to send one of those rainbow messages to your girlfriend. Tell her to come back to camp."
"An Iris message? To Annabeth?" Percy asked, his voice on edge.
"Precisely, and you will only say what I tell you to say. Anymore, and one of your friends will pay the price."
Percy's face looked full of rage, "If you harm anyone, you will regret it. I swear on the River Styx."
Distant thunder boomed across the clear sky. Christian looked up in confusion, but shrugged it off. "Do as I say and all will be fine," he said.
Percy nodded and Christian beckoned one of his men to bring over a fountain to place in front of Percy. The soldier started the fountain up and the spray created a small rainbow right in front of Percy's face. Christian held up a golden drachma, "I took this from your night stand," he said with a smirk, "Didn't think you would mind." When Christian threw the coin into the rainbow, Percy sighed and spoke.
"Oh Goddess Iris, accept this offering. Please show me Annabeth Chase." soon, the rainbow showed the daughter of Athena, the one who was in charge of the expedition that destroyed the forum in New Rome. Percy gave a small smile, "Hey Brainiac, how ya doin?"
Annabeth looked confused, "Fine... Are you okay Percy? You look like you got your butt kicked."
Percy shrugged, "Jason and I got a little too rambunctious during a sparring match, nothing too bad."
Christian looked at Percy and whispered, people a have been passing out, we don't know what to do, we need your help.
Percy repeated the words. Annabeth looked puzzled, "That is strange, what does Chiron think about it?"
Before Christian could think of anything, Percy answered, "He was one of the victims. We are kind of lost here."
Christian narrowed his eyes, he decided he would let that slide, "Tell her to hurry."
"Please hurry babe, we need your help," immediately Christian cut through the rainbow, ending the conversation.
"I don't remember adding that last part," Christian said with narrowed eyes.
"I'm sorry!" Percy said loudly, "But if I repeated you exactly, she would've thought something was up. She is freaking smart!"
"I will forgive that, only because you covered the question about your teacher so well."
Percy scowled at Christian, "Where is Chiron? And how did you even get into this camp?"
Christian laughed, "Oh, getting in was easy, since we are descendants of the gods, we can cross the magical barrier."
"But Peleus-" Percy started.
"Oh your dragon?" Christian cut him off. "We didn't come from the woods. The hard part was taking you, Jason, Nico, Leo and Frank out simultaneously. In hind sight we should've included that dammed centaur at the same time as well, but he is no longer a problem."
Percy's face paled, "You didn't... Where is Chiron?" He couldn't say it.
"Dead?" Christian finished for him. "No, he isn't dead, but he won't be running in to save the day anytime soon." He looked behind Percy, and smiled. Percy followed his gaze, and when he saw Chiron lying unconscious on the ground, beaten and bruised, Percy pulled on his chains so hard Christian was sure that the table would break. Chiron's hands were bound together with Imperial gold cuffs and his front two legs were obviously broken.
Percy shouted at the top of his lungs, "I will make you suffer for this! You will beg for mercy when I'm-"
One of the guards had silenced him by knocking him out with the butt of his sword. Christian realized he was frozen out of fear. When he finally relaxed he turned to the guard, "Thank you James. Now, all of us need to prepare the girls to arrive."
The group of Romans left the pavilion except for Christian. He looked around at all the captured Greeks, taking in the glow of victory.
He went to check on the other big threats. He made the choice to keep the big hitters separate from each other. Frank was the toughest, given his ability to change into animals. But they came up with a Plexiglas box that was enchanted to allow air circulation but nothing else.
Christian had decided to put Leo in a cage that was mostly submerged in the canoe lake, to dampen any flames the pyro summoned. The cage only allowed enough space above the water to allow his face to be above and allow him to breathe. He instructed the guard to completely submerge the cage if he tried anything funny with fire.
Nico was chained in a room with bright lights all over. No shadows to run away in. He was chained to the ceiling with just enough chain to keep his toes on the ground.
Jason was chained to a pillar in front of Cabin 1. He had taken a pretty hard blow to the head in the initial fight. He tried to summon lightning shortly after we woke up, but accomplished only a weak rumble of thunder.
Christian walked to the top of Half-Blood Hill and looked at the ruined camp. He took in a deep breath and released it, "Victory is at hand for Rome. It's good to be on top. It's only a shame that you couldn't be here to enjoy it with me Octavian."
Christian stood next to Percy in the dining pavilion as they saw the figures of the female demigods show at the top of the hill. There seemed to be a couple extra figures, but it wouldn't be a problem. The trap was set.
The women stopped at the crest of the hill. Suddenly one of them yelled, "All people who are hiding in ambush, come out to face us!"
Suddenly Christian got the urge to go out in the open and abandon their plan of ambush. The other Romans started standing up and walking to the base of the hill, all with confused looks on their faces.
"Curse those Greeks!" Christian ex limed as he fumbled for his ear plugs. "I forgot to order them to put in their beeswax for the words of that witch." He barely got them in before Piper spoke again.
As the women drew their weapons she yelled, "Come get us!" They took off running down the hill at the waiting Romans.
Christian was stunned, these five women were running at a trained force of seventy-five Roman demigods. He turned to Percy, who was smirking.
Christian was stunned, "Aren't you worried about your girlfriend?"
Percy let out a loud laugh. His response was muffled, but Christian read his lips I'm more worried about your men getting their asses kicked.
Christian looked back and he saw Annabeth running in wielding her dragon bone sword. Piper had her jagged bladed sword, Hazel was riding down on Arion, with a golden cavalry helmet and her golden spatha at the ready.
One girl with short spikes black air, piercings and a t-shirt that read "Bite me Barbie" was shooting arrows as she ran, then the last woman he saw made his blood run col. Reyna, she was running at the front with her golden armor gleaming in the sun.
The Roman force charged the small group. Christian was irritated, but not worried. His larger force would prevail, no problem. It would be an easy win.
At least, that's what he thought until the groups met.
Before they met, the ground erupted at the feet of the Romans. Hazel had called on her ground powers to create chaos in the Roman lines and making it easier for the women to break the lines.
Annabeth leapt over the frontline and knocked out a centurion on her way down. She started fighting with soldiers, beating in helmets and disarming left and right.
Reyna knocked aside a spear, ramming into a soldier, sending a spear, ramming into a soldier, sending him sprawling onto the ground. She started making the line breaking apart. Her gold and silver dogs suddenly appearing at her side, Christian's soldiers were starting to run scared.
The girl with the spiked hair was shooting blunt arrows into the crowd as she ran, but as she was getting close to the line, she slapped her wrist and a shield sprang from it. The shield was hideous with a likeness of Medusa. It made Christian want to curl into the fetal position.
Hazel was an awesome on the back of her steed. The horse even helped her, kicking people who dared get close enough to him. Hazel swung her sword on both sides of her and left destruction in her wake.
Piper was fighting with her sword and using her charmspeak to confuse the Romans. The Romans started fighting each other. Some of the men were arguing with each other over who should fight alongside of Piper. There were even some guys who dropped to the ground and tried arm wrestling with each other.
As the battle progressed, Christian realized that Annabeth and Reyna were making their way toward him. He started to panic. When they broke through the crowed he grabbed his sword and pointed it at Percy's throat.
"Don't come any closer!" Christian shouted. "I'll cut his throat! I swear it! Drop your blades!"
The girls looked at each other and nodded. They threw down their swords and stepped back. Annabeth put her hands on her hips and Reyna crossed her arms across her chest.
"Now, here is what will happen," Christian started. "You will lay down all of your weapons and surrender to us."
Reyna smirked and Annabeth looked like she was holding a laugh back.
Christian's blood grew hot, he wanted to get rid of those smiles. He pushed the tip of his glad it's into Percy's cheek and swiped, causing a deep gash in his cheek. Percy didn't say anything, he just scowled at Christian. "You'll live to regret that," Percy said.
Annabeth's grin disappeared and Reyna narrowed her eyes at Christian.
"I'll give you one more chance," Christian shouted. "Surrender to me and I might spare you."
He waited, but when they made no motion to surrender, he knew that he had to show them who was boss. "Alright, it's your loss!"
He raised his sword to lop off Percy's head but just as his had was about to bring the blade down, something stabbed itself in his hand and wrist.
Christian let out a blood curdling scream as he dropped his sword. As he looked at his hand, he saw a bronze throwing pick imbedded in the center of his hand through the back, and a gold one that was buried in his wrist. He held his hand screaming in pain.
He looked up in time to see a boot come crashing into his face.
When Christian woke up, he and the rest of the Romans were piled on top of each other in a deep hole. Most of them were unconscious and they were all bloody and beaten. He looked up to the top of the hole he saw Reyna, Hazel and about two dozen Greek demigods circled around the rim. Each one of them held some sort of weapon trained on the Romans, each one with a look of fury on their faces.
Reyna was the first to speak, "About time you woke up, traitor." The first thing that Christian noticed was that he could hear clearly again, he reached up to his ears and felt two things. One, the wax was gone from his ears. Two, his hand was covered in blood. He looked at it, there was a bloody bandage barley covering the holes from the throwing pics. "Enjoying the cell Hazel carved out for you? I figured it would make disposing of your bodies easier."
Christian started to speak, but Reyna cut him off, "You do not get to speak until I grant you permission. Now, Christian, son of Apollo, you are being charged with treason against the Legion, a crime that is punishable by death, for you and your comrades. You attacked the legion's allies in a time of peace and prosperity. How do you plead?"
Christian gritted his teeth, "Treason against the legion? Rather hypocritical of you, don't you think my Praetor?" He said the last word with disgust. "These Greets are not a part of the Legion, and they are not our allies. They are an abomination the name demigod. They are unorganized, they don't follow any rules, and they are weak. And you made them our allies? No Reyna, it is you who is the traitor. I know any of my men would agree with me and follow me to whatever fate you sentence us to."
The Romans looked around at each other, nervously. Some of them looked afraid of what Reyna would sentence them to. Others looked up at her in defiance. Reyna studied the group, focusing on those who looked at her in defiance. "The legion made an alliance with the Greeks because we are more alike than you seem to understand. Since they are our allies, an attack on them is an attack on the legion. Not to mention, you attacked your other Praetor, Frank Zhang." Reyna's face was hard as granite, "Now, how do you plead? If you plead guilty and confess your crimes as a traitor, I may be kind and let you and your comrades keep your pathetic lives."
He looked up at Reyna in the eye, for a second, before he dropped his eyes. He couldn't hold her harsh gaze, but he quickly looked back at Hazel, who wasn't much better. Her golden eyes dug into his soul almost as deep as Reyna's. "I plead guilty, to failing in my attempt to save the legion."
"So be it," Reyna said quietly.
Reyna had decided to deal with the traitors on an individual basis. She interviewed each and every demigod in private. Her dogs determined who was telling the truth and who was lying. Those few people who were truly sorry for their actions and swore on the Styx that they would never betray the Legion again were allowed to stay. Their punishment was a full year of latrine duty.
Those who did not feel regret and would not change their attitudes, were banned from the Legion and Reyna cursed them with one of the worst punishments for a Legionnaire, she enacted a curse of the ancient empire. She would read the punishment and the curse, which left a painful brand on the person's arm, so they would never be able to call on help from a veteran of the Legion.
The mood around camp was slightly more joyful that night. Demigods abandoned the rules of sitting at designated tables and sat with anyone they wanted, often times switching tables numerous times.
At the head table sat Hazel, Piper, Annabeth, Reyna and Thalia. Chiron rolled up next to them in his wheelchair, "Heroes! We have great reason to celebrate tonight. These fine young women came to the rescue of the camp and they faced, insurmountable odds, which they overcame magnificently. So along with praising the gods tonight, we shall praise these five women here. TO THE GODS AND THE FIVE!" The entire camp echoed Chiron's praise.
After the food was served, people were jovial and rambunctious. Campers kept coming up to the head table to give the women pats on the back. But before long the five ladies left the head table to mingle amongst the rest of their friends. When they settled at a table with the rest of the Argo crew, Leo came over to Reyna and hung on her shoulder looking at Annabeth and Piper, "Okay so I have to ask," he said. Before he could continue, Reyna gave him a look that made him stand up and move to the side next to Hazel. "How did you guys know you were walking into a trap?"
Piper looked at Annabeth, "That was all Annabeth, as soon as her Iris message with Percy she said that it was a trap."
The guys all looked at Annabeth in surprise. She looked at Percy and pushed her shoulder into him. "Well, Percy made it pretty obvious," she said with a smirk.
"How?" Leo said.
She shrugged, "He never calls me babe, he knows how much I hate that. And he has never called me Brainiac, only Wise Girl."
Percy wrapped his arm around her, "I knew you would think something was wrong, she is the best at picking up things like that." He gave her a large kiss on the cheek. Annabeth made a show of pushing him away, but everyone knew she enjoyed it.
The rest of the evening was spent singing songs, eating s'mores, and recounting everyone's views on their saviors amazing take down of the invaders.
Hazel and Piper would shy away from the attention, denying their incredible feat. Annabeth nodded in agreement most of the time, only blushing when Percy would sing her praises. Reyna was silent, but would smirk when they would tell a story of something awesome she did.
Thalia, however, was a different story. She didn't think any of the stories accurately portrayed her greatness. "No way!" She would yell, "I took out FOUR guys with that fart arrow, not two! And that one shield bash with Aegis knocked three guys down!" At one point she put Travis Stoll in a head lock wouldn't agree with her.
The rest of the night was one of the happiest in anyone's memory. One that no one would soon forget.