No POV

Percy sweeps the floor of his area in the orphanage. He glances up to see his sister sitting on her bed, staring sadly at the floor. "Hey Persephone?" He says, breaking the silence.

She looks at him with an empty look. "Ya?"

"Are you ok?" He asks, frowning with concern. "You've been really quiet, and you haven't been eating."

"I know." She replies, looking back down at the floor. "I was just thinking of home, and of mom and dad. I miss them so much."

I immediately wrap my arms around her in a firm embrace. "I know. I miss them too, but there's no going back now. It's just the two of us from now on."

I feel the warm tears splashing on my shirt as I hug her tighter. "Why would they do this to us?" She chokes out.

"Cause they're monster who think they're Gods." A harsh voice replies from the entrance. Immediately, Persephone pushes away from my chest and wipes the tears from her eyes. We both look at the doorway to see a man in a spotless white and blue dress uniform.

Behind him is a short marine glaring at me with big beady eyes. He tilts his head slightly to his companion. A gesture to get me to pay attention to the man speaking.

"Can I talk to you two in private?" The man in the dress uniform asks, stepping into our room.

"I-I guess." Persephone replies softly.

The man turns to his companion. "Could you give us a minute."

The marine nods gruffly and closes the door behind him. Once we're alone the man pulls a folder out of his satchel. He reads over it and pulls a chair from our desk and sitting down.

"So you two were from Acropolis. Both parents killed when the Covenant attacked." He places the folder down and looks at us both intesnly. "I am truly sorry for your loss."

There was something in his voice that told me he was used to saying that. "But thats not why I'm here kids. There something else."

He fishes a small circular device from his pocket and presses the button underneath it. Suddenly a 3D image of the armored giant that saved us appears.

"This is a Spartan." He announces to the two of us, as he was teaching a class. "They are the UNSC's finest soldiers and the few things keeping the Covenant, the aliens that attacked your colony from destroying humanity. They're heroes."

My mind suddenly goes into imagining one of these guys fighting hordes of aliens, saving innocent humans from them. By the look on Persephone's face, she imagining the same thing.

Although he tries to supress it, I can tell the mans was smirking. "Well, would you two like to be Spartans?"

The question takes us by surprise. I spend minute staring at him, not saying a thing. Finally Persephone regains her voice and says. "Why are you asking?"

"I'm training a new generation of Spartans, and I'm looking for new recruits." He replies. "So are you in?"

"Why should we go with you?" I cross my arms.

He raises an eyebrow as if amused that I'm trying to defy him. "Well let me be painfully honest. If you two stay here you'll be lucky if you even find someone to adopt you."

I notice that he doesn't refer to them as parents, or a family or even a home. Just someone to adopt us.

"But if you join us, you could be heroes, save countless lives, and more importantly give you a chance to strike back at the monsters who took your parents." He continues.

Me and Persephone look at each other and we share the same look. Grim determination. "We're in." We say in unison.

"Good, and from now on refer to me as Chief Mendez." He says. "Now pack your things and meet me downstairs in ten minutes."

The two of us quickly pack bags with clothes, toiletries and some snacks. We don't have much to actually pack. "Hey Percy, are you sure you wanna go through with this?"

"Yes, I do. He's right. We're going to be lucky if someone ever adopts us. I'd rather be a Spartan, than sit here and do nothing." I say firmly. I offer my hand. "We'll do this together."

She grabs my hand and holds it tightly. "Together."

The two of us grab our duffels and head down. Where Mendez and the Marine our waiting. Mendez turns to the woman sitting behind the desk. "We'll take these two."

I shift around in the crowded Pelican. Surrounding me and Persephone are over twenty kids around our age. I rub my bandaged arm slightly, feeling to where the doctors took my blood. One of the many tests me and Persephone were given to see our attributes.

The Pelican slowly descends from the sky. Mendez exits the ship's cockpit and looks at each of us. "We will be landing soon. Prepare yourselves to get down."

The other kids stand up and began strapping their bags onto to their bags. Finally the hum of the Pelicans engines die down and comes to a stop. The bay doors open up and we march out to the camp outside.

The camp was a horseshoe shaped collection of green and grey buildings, ranging from a arc shaped barracks, the large rectangular armory and the three story command center. Several more Pelicans land and discharge more children.

"Welcome to Camp Currahee recruits!" A large man dressed in green fatigues. "I am Commander Ambrose! I will be overseeing your training here to be Spartans!"

The kids murmur amongst themselves in excitement. "But," Commander Ambrose interrupts them. "I will not lie, this won't be easy. We expect you to listen to us without question, no matter how much we ask. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." All the kids reply.

He turns to look to Mendez. "Then I'll leave you all in Mendez's hands."

Mendez pushes his way past the crowds and looks at us. "Listen up kids! Before I even let you carry a rifle or put on your armor, I need to know that you can march properly. Divide into groups of a hundred, rows of ten!"

The other instructors begin to herd the kids, but many of already begun forming the rows. Once Mendez is satisfied with our uneven rows he begins marching ahead of us. He leads us on the camps dirt road.

The short march turned into a three mile walk. Mendez didn't just lead us across the camp but also through some of the forest passess. By the time we return, all the kids are exhausted and gasping for air. By the time we return the sun had already began to set.

Mendez for his part isn't particularly winded despite being in his late thirties. "Come on recruits, just a bit longer before we reach the barracks." He calls after us.

I was about to collapse when a gun goes off. The kid beside screams as a round hits his neck. The other kids cry out in surprise as more rounds are fired. I react a lot faster and hide underneath a jeep. The attack has come from insode the barracks itself.

My heart is pounding inside my chest. Who are these people? Why are they here? What will they do to us?

"Take cover!" I shout, if anyone aside from a handful of kids hear me, they don't give any indication.

The few who do listen scramble for cover be it jeeps, bushes, trees or buildings. The rest run around in panic, slowly being picked off. Looking from where I'm hiding I see more than two dozen kids are on the ground, all groaning in pain. Thankfully all of them still look alive.

My eyes meet with Persephone who's hiding behind a tree. We share a nod and run from our hiding places, racing towards one of the injured recruits.

We dodge incoming fire from the shooters. My legs seem to shake of all my previous exhaustion as adrenaline pumps inside me.

Me and Persephone reach the first recruit at the same time. The two of us each grab his legs and drag him to the nearby trees. We pull his helmet off as he winces in pain, feeling the shoulder that got shot. "How do you feel?"

His fingernails dig into my arm as I prod his injury. "It feels numb." He replies.

"Just calm down. It will be alright." Persephone comforts him. "What's your name?"

"T-Tom." He gasps, clutching his arm. I glance past the tree to see the other kids still on the ground.

Persephone gives Thom her kind smile. "Well Thom, things are going to be fine, just relax." Just as quickly as the shots begin they stop.

"I think I've seen enough." Mendez says, stepping out from underneath a jeep, wiping dirt from his uniform. Around him, the instructors come out of the barracks, each carrying smoking rifles. "You all got a lot to learn about teamwork and coordination, and most importantly, the golden rule of being a soldier: Never leave a man behind."

The instructors begin leading the kids who got shot away. "Don't worry, we used stun rounds." One assures us.

Me and my sister help Thom lean on us. We lead him to a surprised looking trainer. "Here you go."

Mendez look at us, still stone faced as always, but I can see the astonishment in his eyes. "Well, it looks like some of you know more than others."

My chest suddenly swells with pride upon hearing that. A second later Mendez turns back to the kids. "Alright everyone, get inside for some dinner."

Almost at once everyone's stomach grumbles. All the kids run inside to the gray mess hall. The dinner itself was low key. The cooks each give us a tray of Mac and cheese, a piece of chicken, some vegetables and some water to wash it down.

Me and Persephone grab are trays and head to an empty table by the corner. "I think he likes us." Persephone says with a mouthful of Macaroni.

"Who?" I ask, jabbing my fork at my chicken and taking a bite.

"The chief."

"Nah he's probably just being nice."

Persephone shakes her head. "I could have sworn her was smiling at us."

"More like baring his fangs." I say jokingly. Persephone giggles and playfully punches my shoulder. Someone clears his throat behind us.

We both look over our shoulders to find Thom holding his tray. "Uh, mind if I join you guys?"

I shrug and scoot over to one side to make room for him. Tom smiles and sits down. "Thanks for saving me a while ago. Even if it wasn't real."

"It was nothing." Persephone smiles. "So, where are you from?"

"Kholo. I was evacuated by marines, though the rest of my family didn't make it." He says, his gaze becoming distant, as if in deep thought.

"Us too." I say, frowning sadly. "We were born on Acropolis. The Covenant destroyed our world."

Tom bobs his head. "From what I heard, all these kids are orphans. Those monsters did all of this."

I nod silently in agreement. "That why we're here right? To become Spartans and to fight those monsters and become heroes."

"Well regardless, I'd be happy to fight alongside you two anytime, anywhere." He smiles.

Persephone munches happily. "Not too soon I hope."

We all nod in agreement, finishing our food before heading to a dreamless sleep.