Chapter 2: Varius – Life of a Roman

"… I liked all the myths, and the Roman tales …,

and all these interesting people who were never quite what they thought they would be

or seemed to be." ~ Suzanne Farrell

Monday February 3

Varius Maddox stared blankly at a sink filled with ice cold tap water. His cinnamon hair looked darker as it clung to his forehead saturated in sweat. Even his chestnut and gold colored rays that decorated his eyes, the freckles that sprinkled across his nose and chest looked darker. The only thing that seemed to grow lighter in the sun was the jagged scar that ran across the lower end of his right jaw. He cupped his hands and wet his face with the cool water greedily.

He usually enjoyed the sun beating on the bare skin of his back and chest but he was still recovering from yesterday's training session. They had all been ordered to increase each session to 'prepare'. Varius snickered to himself thinking about the speech Octavian had made. He was like a political hopeful miniaturized but instead of kissing babies he killed teddy bears. Any other place that would be considered disturbing, but this was New Rome. Being weird or disturbing was a practically a requirement.

He lifted another wooden pillar and hoisted it onto his shoulder. Technically he was supposed to wait for the cart but they were taking too long for his liking. Walking along to the back end of the fort he spotted Reyna with her head held high with a regal look to her. This just put him further in a bad mood.

He tossed the beam on the floor with a loud thump and grabbed the abandoned cart that should have been in use. He gave one last look back at Reyna talking to his commanding officer who stood at attention. He rolled his eyes as he saw her give orders.

Thinking about the stories he heard of her and the other in the previous only riled him up. He gritted his teeth. So much had happened and he just had to arrive at the very end of it all. Despite the huge flood of monsters, missions were still scarce.

He wondered if they did that in hopes that the Greeks would eventual kill themselves off by the number of quests that they have been on. But then again he had heard rumors that they too were avoiding the issue and were just rescuing young Greek demigods from being used as appetizers.

As the day dimmed and city quieted down, Varius rolled in his bed unable to sleep. An unsettled spark of energy still tormented him. He rolled out of bed and pulled on some street clothes quietly even though he knew that no one would rat him out. He'd seen others sneak out of the barracks on a regular basis. In New Rome obedience only mattered if someone in charge was looking.

Varius slid down the ally keeping to the shadows. Reaching the end of the barracks he sprinted and leaped just barely reaching the top of the wall with his hands. He hoisted himself over and landed in some soggy grass his feet sinking deep into the earth.

He stayed crouched looking at New Rome's town center. He didn't have a plan so decided to simply roam the streets. He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the streets. No one paid any attention to him. He passed by the temples stopping at the one dedicated to Venus, the goddess of love. He frowned staring at her statue, waiting for some kind of connection to happen.

To his surprise he was actually a legacy of Venus. Some ancestor way back had been a son of Venus and the leader of a cohort. The 5th cohort to be exact and if that wasn't bad enough he just so happened to be the one who led the mission to Alaska and lost the golden eagle. But that wasn't why he ended up in Camp Jupiter.

He walked around visiting each temple looking for some sort of sign. Anything would have worked for him. But the night was dead. Not even a bug he could have taken as an omen showed up. As he reached the end he heard voices. Varius dashed into the nearest temple. He looked back to see the statue of Juno, queen of Olympus, stare back down at him. He looked back praying that he wasn't a son of Jupiter. He didn't want to get on her bad side.

Normally citizens wouldn't care that Varius was out after hours but he was in the religious sector of New Rome and they tend to take the rules very seriously. And being how vocal and involved they were in the city he didn't want them to use him as an example for the youth's lack of discipline.

He froze as the voices got closer. A sneer crawled across his face. He slowly inched his way to get a look and there stood Octavian trying to impress a girl. The sneer quickly evaporated Varius' face and was replaced by a sharp chill down his back. He looked back at Juno with her unyielding face and back at the couple in the distance. He didn't need a clear look at her face to know who she was.

Her flowing traditional white Roman style dress with a golden braided rope wrapped around her waist made it obvious. They made their way to a secluded area where they couldn't be seen by any one walking by. He could barely see them. He cursed Octavian under his breath. The girl Octavian had his hands on and kissed with passion was a Vestal Virgin. If she was caught with him she would be the one killed for the crime.

Varius crouched low and his hands shook at the thought of the senate throwing the petite girl bloodied body in the Tiber River. He looked back at Juno still crouched on his knees. This time the fear he felt vanished. Could it be her taking the fear from him?

Varius bowed his head, "Juno, Queen of the Heavens and protector of woman, I will not speak of what I have seen for the girls sake. Please protect her."

He looked up at the marble face of Juno not knowing what else to say. He waited wondering if there was supposed to wait for some sign that she had heard him. Maybe a flashing light saying message received we'll get back to you as soon as your call has been received. But nothing happened. Varius got up slowly and made his way back to the barracks taking care not to look back to where Octavian and the Vestal Virgin were.

As he got back to his bed a dim light poked out of his drawer. He grabbed his cell phone out of the drawer. It was a short one sentence text letting him know that his monthly allowance had been deposited into his account. That was the only contact he had with his father. He held the phone firmly in his hand.

He had hoped that one of the male gods was his real father. It would have showed that at least his mother hadn't let his father keep herself completely under his thumb. Bitter loneliness filled him. He dropped his cell phone back and drew out a picture of her.

Tuesday February 4

Varius knew he shouldn't be such a downer but he couldn't help himself. He was particularly glad that Frank Zhang had taken time out of his day to help him clean out the elephant stall, especially since he didn't need to being Praetor and all. But word was spreading quickly about his eagle loosing ancestor and he was now considered a bad omen. They didn't talk about it but he guessed the reason that Frank was willing to scoop giant poop was because he felt bad for him.

Frank cut a barrel of hay and tossed it on to the ground, "Almost everyone has to go through the dirty work first. You'll be going up the ladder in no time."

Varius raked through the hay evening it out, "Ya, because there are so many missions up for the grabs for me to prove myself with."

Frank stayed quiet as he petted the war elephant, Hannibal, as he stared at Varius silently urging him to let it off his chest.

Varius stopped and stared down at the finished floor. "Finding out all this is real … I just … I thought finally, this is the life I wanted. I get to live some kind of adventure. But this…." Varius waved an arm and dropped it back on his side.

"You expected more. To be appreciated," Frank smiled as Varius looked up at him with wide eyes. "You'll get your chance. The senate can't ignore the monster problem forever. Just keep on training hard."

Varius nodded and put the rake away. He felt a little embarrassed and avoided Frank's eyes. He didn't even realize what he really wanted was to be appreciated, but Frank did.

"Look, I can't get you a mission right now but eventually we'll have to make a trip to visit the Greeks to iron out a treaty as a formality. They'll be plenty of monsters along the way. When it comes up I'll make sure you're on the team."

They walked together through the town. Varius got the feeling that Frank did this on purpose too. The glances and glares his direction unnerved him but with Frank at his side it tended to lessen.

Varius was glad for help and the company but he turned down the invitation to go out to eat at a café with Frank and his girlfriend Hazel. He appreciated it but knew that Frank would much rather be alone with Hazel. Plus being the third wheel didn't sound like that much fun anyway.

He ended up deciding on doing some shopping. Half way through he cursed himself and wondered if it was because he was a legacy of Venus that he always took special care of his appearance. Just because he was the legacy of Venus didn't mean he should flaunt it. He didn't need any teasing on top of the paranoia that some held that he was a sign of bad times to come.

On the way back walking past the café district he could hear the old timers argue about the Greeks, praetors, and 'young folk' in general. He off handedly wondered if this discord was cause by the return of the statue of Athena. The thought gave him a head ache as he hoped that Octavian wouldn't use that as an excuse to steal it back and put it back in hiding.

He groaned as he tried to make his way through a street filled with on lookers just outside the senate. He gave a few coins to a nearby fawn and asked him to help make a path for him. The fawn quickly agreed and began to shove people out of the way. He put the two bags he had over his shoulder and zig zagged through the crowed. Once out of the crowed he looked back and saw Reyna on the top steps. He stopped and joined. The fawn sat on some near by steps examining the shinny new coin as he took a bite on the corner of it to check if it was real.

That's gratitude for you.

A group of retired soldiers seemed to be ganging up on Reyna arguing as they gestured wildly with their hands. Varius wrinkled his nose feeling unsettles. He thought that she had perhaps bit off more than she could chew. As a warrior Varius couldn't help but respect her. He even had to admit that she was an excellent general. He had no problems following her into battle. But a political leader she was not, that required a whole different type of animal.

Despite his negative thoughts he tensed his arms as a small group of men crowded around Reyna. He gripped his bags tighter and pushed his way through the crowd as one grabbed her arm as she tried to walk back into the senate hall. By the time he reached the steps Reyna had yanked the man's hand off her and Jason stepped out of the building to her side.

The hair on Varius' arms rose. His skin prickled while the air around the plaza suddenly grew warmer. The light around them dimmed as the spars clouds above condense. Jason's face was hard with determined eyes and dark as the sky above them.

Reyna gave Jason a slight punch to the shoulder. In a second everything went back to normal as it had never happened. The look on her face clearly said 'I can fight my own battles.'

Varius paused seeing the situation quickly calm down. No one in the crowd seemed to want to go up against a guy who could electrocute you at will. He rolled his shoulders annoyed at the tense feeling that refused to ease out of his bones. He scanned the crowd but the man that was getting rough with Reyna was gone. Varius left back to his barracks with his arms still taut in anger.

Thursday February 6

When Varius said he wanted to 'climb the ladder' so to say he didn't mean getting stuck in a meeting where he wasn't even supposed to even open his mouth. But Frank thought it was a good idea. He had gotten it into his head that Varius might have political ambitions and thought that it would be good for him to get a taste before committing.

No one questioned his appearance although a few have an uncomfortable glance. But they had slowly gotten used to having him around being constantly seen training, at the shops, or with Frank.

He stood behind Frank as he sat at a plain long rectangular wooden table with several other Romans and one guy who Varius thought went a little too far on the 'I'm cool and dangerous look.' But that could have just been the skulls.

Varius' eye involuntarily crossed forcing the thought of other people's clothing choices out of his head. He hopped no one saw his lapse in sanity.

His eyes swept across the table. Most of the others sitting down also had someone standing directly behind them. Everyone's eyes were on the skull guy who Frank explained earlier was a Greek demigod named Nico di Angelo, a son of Hades. He guessed that explained the skulls, at least he hoped. For all he knew it could be a Greek thing.

This meeting was supposed to be a big deal too. Apparently Nico wasn't one to drop in just to say hi. Usually, he came baring news that was just as dark as his clothes. But Varius saw it as a good thing. New Rome had slowly isolated itself. Not much information came in or out with an exception for a few higher ups. Something big was going on and they were working hard to keep it under wraps.

Reyna stood casting a glare at Octavian who was sitting lazily in his chair. "I called this meeting to address some important issues affecting us all. The war against Gaea has caused serious consequences threatening our security. I've asked di Angelo to speak today so you can hear first hand what is happening outside our boarders."

She sat back down gesturing for the Greek to say his part.

Nico sat straight on his chair looking everyone in the eye one by one. "The situation is very serious. We have confirmed that it wasn't just monsters that have escaped the Underworld. Gaps have opened up in the Fields of Punishment. Both demigods and mortal criminals have been confirmed missing. This can have serious ramifications that will spill over to the mortal world.

"So far those in charge of bringing the souls back believe that many of the gruesome murders and missing people are in direct connection to several missing ghosts. We're still not sure how but many have gained some type of solid form, although none seem stable so far. I believe they intent to pick up where they left off. We have been able to catch a great deal of them but it seems that some of the mortals have teamed up with demigods and monsters making them harder to locate and capture. I think we have a good chance of fixing this quickly if-"

Octavian groaned and tossed his hands in the air unable to control himself any longer. "Well you're not trying very hard in the first place; you have one sitting right on Camp Half-Blood!"

Nico frowned and leaned forward putting his arms on the table. "We're still checking, we don't know exactly who escaped, but so far she isn't on any of our lists."

"Then where did she come from?" Reyna insisted, suspicion dancing in her eyes.

All eyes were back on Nico. Even Frank raised his eyebrows waiting to hear his explanation.

A few murmured to each other wondering who this 'she' was. Varius got the feeling that Nico didn't anticipate them knowing about this girl. He placed his hands behind his back and fidgeted with an old denarii. Coming to this meeting suddenly seemed like a good idea. But Nico didn't look like he was having as good of a time.

Before Nico could answer Jason stood up placing his hands on the table drawing the attention to himself. "I'm checking to see if maybe she is a Roman who never made the trip between the Wolf House and Camp, a child civilian, or possibly even a legacy."

Octavian snorted drawing attention to himself, again. He waved his hand casually gesturing to Nico, "Well if she couldn't make it to camp or left New Rome then you can keep our unwanted scraps."

Frank clenched his fist on the table. "Even if she didn't make it camp that doesn't mean that we should just let her fall through the cracks."

An old woman named, Paola Ricci, nodded gesturing to a young petite girl behind her. Their traditional white Roman dresses contrasted with everyone elses more modern attire. "We have several possibilities that we are still cross checking with Jason in our files. We'll need a few more weeks at least to know for sure if she is of Roman stock."

Varius recognized her as the head of the Vestal Virgins and an extremely stern old bat who had nearly taken off his head for looking a second too long at one of her girls. She sent a glare at Frank and Nico before going back to perfectly written notes. She made it plainly obvious she didn't like either of them. Agreeing with Frank on something must have been rather painful for her considering she didn't see it fitting for Jason to just simply hand over power like that and Reyna for letting it happen.

He looked at the back of Frank's head wondering what his expression was to all this.

Nico's eyes hardened as he kept his eyes locked on Octavian as the head Vestal spoke.

Jason sat up slightly ready to try to change the subject. "Where just here to exchange information we –"

"Yes, information that is extremely difficult to come by and that I am under no obligation to share. But I guess the lives of others right now are too boring for you Octavian. Why don't you assassinate another stuffed bear to keep yourself entertained?"

Everything, even the air, around the room suddenly tensed. Varius suddenly understood why there were people who weren't supposed to participate allowed in the meeting. It was in case someone got the idea that it would be a good opportunity to throttle someone's neck. Which what was exactly what Octavian looked like he was about to do to Nico.

Varius and some others stepped forward but the look in Nico's eyes stopped them all in their tracks. They were dark and ominous proving his birthright as the son of Hades. He looked down at Frank noticing that he had remained calm, his fist now unclenched on the table. He got the hint that Nico would not need any help. As much as the chance of possibly sneaking in a punch toward Octavian sounded like a good idea, watching would be better. The view would be much more preferable.

Jason slapped the table making a few jump in their seat. "We are here to say what we know, not to debate or question each other."

Octavian leaned back into his chair and casually waved his hand in the air for everyone to continue. His face contorted back to its usual uninterested 'I'm too good for this' look.

Varius clenched the coin in his hand disappointed. This would have been a lot more exciting if they hadn't banned weapons from the city. But then again this was probably exactly why. Even though Octavian dismissed the girl, they wouldn't have bothered bringing it up if she wasn't some kind of threat or at least very interesting. He made a mental note to get as much information as he can out of Frank about this mystery girl.

Jason brought up another report involving local fawns. Octavian and a few others groaned. Varius frowned suddenly interested again. He always gave whatever coins he had in his pockets to them despite being scolded for it by his commanding officer in the 4th cohort.

Nico leaned forward again, "We are also missing several satyrs and centaurs. There hasn't been much in evidence as to who or why but if we compare notes I think that –"

Octavian groaned even louder, "We don't have all day and we still have to go through more important matters."

Octavian leaned back into his chair. His eyes flickered over to the young brunette girl standing behind the head Vestal Virgin as they took notes to add to their already extensive records. He seemed nervous and uneasy with her around as he tapped his finger on the table. She avoided his gaze as a light shade of pink colored her cheeks. Varius bit down the urge to smack Octavian and tell him not to be so damn obvious.

A murmur of agreement sounded through most of the people in attendance. Varius' grip on the coin tightened causing pain to radiate on his palm. He thought back trying to remember which fawns he had seen lately. He wanted to say something but he knew if he did that he would be banned and embarrass Frank in the process.

Jason face tensed again looking at Octavian who either didn't notice or couldn't care less.

Frank finally spoke keeping a calm air about him. "Wither or not you think they are important, the possibility of them being kidnapped is a security risk. If they are forced to speak under torture or some other means there is a possibility that information about our security detail, numbers, or possibly even battle maneuvers may be compromised."

Frank's cool tone seemed to affect Nico, who no longer seemed to want to murder a bunch of Romans as a quick workout before lunch. The others complied easily keeping their mouths shut as Nico continued with out interruption.