Chapter VI: PIPER: This
Someone was shaking her awake.
"Get up! Get dressed! Hurry! Grab your sword and shield! Hurry, hurry!"
"What?" Piper peeked her eyes open. Someone continued to shake her.
"You'll be in so much trouble if you don't get up! HURRY!"
Piper opened her eyes all the way and jumped out of bed. Maybe Festus had puked fire to something or someone again. Maybe the Stoll brothers had committed some gone-wrong prank. Then she realized she wasn't in the Aphrodite cabin. It was the Venus cabin in First Legion.
Piper focused on the person who'd woken her up.
"GET DRESSED!" Daisy squealed, throwing random clothing at her. Piper didn't know what was happening or why Daisy was freaking out on her. But she obeyed and dressed as fast as she could.
"What's happening? Where's the other Aphro-Venus campers? What's wrong?" Piper yelled while she and Daisy ran across the perfect grass towards the pavilion. She had just grabbed the first things in her bag which was a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Katoptris, her knife, was strapped to her belt.
"In Roman camp," Daisy yelled back at her as they ran, "it's every man for himself. The breakfast horn blew already and if we're not in there by the time it blows again, we are in so much trouble." She grabbed Piper's hand and Piper ran faster to attempt to not fall on her face.
The horn sounded when Piper seized a plate. She jumped sky high. The Apollo cabin snickered. She ignored them.
"We serve ourselves?" she asked Daisy. Daisy tossed a look over her shoulder. It took Piper a second to realize how little-rich-brat the comment had sounded. She turned red. "Oh, gods, that's not-that didn't-I didn't mean it like that." she put a couple pieces of pizza on her plate, "It's just that, at Camp Half-Blood, the nymphs serve you and then you go and give a portion of food to the gods." Piper picked up a cup.
"We deal with it here. We carry our own weight." Daisy smiled at Piper, "But of course we still sacrifice to the gods."
"You don't use live animals, do you?" Piper stopped dead, thinking about watching Bobby the Hulk or a stony faced Gwen slicing open a chicken. She had no wish to watch a chicken's guts fall out of it.
"I think we used to." Daisy said, "But I think someone finally got tired of getting all bloody right before they ate. Besides, it was killing a lot a animals. Three meals a day. Three sacrifices a day." Daisy waved Piper to follow her.
There was a wide Roman column right in the middle of the pavilion. There was a neat, squared hole in it. A small fire danced in view.
"Do we have to stick our hand in it? Cut a piece of our hair?" Piper asked. Daisy laughed, covering her mouth quickly to muffle it into a cough.
"I'm sure it wouldn't ruin your hair style either way." Daisy gave her a guarded smile, something Piper hoped she wouldn't get used to. She turned away from Piper and shifted some of her food off her plate and into the fire. Just like Camp Half-Blood.
Piper sighed in relief.
Daisy gave a low giggle only Piper could hear.
"Let's get to the table quick, Lupa will probably want to talk more about you Greeks." Daisy told Piper under her breath. Piper nodded in agreement and shoved her bigger slice of pizza into the fire. She caught a whiff of the smoke. If that's what it could be called. It was godly smoke. Every piece of food everyone had sacrificed smelled ten times better in the fire and the funny thing was, all the scents mixed just fine, which shouldn't have been right.
But being a demigod never really followed any guidelines about what "should" happen in the world. When the world was hinged on the mood of a bunch of really old, all powerful beings that got pretty moody over the stupid things, guidelines were a laughing thing to all demigods. That's one thing Piper hoped the Greeks and Romans could agree on.
She sat down at the Venus table and earned a bunch of award-winning death glares from all her siblings. She held their gaze.
"I'm not afraid of you." She told them, biting into her pizza. "And I have no problem with showing you."
They glared at her once more before returning to their fruit salads.
Piper let out the breath she'd been holding through her nose slowly so it wasn't obvious. Daisy gave her a small smile. Piper glanced down at the perfect way her siblings were eating their perfect little fruit salads. She thought back to her own cabin. She had a feeling that Venus campers would be harder to intimidate than her Aphrodite siblings.
Venus was the war-part of Aphrodite.
But they were still part of Aphrodite.
Piper looked around the pavilion. Annabeth was slowly eating a bowl of cereal while the rest of her cabin tried to put plenty of space between her and themselves. Sometimes Annabeth would sweep her hair back and shake her loose pieces of hair at them. They would lean back, a slight look of disgust on their faces before they could conceal it.
Tyson was thoroughly enjoying sitting with Gwen and Percy. He would pound Percy on the back occasionally (plummeting him into his food) and smile at Gwen. He seemed to be animatedly telling them a story something about a sword and peanut butter.
Leo looked very lost and pretty lonely. His siblings were giving him the silent treatment no matter how much he tried to smile at them or joke or show them his cool creations. They simply wouldn't give them the time of day. Bobby was flicking grapes and chicken bones at the back of his head. Leo was looking more and more annoyed. Piper wondered when he'd explode in a column of fiery Leo. She wished the Romans would let the Greeks sit together.
Maybe this was like one of the tests Lupa was talking about. No, Gwen had talked her out of it. Maybe it was a quiz. A mini test. See how long it would take until the emotional Greeks broke. Piper had a dark feeling the Romans would get a good laugh very soon.
Jason was looking very lonely at his table.
Nico seemed to be doing okay. He was quietly talking to his sister Bianca who apparently had died a few years ago.
"I thought Bianca was dead." Piper whispered to Daisy. Daisy glanced over her shoulder quickly to look at Bianca and Nico.
"She was." Daisy said in a voice so low Piper had to lean forward to hear her. "She came not long after Percy woke up. It was an exchange."
"An exchange?" Piper leaned forward even more. "What kind of exchange?"
"A life for a life."
"Someone died for Bianca to be here?" Piper whispered, her voice sharp.
"The gods took Esther because she was too powerful, too corrupt. They took her but had to put a placeholder. They had to choose a demigod that was close enough to Esther's power but who's soul was freshest. Bianca was the ideal candidate. They latched her onto Gwen. That's the story, anyway. Romans are pretty good about fact and fiction."
"What do you mean 'latched her onto Gwen'?" Piper realized she'd leaned forward onto her pizza. She straightened up a little then decided she would rather hear the story and leaned back onto it.
"Bianca had been dead for a few years, so Gwen told me. Her soul hadn't lived for a while. It needed life support, you might say." Piper felt her fingers tingle. She hoped Daisy wouldn't say what Piper was afraid she would say, but she did. "Gwen's soul got sucked of energy while Bianca was latched to it."
"Is she still eating Gwen's soul?" Piper looked back at Gwen who looked pretty calm and smiley. Smiley for a Roman anyway.
"No, Bianca stabilized about a week after the quest." Daisy chewed her food thoughtfully. "I believe that the gods will take Bianca back. You know, return things to how they're supposed to be. Bianca's not supposed to be alive. Esther wasn't supposed to be that powerful and corrupt for a demigod." Piper shifted uncomfortably and decided to change the subject. She wondered what the dreary Nico would do if he lost his sister again.
"Is Gwen nice?" Piper asked in a normal voice, sitting up to try to rescue her shirt from her pizza's cheesy clutches.
"To her friends." Daisy smiled at Piper, "If you're in a fight, you want Gwen on your side. She's the best fighter we have and one of the most hard-headed. She smooths things down for everyone. She creates a balance but she is definitely determined to go with her own flow. Even though no one will probably admit it, we need Gwen. She's way too Greek but she's a thing we need. Our camp will fight to the death to keep you from taking her back."
"Why would we take a Roman away?" Piper asked.
"Because she's really a Greek."
Piper felt a shiver down her back.
"What do you mean by that?"
Chapter VII: GUINEVERE: To Be Eaten Or Not To Be Eaten
Gwen wasn't very hungry but Tyson was insistent that she eat. She had reserved herself to nibbling on a piece of toast. As Gwen had suspected, all the Greeks were being treated as outcasts. Nico was doing pretty fine at his table and no one would say "boo" to Tyson if they knew what was good for them, but Annabeth might as well have had leprosy, Daisy was the only one who would get within a yard of Piper, and Bobby was being such a jerk to Leo, Gwen was about to jump up and shove her swords down his throat.
The thought was rather entertaining.
"Are you listening, Gwen?" Percy snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"Huh?-oh, yeah!-of course-what?" Gwen looked apologetically at Tyson. He looked rather delighted to repeat his story and launched back into his story about peanut butter and Daddy's palace.
Percy laughed quietly and glanced around at all the Greeks.
Jason looks lonely. he said in her head. She continued to nod enthusiastically at Tyson while she stole a glance Jason's way. He looked sad. It made Gwen's heart ache to watch her ex-best friend hurt. She sighed and looked away from him. He was the only camper who was alone at his table. The only one. Before it was both of them that were alone. Now it was just him.
"...And that's how I got my war cry!" Tyson finished up happily. Gwen zeroed back in on her other brother. She smiled at him.
"That's so cool, Tyson. Hey, why didn't Grover come with you guys?"
Percy perked up. They both gave Tyson their undivided attention.
"Goat boy had to stay at Camp Half-Blood. Chiron wanted to know what he knew. Grover wanted to try to work on his Wildlife pro-ject. And only so many people could come on the trip because of ship's capacity and weight limit." Tyson blushed at this point. Gwen and Percy's eyes met.
In other words, Gwen thought to him, Tyson weighed enough for a few people and Grover was second choice.
Then the whole hall broke into silence.
Gwen's eyes jerked up to search for the reason.
Lupa. Percy told her.
Every Roman straightened even more. The Greeks were looking around, puzzled, Jason included. Then Lupa stepped into view. How a snow white monster wolf could slip around through shadows undetected was truly a mystery to Gwen.
"Romans, guests, I trust you slept well?" Lupa asked in her smooth voice. Gwen curled her hands into fists in her lap. She was still mad about the fact she was really Greek.
All the Romans nodded sharply and in illusion. The Greeks tried to follow their example. Lupa's lip curled. She was laughing at their disorganization. It made Gwen even angrier. It probably shouldn't have but it did.
"While you are at our camp, I want you to remember, Greeks, that you are not one of us. You are Greek. You are not like us at all."
Superior much? Gwen thought to Percy who gave her a small head bob of agreement.
"Normally, we would have exchanged leaders and you would have been on your untidy way, but, given the circumstances..." Lupa's sharp black eyes locked onto Gwen's. What she meant was "Because the twins of Poseidon are so stubborn and I owe the girl I kidnapped..." "You will be allowed to remain here for a little bit. I refuse to allow anymore Greeks into my camp. We will not be influenced by your lax ways. We will remain strong and beautiful."
Gwen glanced over at Leo and the pile of chicken bones and grapes around him. Yeah, that's beautiful and strong and dignified.
"Of course, if you are to help us in the war effort, you will need to be properly trained."
"Are you going to train us?" Annabeth asked.
Gwen felt her stomach drop.
"What, Greek?" Lupa padded over to the Minerva cabin. Every eye was on Annabeth and Lupa. Annabeth, to her credit, was looking pretty calm but she'd apparently realized she'd committed a big "no-no" by speaking.
"I asked if you were going to train us." she repeated.
Gwen's heartbeat was in her throat. She didn't want Lupa to devour Annabeth. That would be a very dangerous move. Of course, Lupa knew Annabeth was strong ties to everyone. If she ate Annabeth, it would be to see what the Greeks did. Percy would definitely fight for revenge. Gwen wouldn't lead the charge, though. She already was beginning to like the opinionated daughter of Athena.
"No." Lupa said, "I will not be."
Gwen could tell by her voice that she'd decided to not eat Annabeth. Not even Lupa, as old and practiced as she was, could keep every emotion or tone out of her voice. Gwen had been with her for seventeen years, she'd seen plenty of almost eatings and many more eatings.
It's okay. She said to Percy in her head. His shoulders slightly relaxed.
"Our schedules will be mucked up by your presence but war always has that effect, not to the level you manage, but it does present a little bit of schedule shifting. So, for as long as you are here, you will be trained by our best warrior." Bobby seemed to puff up, "Guinevere, daughter of Neptune."
Bobby shot her a death glare but Gwen knew it was coming.
Everyone turned to look at her. As if she was that interesting. They wouldn't blink an eye if she died on a quest. They'd probably be relieved.
"Breakfast is over." Lupa announced, "Leave for training."
Everyone was on their feet in an instant.
Leo tripped and fell over a chicken bone.
Chapter VIII: ANNABETH: Practice
Annabeth knew it would be no easy ride when she saw the set of Gwen's jaw. She knew the Romans would be something to behold in training, but when training started, she'd never imagined it would be like it was.
"Greeks!" Gwen yelled over her shoulder in a firm voice. "Bianca, you can be a Greek for today!" Annabeth watched Gwen's face carefully but no emotion was allowed through. It was like she'd gone into a whole new mode of Roman. "Jason, you train with me. Get over here! Tyson, go help Vulcan's cabin in the war preparation. Move it, people!"
Annabeth caught up with Gwen but when she tried to smile, she was stopped by the cold steel in Gwen's green eyes. It stopped Annabeth dead in her tracks. Percy wrapped an arm around her waist and led her forward. He glared at the back of Gwen's head as if he could chew her out mentally. Whether he could or not, Gwen didn't respond.
Gwen stopped when they came to the field. Annabeth could see Fetus the boat not far away. Gwen spun around to look at them. Her face was not unlike the face of a Drill Sergent's. Annabeth found herself trying to calculate how fast Gwen could probably move and how fast Annabeth could grab her knife and defend herself.
"So," Leo started, Gwen's eyes flashed to him, "Are we just gonna like fight and you're going to decide what level we're on or are we going to start at level one...?" he faltered when he met Gwen's killer gaze.
"Pull out your weapons." Gwen ordered. Annabeth jerked out her knife in such a way that Gwen's eyes met her's. She hesitated, her courage and ability seeming to diminish under Gwen's eyes.
"Jason, what happened to your sword?"
"Broke." Jason held up his gladius. Hera had supplied Jason with the gladius when his magic imperial gold coin sword-slash-spear broke when he was fighting a giant on the quest to save the trapped goddess.
"Bianca, Annabeth, Piper." Gwen pointed to a spot in the grass. "Jason, Nico, Percy." she pointed to another spot. "No. Leo, trade with Percy. Percy, with me. Piper and Leo, together." Annabeth was startled how Gwen's voice sounded. It was so in control. So in command. So confident.
"Now what?" Leo asked, looking at Piper and her knife a little worriedly.
"We fight." Bianca said matter-of-factly.
Everyone looked at Gwen to see if she would contradict Bianca's words. Annabeth glanced at Bianca. Annabeth was fair with her knife but Bianca had been dead for a while, she couldn't be very good with her knife yet.
"Here's the thing, we're going to fight." Gwen met each person's eyes, "And, you're going to fight hard. I don't care if you know you can beat your opponent. I don't care if you know you can't. You're going to fight as hard as you can. Otherwise, I'll know, and then, you'll be very sorry." Annabeth wondered if there was a secret Roman torture chamber somewhere in First Legion. By the dangerous look on Gwen's face, Annabeth didn't doubt it. "And here's some good encouragement, loser stays here and misses lunch. And you'll want lunch after this is over because there are NO breaks."
"So, we're just fighting?" Leo asked, looking nervous. Gwen raised an eyebrow. She brushed her black bangs behind her ear.
"Would you like Percy and I to demonstrate?" she asked him.
"It would be nice to see if you are better than Percy. Percy's one of the best at Camp Half-Blood." Annabeth told Gwen. For a moment, Gwen smirked a playful smile and her eyes twinkled. For a moment, Annabeth was looking past Gwen's General mask. Then the moment ended.
Percy uncapped Riptide and pulled out Tyson's shield. Annabeth cocked her head. Percy rarely used his shield.
Gwen flicked her wrists and brought her wrists together at the same time. As two long bronze swords grew out of the rings on her fingers, they screeched against each other. Leo took a step back. Annabeth felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Nico swallowed hard.
Gwen looked positively murderous.
"Gwen," Percy said in a warning tone, "I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that during training."
"What's life without a little intimidation?" Gwen asked, a smile curling the tips of her lips.
Then they lunged together.
Annabeth froze.
They moved so fast she could hardly keep up. It was almost like they'd rehearsed the fight. Step by step. They moved like they were in a crazy, deadly dance. Never breaking eye contact. Never making a mistake. Never loosing the beat to their insane ballet.
Then Percy took a step about an inch too long. Gwen defected it but Percy had put too much force into his jab. His sword went about an inch into her arm. Gwen didn't seem bothered, though. She brought one sword down on Percy's sword arm and jammed the flat of her other sword into his face.
Percy hit his back.
Gwen slashed and Riptide went flying.
Percy tried to knock her legs out from under her with his shield but she avoided it easily and put her sword to his throat, stepping on his shield arm, and placing her other sword on his other arm.
"Do you know what you did wrong, brother dear?" Gwen asked sweetly. She jumped off of him and glared at everyone else. Annabeth knew exactly why she was the best fighter now. "Okay, everyone, FIGHT!" she ordered.
Annabeth was suddenly locked in a vicious battle of knives with Bianca who'd gotten incredible. Annabeth could only defend herself as best she could against Bianca's well-placed, lightning-quick attacks. Little scratches quickly decorated her arms where her defense had failed.
Bianca's eyes were intense, only intent on one thing: victory.
"You've been training with Gwen, haven't you?" Annabeth asked as she tried to deflect and Bianca's knife slashed up along her arm. She felt the energy begin to drain out of her. Her cuts burned like someone had lit them on fire.
"In the mornings for weeks." Bianca answered.
Then her black eyes flashed dangerously and every cell in Annabeth screamed "Roman" and "danger". Bianca jabbed her knife at Annabeth. Annabeth moved her knife in the way. Bianca's knife hit it and Annabeth's knife flew through the air.
Something flashed in Bianca's eyes.
Annabeth couldn't place it. But she didn't have enough time before Bianca shifted her grip. And then she lunged at Annabeth.
Someone shoved her out of the way. There was the scream of bronze verses bronze then silence. Annabeth spun around on the grass to find Gwen holding Bianca's wrists so tight her knuckles were white. Her swords and Bianca's knife were laying in the grass.
Blood-Annabeth's blood-glinted on Bianca's knife.
"Control, Bianca." Gwen hissed, "Control. Just because you turn into a cold, heartless old Roman doesn't mean you can loose control and kill your friends."
"I-I don't-t know wh-what happened!" Bianca burst in tears.
She and Gwen sank to the grass, Bianca sobbing into Gwen's sleeveless shirt and Gwen holding her tightly. Gwen's eyes met Annabeth's. Those big green eyes that were just like Percy's were scared. Gwen-the big, powerful Roman General- was scared.
Annabeth blinked. Her heart was pounding as the adrenaline finally began to kick in.
She knew what had been missing from Bianca's eyes: Mercy.
There had only been the want to succeed. To crush. To dominate. To step on. To be superior. The things she had been trained to want by the Romans. The things she had learned in the afternoons when she wasn't with Gwen.
The things that people wanted when they were taught family and emotions were bad.
The Romans weren't fooling anyone but themselves.
They had the feelings.
They had the needs.
They were just like the much hated Greeks.
They just wanted to keep everything inside.
They wanted to be flesh statues.
They were just plain stupid.
VIII: PIPER: Lunch
Bianca couldn't stop crying.
Gwen kept everyone moving though. She wouldn't let Nico near his sister. Piper could tell he was really mad about it. There was a moment when Nico tried to tower of Gwen. There was a moment when he looked furious. There was a moment when Piper was afraid Nico would run Gwen through with his black sword. But after a long stare-down, he backed up.
Piper didn't know what to think. She didn't want to fight when Bianca had almost killed Annabeth. But Gwen just looked at her with those huge, fierce green eyes and said "Fight".
Piper had to admit, it felt good to just fight and switch. Fight and switch. Just focus on not letting the sword bite her. Just focus on how her knife felt in her hand and against her opponent's sword.
Gwen didn't make Bianca fight. Bianca was allowed to sit in the grass and just cry. Since there was an uneven number, Gwen did teams against herself. Two people against her.
Leo was doing okay. He only had his tool belt for fighting, though, so he kept trying to club people with it. Jason was a good sword fighter and managed to stay a full five minutes with Gwen. Nico managed four. Percy ended up with her for thirty minutes. Piper had never seen anything like it.
Gwen went slow with Annabeth and Piper, barking orders and chewing out their mistakes. When Piper fought against Gwen, she felt connected to Annabeth. They both seemed to be on the same wave length. You move there so she look away and I'll jab. Gwen was too good for them to get the best of her, but she was an incredible teacher. While Piper was fighting, she'd never felt so good. She'd never felt so confident or talented with her knife. Which was kind of funny since Gwen was still beating the crap out of both of them.
She'd slap them with the flat of her swords. Barking mistakes. Issuing orders. Snarling advice.
The horn for lunch blew. Everyone looked at Gwen, wondering who would be the loser left to stay behind. Leo looked depressed, apparently thinking it was him who'd remain behind.
Gwen surprised them by smiling.
"Good job, warriors. After lunch, which we're all going to, meet me back here fast."
"In other words," Percy said, "You better learn how to pee really fast." he smiled, "We'll all be late."
"I knew you liked us too much to make us skip lunch!" Leo cried. Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Right?"
"How'd training go?" Daisy asked.
"It was..." Piper searched for words, "Hard and fun and I've never done anything like that or worked as hard as I did."
"That's Gwen for you." Daisy answered, "Only the best get to train with her. And the new, really old demigods. She shoves them in the right direction then someone else takes over. If they're really good, they get her again. If you train with Gwen, you are good. Jason used to train with her for about an hour every other day."
"Why only that?" Piper looked at where Jason was eating his pathetic, lonely lunch and where Gwen was having a whispered conversation with Percy and Tyson. "Were they together?"
"Not romantically." Daisy pushed around a wayward piece of rice on her plate. "She was seven and he was six. Gwen's been here since she was born and Jason came when he was two. They were the only kids their age so they became friends to survive. But the friendship worked, you know? Some of the older campers, when they were in story mood, said that you couldn't find Jason without Gwen. They were best friends. Two halves of a whole. But when Gwen fought Georgina, one of our best Mars campers, Neptune claimed her. Jupiter didn't want to be in the shadows so he claimed Jason. Georgina told me that they were moved into their cabins. She said that in the morning, Gwen went racing over to see Jason. Jason told Gwen they couldn't be friends anymore. She said it hurt to watch Gwen's face fall and her heart break. That's coming from a well-seasoned Roman camper of a war god."
"Why did Jason say that?" Piper asked, not feeling very hungry.
"Son of Jupiter. Daughter of Neptune. Dads are enemies. Kids got to be enemies too. It doesn't matter if they were practically one person. They weren't allowed." Daisy shrugged her shoulders like it didn't matter. Like it was just some Roman routine you just got used to eventually. Piper felt empty, looking around at the stiff Roman faces trying to hold back their fear, anger, and glee.
What was she doing in this place?
How had Jason lived here?
Why were there so many people here?
Piper felt sick suddenly.
"I gotta go to the bathroom." she said, jumping to her feet.
All she really wanted to do, though, was get out.
Get out.
Get away.
Chapter X: GUINEVERE: Confrontation
Gwen shot one more glance Bianca's way before she stood up and made her way out of the pavilion. She wanted to know why Bianca had semi-snapped. She had seen the look Bianca had given Annabeth before. It was especially usual in Mars campers. But they had always managed to pull out before they did any serious, life-threatening damage.
It had always bugged Gwen. Every time she saw the look. She wondered. But she had never done anything. Had never asked anything. She had decided it wasn't her place. No one had gotten severely hurt, so she shouldn't stick her nose into others' business. But this time it had gone too far.
She wanted to know exactly what was happening.
She wanted to know if Lupa was training them or if someone else was.
She wanted to know what they were training.
She wanted to know why they were training them.
And she wanted to know how to pound sense into their pea-sized heads.
Gwen wandered around the cabins a little aimlessly. There wasn't a place you could go and find Lupa. Lupa just appeared out of the shadows whenever and however she pleased. It didn't matter if you needed her or not, were in an awkward situation or not, she just came or didn't.
Gwen sighed and sat down in the grass. She glared at the perfect blades. She curled her fingers around them then felt her anger and fear. She began to rip out the grass.
"Beating up on grass, Jackson?" a smooth, sly voice asked. Gwen was on her feet and had her sword to the speaker's throat before she identified him. Midnight black eyes watched her coolly.
Carson.
"Roberts," she snapped, trying to get her emotions tamed, "What do you want?" Okay, that was an epic fail.
"I heard your class didn't go as smoothly as you planned." Carson sneered at her while she flicked her wrists to put up her swords.
"What do you know about anything?" she asked, noticing the brown patch of dirt and the pile of uprooted grass. Her handiwork. Great.
Carson chuckled. Gwen stepped over the random spot of bare ground.
"Leave me alone." she snapped at him.
"Of course," Carson followed her, "What did you expect from a bunch of Greeks?" he chuckled again, pushing his stop-sign-red hair back as if he was all that. Gwen gritted her teeth. He'd caught her at an emotional break and she was having trouble getting her Roman mask back into place.
"Go. Away."
"Feisty today, Jackson?" Carson continued to follow her.
"Deaf much, Roberts?" Gwen snarled. Screw the Roman Mask.
"I heard it was one of your Roman charges who almost skewered one of those idiots."
"They aren't idiots, and how do you know so much? Were you spying on us, you creep? What would Lupa have to say about you skipping?" Gwen spun around to glare at him. Carson grinned. He was easily taller than Gwen and eighteen. He was the son of Discordia and enjoyed it.
Usually Gwen could rise above Carson's taunts.
She was already mad though. Out of control.
"Oo, standing up for the rejects."
"Don't you have something intelligent to do?"
Carson silently laughed.
"Right," Gwen snapped, "Of course you don't have anything intelligent to do. What was I thinking?"
"Aw, Gwen, don't be like that."
"It's Guinevere."
Carson sighed and scratched his head.
"Don't be so pissy. Your little Greek freaks didn't get hurt too bad by my training, did they?"
"What?" Gwen snapped to. "You train B in the afternoons?" She knew Carson was pretty good at fighting, his mother was Mars's sister, it was kind of in his blood, but Carson had never threatened or tried to fight Gwen. He had rarely fought anyone. Gwen had always tried to avoid him. The way he looked at her never settled well.
"I train a lot of people." Carson smiled and took a step forward. He smelled like grass and beer. Gwen took an involuntary step back. His smile widened. "I probably do."
Gwen's fist curled. She wouldn't let him just run over her.
"What exactly are you teaching them?"
"I'm training them how to be Romans. Real, true Romans. Gotta problem with that, Jackie?"
"Maybe." Gwen answered, "I have a problem when they don't think like people and try to kill friends."
"Greeks aren't friends, Jackie."
"That's not my name."
"Aren't we sensitive?" Carson took another step towards her.
"Back off." Gwen stepped away. Carson grinned. "What are you training them? Whatever it is, you're messing with them."
"'Messing with them'..." Carson looked down at her, "A child of Discordia doesn't know what that means."
"What does that mean?" Gwen snapped, taking another step away from him. "Keep your distance!"
"What do you think, Jackie?"
"That's not my name."
"Are you just trying to ruin them? Are you trying to turn them into soulless monsters? They're people!"
"Not with the right training." Carson sneered, "We're Romans. We're cold. We're mean. We're merciless. Our name is war." it was an evil sneer. "What's wrong with reminding ourselves of that with a little bit of fun and deception?"
"You're sick." Gwen snarled.
"Spoken like a true Greek." Carson stepped even closer.
"Get the Hades away from me!" Gwen was pressed up against a cabin. Carson's sneer widened. Were his teeth a little sharp on the tips?
"She said keep your distance." A black sword was between them suddenly. Stygian iron, black as death, flashed. Carson scrunched up his face in disgust and back tracked as fast as he could. He controlled his features.
"Who says?" he demanded.
"Son of Hades, so I'd watch my step." Nico stepped closer to Carson, his whole body like a threat. Carson's eyes flashed with fear and he tried to smirk at Nico but the slight show of emotion turned on him and twisted into a terrified grimace.
"Whatever." he spun around and scurried away, though.
"That's a son of Discordia, I'd be careful." Gwen said to Nico. He turned around to her, his aviator's jacket brushing her arm. It was cold. His black eyes burned through her.
"I'm sure I'll be fine, being the son of death and all." his face was guarded, trying to gauge her face and how she was taking being that close to him. "I'm sorry." he stepped away from her, moving like a shadow.
"For what?" Gwen asked. The cabin she was against was freezing cold.
"Freaking you out." he answered, receding even more.
"No, you're fine. I'm not freaked." Gwen told him. His eyes never wavered. Never faltered. Never blinked.
He gave the smallest of smirks.
"Trying to be nice? How charitable." he backed up even more and seemed to vanish in the shadows.
Gwen exhaled.
She looked up to the cabin she was leaning against.
It was solid black.
It was the Pluto cabin.
She looked back to the shadows Nico had vanished into, but they were gone. There were no shadows at all.