CHAPTER 7

BELOW THE STAND OF THE SECOND COHORT

Jake had about half of his armor strapped on and was preparing for his battle against Percy. Jake, like the other centurions were in their respective cohort bunkers. There are five cohort bunkers, all placed underground beneath the stand of their respective cohorts. When suddenly a loud horn blew signaling the beginning of the first fight.

Ignoring the fact that he had yet to strap on all of his armor, Jake rushed towards the stairs. He climbed the stairs to see his entire cohort roaring, getting into the feel of the battle.

He made his way over to the front row where his twin sister was comfortably perched in his centurion's chair with her feet on the armrest. He sighed; his sister has a knack for disobeying all the rules. He snuck over to his chair- which was quite easy with all the noise- and cleared his throat loudly.

Surprised, Jane tumbled out of the chair and fell on her back.

Trying to keep himself from laughing his head off, Jake asked in his best imitation of Terminus's voice." What do you think you're doing young lady?"

Without, turning her head she stuttered "N-Nothing, Lord Terminus, I was just, you know, keeping Jake's chair warm."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm here so you can move, now shoo." Jake said with a small chuckle and moved to sit in his chair.

Jane finally looked up, and observed him sitting in the chair looking at the battle ignoring her, she tried to keep herself from strangling him, so instead she settled for a kick to the shin.

Jake was rolling with laughter when he saw her gripping her foot after kicking his armored shin.

Jane settled herself down in the seat next to him grumbling about annoying twins and stupid armor, but inwardly she was smiling. It has become a very rare phenomenon for the twins to actually laugh and joke together, ever since he became a centurion Jake has been a no nonsense guy and quite frankly she missed their small quarrels. It was due to the fateful day….

Flashback

Lighting thundered in the skies. Rain poured down relentlessly as the sounds of battle were raging throughout the mountain. She was bashing the head of an enemy with her shield when she heard an ear splitting explosion. She looked up to see an exploding plane, an old ruined plane flying over them, its engine bursting with flames. No… Her heart raced and she dashed of stumbling, screaming toward the sight of the plane crash. A giant boom followed. No, that was not possible. She raced forward pushing through all, regardless of her life. She needed to reach there, she needed to protect him.

When she made her way to the plane crash….. there was nothing left but a burning mass of metal.

NOOOOOOO,…!

She fell to her knees, tears flowing out like a stream. He wasn't supposed to die. He wasn't supposed to fight. It was their battle, their responsibility, he didn't need to do this. NO, he can't leave them alone, he was their hero…. Their only Family, there …..

"So what did I miss?" Asked Jake, who was back to acting like his old self.

"Not much, the fight began just as you arrived." Jane replied

He nodded and turned his attention to the battle raging below.

DAKOTA

Dakota never backed down and he never gave up. He is a soldier, his fighting skills were what one would expect of a Centurion of Rome; however he didn't stand a chance against his opponent.

As soon as they charged at each other he knew that this was a lost cause. There was no way he could match the might of his opponent.

Dakota first move was a slash at Percy's mid-section, but it was easily deflected as Percy quickly got behind him and slammed the hilt of his sword behind Dakota's right knee, causing his knee to buckle. This caused Dakota to fall to one knee, when suddenly Percy slammed the flat of his blade at the back of Dakota's head, signaling his victory.

The crowd sat there as silence soared through the air, but the silence was soon replaced by the chants of loser and booing all around.

Dakota hung his head in shame, once again he has defamed their cohort, and the fifth was proven weak. He knew from the start that he couldn't win but he believed that he would have been able to at least put up a decent fight against Percy. The fifth lost again, it was miserable again.

But all thoughts and all boo's were silenced at the roar of rage coming from the Son of Neptune.

"You are all shameless." He bellowed over all the noise. Dakota's head hung even further, to be insulted by someone he deemed a friend.

But Percy's voice was not belittling Dakota or his cohort, no it was addressed to the legion and people gathered in the stands.

Dakota looked up to see Percy fuming with Rage.

"Romans, the oh so great and mighty Romans, the all-powerful. Is this, what has become of you?! You are supposed to help your fellow warriors, lift their spirits in battle, but you have become too blinded by your own arrogance and refuse to accept those who are different.

If this is what Rome is about, not helping your comrades, not reaching out to them, giving them your hand then, I don't want to be a Roman. No, this is not what Rome is about. It is about honor and camaraderie, strength and friendship and most of all, UNITY!" Percy bellowed

The Romans burst into cheers and began chanting the name, Percy, but this time there were an equal chant of the name Dakota. Dakota's spirits were lifted. He went to grab for his sword and took a fighting stance in front of his opponent.

"Ready for round two?" asked his raven haired opponent.

Dakota felt a surge of confidence flow through him, a burst of renewed energy. He felt that he could anything, that he could conquer the world.

That was when he noticed the power surrounding the Son of Neptune. A faint red and purple power flowed around him in what seemed like flames. When a speck touched Dakota he could feel the spirits rush into him. What was this power, it felt like the power of Iusitos, the spirit of Rome. Dakota shook that thought off, it sounded preposterous, even to him.

"I was born ready." Replied the son of Bacchus before they raged in battle again, this time it was not so one sided.

Percy slashed at his collarbone, but Dakota ducked and used his shield to sweep Percy's feet from under him. Percy fell forwards but at the last moment he was able to regain his balance and performed a front flip, landing on his feet, but Dakota did not give him any time to regroup. He immediately went for a stab through the abdomen, but Percy tilted sideways and performed a roundhouse kick to Dakota's right wrist smashing his sword away, but Dakota was quick to respond.

With the extra energy and the surge of adrenaline given to him by Percy's aura, Dakota immediately used his left hand to grab Percy's shin and pulled him back. Using his now empty right hand he kicked Percy's sword out of his hands and Riptide landed several feet away from the combatants.

Percy immediately used his now free leg to deliver a low kick to Dakota's side making Dakota double over in pain. However, this made him realize how much Percy was holding back, Dakota had learned from experience that his strength was far greater than this.

Percy used this time to retreat a bit. Dakota got up and looked at Percy questioningly. He responded by making a fists. Dakota responded by smirking and making his own fists.

With that, Dakota charged at Percy going for an uppercut, which he deflected before Percy landed a hard knee to Dakota's stomach. Dakota crouched in pain before going for a sweep of Percy's legs. Percy predicted this and flipped over to Dakota's back. Dakota was about to respond when he felt a cold metal at his neck. He looked down to see Riptide at his neck.

"Do you yield?" Came Percy's voice from behind him.

Dakota responded with a nod and the cold metal was pulled away from his neck before Percy offered his hand to Dakota. Dakota gratefully took it and Percy pulled him up. When up Dakota raised an eyebrow. Percy simply replied by pointing at the pen in his hand. Dakota face-palmed, how stupid he had been to forget Riptide's ability to return to Percy automatically.

Percy laughed but that was not where Dakota's attention was. His attention was on the Roman crowd. They were all standing up and clapping at the great display of fighting in front of them. All of the fifth cohort looked at him with pride shining in their eyes. Dakota felt happy, confident and never had been more proud in his life.

He turned to face Percy to congratulate him on the win, when a gush of wind slammed him in the face, it was like the wind that comes when something is traveling at high speeds, which was followed by a sound of someone crashing into a wall. He turned to see a smirking Ryes and Percy's body lying in a heap on the other side of the arena, after making a huge crater in the wall.

Anger surged through Dakota; he wanted to rip off all of the skin from the centurion of the fourth cohort.

Ryes saw Dakota's expression and his smirk grew. He opened his mouth to make a witty remark when in the blink of an eye a cloud of dust covered the place where Ryes had just been standing.

Grinning, Dakota left the arena to go to the stands to watch what promises to be an interesting beating.

LINE BREAK

The crowd went silent, nobody lifted a finger. What they had just seen was Ryes, the son of Hercules, the centurion of the fourth cohort attack Percy from behind. Although, the rules clearly stated that a centurion can attack as soon as the previous battle was over, nobody actually expected that to happen. The Romans were an honorable race, it was considered beneath them to attack an opponent from behind. Well, that was part of the customs their ancient ancestors followed in New Rome, recently things had taken a turn for the worst.

Back to the battle, no-one knew what happened. Dust covered the area where Ryes had just been standing while Ryes lay in the direction opposite of Percy, smashed into a wall.

When the dust cleared, Percy was found standing with his fist extended, like he had just delivered a punch.

In the praetor stands, Reyna smirked at the sight in front of her. She had been elated when Percy stood up for Dakota and in turn for the fifth cohort. The way the legion accepted Dakota removed a lot of weight from her shoulders. She couldn't believe it, she had been praetor for about a year, yet she was not able to solve the problem of disrespect for the fifth cohort, yet Percy who is not even in a position of power has ensured that the cohort receives the respect from the other cohorts and citizens of Rome that it deserves.

Reyna is not a fool, she had seen the faint aura surrounding Percy, and she knew what that power was. When she first arrived in Camp it was what always lifted her spirit.

Back to the fight, Ryes had regained his bearings. Both opponents had come face to face. So far the fight has been equally matched, with both combatants delivering one powerful blow each. From the state of the walls which they were punched into, one would derive that Ryes is the victor. The left side of the wall where Percy punched Ryes had broken the wall severely but it was still standing; whereas the right side the wall had completely given out. But the endurance factor is what gave Percy a clear advantage over his opponent. From the state of the two competitors you could tell that easily.

Ryes was panting heavily, due to the effect of heavy usage of his inherited godly strength and Percy's punch has taken a heavy toll on the centurion's body. You could see the broken bones by the defects in his posture and many of his body parts were bleeding.

However, Percy's endurance was on a whole different level. Although his body had many bruises and he too was bleeding in a few places, but it hadn't taken that big of a toll on his stamina. He was breathing a little hard, but he was far from tired.

Focusing on Percy's face Reyna could make out the disappointed expression he wore. She understood that, he was disappointed by the fact that Ryes fought dishonorably.

"Centurion you disappoint me." Percy said

Ryes went for another punch at Percy, but unfortunately for him he was easily caught by the latter.

This made Ryes even angrier. "I don't need your approval, you son of a b-" before he could finish that Percy twisted his wrist so hard the crack of it breaking was heard throughout the arena. Percy pulled him by his wrist and threw him away. He landed a few feet away, his limp body indicating unconsciousness.

"Medics, I think the centurion needs your help leaving the arena. He won't be moving by himself for quite a while." Percy called.

The medics rushed in to grab the unconscious Son of Hercules.

Percy turned to face the fourth cohort in the stands, who looked down ashamed at the actions of their centurion. Percy's face turned into a reassuring smile and even though Reyna wasn't the one who he was smiling at, she too smiled, that thing was infectious.

Percy now turned to face Reyna and looked at her questioningly awaiting his next challenge.

"The next one to face Percy Jackson shall be Jake, the centurion of the second cohort. Bobby of the third cohort is unfortunately unavailable due to Hannibal, his elephant causing havoc on temple hill, but he has given his consent. Should Percy lose this battle, Bobby will engage him in combat later for his place. Now, let the battle begin!" A loud ear splitting roar from the crowd began. This was to be the best battle yet. Percy has proven his worth and his battle skills seem to be unparalleled, whereas Jake was the strongest and most efficient fighter in Camp. The last time there had been a battle of this caliber it had been between Jake and Robus, a fallen warrior and the most famed warrior of that time. He was rumored to possess a mythical bow capable of summoning One thousand arrows made solely of sunlight, capable of rendering an entire army unconscious. In that battle, the state of the coliseum of New Roman ended up like the original coliseum. That was due to a battle of epic proportions, much like the next battle the crowd is about to watch is expected to be.

A soft noise of someone landing behind Percy caught everyone's attention, but he didn't turn around.

"Why didn't you turn around, Perce. I could've attacked you from the back." Called the voice of the centurion of the second cohort.

Percy finally turned to face the son of Minerva. He had intelligently strapped his armor. There were main protectors like breast plate and back armor but nothing which could decrease flexibility like shoulder guards and neck guard.

The Son of Minerva looked the same as ever with short cropped blonde hair and calculating amber eyes. He had a straight posture, but slightly tilted. As of now he could avoid any attack Percy made. He was truly a very intelligent fighter.

"I am afraid I know you too well, my friend." Said Percy as he gripped his sword for what could be his most challenging battle yet.

JAKE

The fourth centurion's challenge had just begun as a Jake stood up and made his way to the bunker just as one of his cohort mates called out.

"Jake where are you going, are you not going to watch the battle." He asked

"I am going to prepare myself for the battle, Reed." He replied and continued on his way.

"Are you not going to watch the battle?"

"I believe I already know the victor will be." He replied calmly.

Reed was about to open his mouth when Percy's voice rang over. Smirking Jake continued on his way.

He reached the armory of the second cohort and sought out his closet. He reached for the handle before turning his way and reaching his hand out to the tip of the lock. He flicked open a hidden shaft in it. Beneath that laid a dragger. He dragged it all the way down to the end of the lock.

Behind it was a numeral password lock. Jake was about to type the code in when a small shuffling noise caught his attention. He snapped the column shut and grabbed the hilt of his arm dagger.

"Who's there?" Jake questioned

The shuffling voice continued.

"I asked who's there?!" his voice a little more stern this time.

Suddenly a shadow jumped out, in the blink of an eye Jake held them by their throat.

He looked up to see an all too familiar face.

"Jane, how many times do I have to tell you don't sneak up on me?" Jake exclaimed

Jane looked behind him to see the closet.

She moved forward and flicked down the dragger and opened up the password lock. She typed the code in it and a very small slide door shifted out of the side of the closet.

The slide was decorated with various pictures of Jake and Jane with an older man with Blonde hair and brown eyes. However, there was one that stood out.

It was a small picture, much smaller than the others. It was a picture of five year old Jake and Jane along with the man but here was someone else too. A seven year old girl was there too with an arm around the twins.

Jane brushed her fingers over the picture.

Tears threatened to well out of her eyes.

Her hands brushed over to the fading words on the photo.

'Family'

With that the dam broke. Jake wrapped his arms around his sister in a comforting hug.

"Shhhhh, don't cry Jane. Remember what he said "We will always have each other." I promise, I will never leave you alone, never."

Jane wrapped her arms around her brother and held him tightly afraid he would disappear.

LINE BREAK

Jake stepped into the stands just as Reyna announced the beginning of their competition.

Jake was no fool, he knew about Percy's strength, as well as his unmatched battle prowess.

Jake had also seen the aura that had surrounded Percy during the battle against Dakota and he knew what it was. It would work to his advantage, a lot.

He jumped over the railing and landed with a soft noise. Percy however did not turn around, he simply stared ahead blankly not giving even a glance to him.

"Why didn't you turn around, Perce. I could've attacked you from the back." Called the voice of the centurion of the second cohort.

Percy turned and replied coyly. "I am afraid I know you too well, my friend."

Jake simply grinned in response, this will be a very interesting battle.

And then at an unseen signal they charged.

No, not at each other but instead they ran sideways to their right, trying to interpret the other's technique. Jake noticed Percy's zigzag running pattern. Every second yard he moved to a little to his right and after another two a little to his left. It was like a rhythmic beating of the heart. It was flawless, it left no room for Jake to use a sideway slash so he used an alternative technique.

Running at his top speed, Jake was able to gain a little on Percy before moving to the right and turning around holding his gladius in front of him.

At Percy's speed he won't be able to stop suddenly, even if he could it'll be too late.

Percy simply smirked as he jumped up and landed on the flat of Jake's blade, using it as a leverage point he jumped several meters high into the air.

Jake turned up to see the shadowy figure of Percy using gravity to gain momentum as he came down for a heavy foot stomp.

Faster than the eye could follow, Percy came down and delivered a kick of such power that it sent shockwaves throughout the arena, while causing a cloud of dust that went several feet into the air.

When the dust cleared there was no sign of Jake. Percy was smirking as he was looking down at a dented imperial gold shield.

With all the silence in the arena, if one were to drop a pin then everyone present would hear it.

Suddenly, Percy's ear twitched as he quickly turned around just in time to block an abdominal stab using the dented shield.

What followed next became a blur. The action was too fast for the demigods' eyes to follow; however, in the arena the two competitors were having the fight of their lives.

JAKE

Jake stepped back just in time as Percy slashed right where his head was supposed to have been. The next part of the fight was a classic for the ages.

Jake delivered a kick to the shield powerful enough to make the son of Neptune step back and then using his sword he plunged it deep into one of the dents which turned the shields shape to that of an inside out umbrella, which left Percy's wrist exposed as Jake slashed at it.

Percy countered by pulling the shield back just as his sword came down. Jake's gladius plunged deep into the shield making it extremely tough to pull out and Percy used that to his advantage. He twisted the shield hard enough to make Jake lose his grip on his gladius rendering him weaponless. Jake used the momentum provided by the twist to twist his entire body in the air to deliver a very hard roundhouse punch to the head of the son of Neptune.

Percy had predicted that maneuver and defended against it by using the flat of his blade. Suddenly, Percy threw his sword down and delivered a dropkick to the still in midair demigod that sent him flying, but Jake knew that trick and plunged his dagger deep into the soil slowing his flight.

Jake raised his dagger just in time to defend against a slash at his head, while he used his other hand to grab Percy's wrist. Percy tossed riptide up and caught it holding it in an icepick grip using it to swat Jake's hand away while using his other hand to deliver an uppercut.

Jake went airborne and flew a few feet in the air and landed hard on the ground some distance away from Percy.

Percy stalked forward towards the grounded Jake. Seeing a very close friend and a Roman hurt sent his senses ablaze and his aura flared out.

Jake smirked, this is just what he wanted a boost of power from the aura of Iusitos. Jake knew the aura would double his battle skills and he intended to use this gift to its full potential.

He grabbed his dagger and hacked away at Percy who wasn't expecting it and as such was unable to properly parry the blow. This time Jake had the upper hand as he slashed and hacked at Percy who was having trouble keeping up with the enhanced senses of the son of Minerva. Jake finally found an opening and with that he disarmed Percy by hooking the T of his sword into the T of riptide and pulling it out of Percy's grip. Just as he was about to hold the sword at his opponents neck, the aura retreated taking away Jakes enhanced speed and skill.

Fortunately, it was just in time for Percy as the time delay allowed him to duck and sent an Up-kick to the Son of Minerva's chin. Jake stumbled back but by this time Percy had refocused and riptide had returned to him. Percy smashed his sword onto the back of the sword of the still weakened demigod and quickly disarmed him. He then sent a small blow to Jake's abdomen and put his sword on his neck.

"Do you yield?" asked Percy

The crowd leaned in awaiting the result while in the stands Jane and Reyna smirked knowing the battle was far from over.

Jake smirked as well, it was time to bring out his trump card. He raised his hand up in the air and chanted something no one quite caught.

Suddenly the sunlight increased tenfold and there was a blinding light in the middle of the arena, seemingly falling down into Jake's hands.

Before Percy could register what happened something smashed into him, sending him crashing into one of the walls of the stadium, however Percy knew what he needed to do. Percy spun in midair so that his feet landed on the wall enabling him to jump off the part of the wall he was on, just in time to avoid a golden arrow which pierced the wall where Percy had just stood. Percy ran, he ran harder than he has ever run before the crowd was amazed as it was inconceivable that Percy was running on the walls of the coliseum, his speed clearly defying gravity. Every second a golden arrow lodged itself in the place where Percy was just running. It looked like a trail of arrows were following him. Soon, he had ran the walls of the entire arena and he faced the first arrow in front of him.

Percy jumped on the arrow, using it as a springboard he jumped high into the air, higher than the walls of the coliseum itself. In midair he uncapped riptide as he saw his target and began falling towards what seemed like a sure victory.

He landed with a thunderous strike. The loud cringe of metal on metal could be heard throughout New Rome.

Percy capped his sword, expecting a finished battle but what he didn't expect was a broken sword lying below.

The sound of an arrow being notched was heard throughout the coliseum.

Everyone's attention snapped to the blonde figure perched on top of the stands, with an arrow notched. But the truly captivating part was the golden bow in his hand. The weapon is truly a masterpiece.

Jake smirked and released the arrow…. in the air? The arrow traveled and traveled further, until it was out of everyone's sight.

Everyone look stumped as to what he just did, but instead of answering he just raised his right hand up in the air again and it was again followed by a blinding light, but this time the light came from the air, seemingly the sun.

Gasps could be heard all around as people opened their eyes. They couldn't believe their eyes. High above in the skies was an army of golden arrows, all pointed at the battlefield in the middle. Each arrow was radiating a light of its own, lighting up the entire sky.

Down below Percy was contemplating his options. But nothing seemed to come to mind. Just as he was about to yield, when something in his jeans hitched. He glanced below to see Riptide in its pen form, stretching, pointing in Jake's direction. He didn't know what it meant or what he was doing but the next second he had pulled out riptide uncapped it and threw it at his opponent. Jake easily jumped and dodged the feeble attack; Riptide embedded itself in the wall of the stand.

Taking this as Percy's last stand, Jake pulled his hand down and the arrows followed command. The entire battle field was covered in light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

JAKE

He was panting hard, standing on his knees. Sweat was pouring down his face relentlessly. It took a lot out of him to summon all those arrows, but the result would be a great success, no one could escape the rain of those arrows. The gift from Robus was truly devastating, even though it didn't kill, its impact was powerful. Besides, an unconscious person in the hands of the enemy is just as good as dead enemy.

The battlefield was totally covered by the shimmering light arrows, which were now dispersing back to the sunlight. In a few minutes the arena was totally empty, except for the few craters made by the battle.

Wait, totally empty? Jake was moved back by this. Jake searched around frantically. No, that is impossible there was no way he could escape that, he covered all the spots.

Then suddenly his feet touched something wet. He looked below to find water touching his feet. He relaxed, it was just water. But then suddenly the water shimmered. He realized it too late as the water had already wrapped around him like a cocoon. He tried to break out of it, pushing, flailing his arms around.

"Don't bother yourself with that." Called out a tired voice.

Percy was looking at him perched on top of Riptide, which was still stuck in the wall. He stepped onto the wall and pulled out riptide. Sweat was pouring down his face too, and he was also panting hard. Whatever he had done had taken its toll on him as well.

"How in the name of Pluto did you escape, Percy?" asked Jake

"Truthfully, I don't know. Once I threw Riptide at you, my mind was nagging at me. All I did was concentrate and" He paused, like this had taken a lot out of him. "kaboom, here I am."

Percy limped forward and put Riptide to Jake's neck once more.

"Just yield already, and don't pull out another one of those 'son of Minerva' tricks. If you do that I swear I will plop a spider into your pants." Percy said tiredly.

Jake couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The crowd was silent, it made no noise as they all awaited the end of the confrontation.

"I yield Percy, I yield." Replied Jake

"Finally" He breathed out and the crowd let out an ear splitting roar. The entire legion was standing in salute to the two contestants. The highest roars came from the second cohort as they witnessed what was an epic battle between their current and possibly future centurions.

The water around Jake receded and he began to fall just as Percy caught him. "Easy there buddy, you don't want to be performing stunts in your current condition." He touched the top of Riptide to cap it, when Jake noticed something in the base of its hilt. There was a small bead, looking like platinum. Platinum….the aura…..Iusitos… That's it! All of it made sense. That must be how Percy teleported, Jake thought to himself.

Percy helped him down to the stands, with Jake's arm draped on him for support.

As soon as they reached the stand, they were swarmed by the legionnaires all looking to ask how they performed those maneuvers.

Thankfully, Reyna stepped in between and said "Romans, not now."

She turned to face Percy with an apologetic look.

"I am sorry Percy, but there is yet one more centurion to batt-"

She couldn't finish as a legionnaire came forward holding a scroll. He handed it to Reyna and left going back into the crowd. Reyna opened the scroll and read it. A smirk graced her lips as she turned back to the anxious legion.

"Octavian will not be able to participate in the battle, his duties as augur have him bound him to the temples. So for now, a senate meeting is called. All the centurions along with the junior centurions will have to meet in the senate house in five minutes after leading their cohorts back to the barracks. "Reyna announced.

The Centurions and/or the Junior Centurions came forward and marched their cohort back to their assigned barracks. Soon, only the second cohort remained as they waited for the orders from their centurion.

Jane, the junior centurion came forward and helped Jake back to their cohort mates.

Reyna looked at the two combatants and said "Jake, you and Percy will be taken to the infirmary-"

"No" They both said in unison.

"Reyna, there is no need for that we are just tired, hand us some nectar and ambrosia and we will be fine." Percy said for the both of them.

Reyna looked miffed but nodded nevertheless. "Jane allow your next in command to lead your cohort back. You should get ready to accompany Jake and Percy to the Senate meeting."

Jane nodded and called Reed forth. He immediately understood and led the cohort back to their barracks.

Reyna nodded for the three to follow her as she led them to the Senate house.

LINE BREAK

The trio approached the Polmerian Line, where a little girl was standing beside a statue of Terminus. When they were just yards from the entrance, the statue came to life, startling Percy.

"Halt!" yelled the god of boundaries

The girl giggled at Percy's shocked expression.

"D-did t-that statue just talk." Percy asked unbelievingly.

"Yes, and I will kick your butt if you don't shut up." The statue exclaimed.

"Whoa, talk about a short tempered hot head." Percy muttered.

"What was that, boy?" asked Terminus

Before things could go out of hand, Reyna intervened. "Lord Terminus, we need entrance to New Rome. Percy, here participated in the gladiator's challenge, so he is yet to be assigned his cohort."

"Oh so you are the new talk of the town, the one who everyone is fawning about. If only I had arms and.." said Terminus blabbering on

"Lord Terminus" said Reyna

"Fine, fine, but you must hand over your weapons." Terminus ordered and the little girl came forward holding a tray.

Reyna put her dagger on it, followed by Jake's gladius and Jane's knife. Percy uncapped Riptide and put it in it.

Terminus granted them entrance and they moved into the city of New Rome. Percy, who was seeing New Rome for the first time was astonished. All the buildings were created to resemble ancient Rome, with pillars and Domes built over numerous buildings. There were numerous fountains spread throughout all of New Rome. Seeing the Neptune bath house, Percy suddenly felt dirty and he reminded himself to go for a bath once the meeting is over.

They walked in front of a huge building covered with various carvings along with gold and marble pillars, it was truly beautiful sight. Reyna stopped at the door and turned to the trio and said "This is the senate house, Percy. Normally, we don't grant entrance to anyone who is not a centurion or an ambassador, but in your case.." She fished out a golden broche pin from her pocket and pinned it to Percy's T-shirt. The closeness, made Reyna's cheeks go red as Jane snickered in the background. Reyna glared at the Daughter of Minerva, who clamped her mouth to try to stop the laughter, but was unsuccessful.

"It grants someone entrance into the senate, if they are not an officer. Now, let's go in. I don't want to give Octavian another chance to give a lecture."

Reyna stepped into the Senate, followed by the twins. Just as Percy was about to enter, a familiar voice called out.

"Hey Percy, wait up." He turned around to see Dakota accompanied by Hazel and a hooded figure moving towards him. It was a female that much he could tell with its lithe figure. The girl seemed strangely familiar to him, her black clothes and jacket giving him a sense of a Déjà vu.

Dakota came up forward and gave Percy a man hug.

"One heck of a match you gave me there bud, it was awesome. And thanks for standing up for me-"

"Hey, don't say that, you deserved it. Besides, that's what friends are for." He said still eyeing the hooded girl.

Dakota noticed his gaze and wolf whistled. "Hazel, looks like your sister has got an admirer. Come one, bring her up, Percy seems quite anxious to meet her."

The girl approached Percy and pulled her hood down and said "Nice to meet you, my name is-"

"Bianca di Angelo!" Exclaimed Percy

A/N: Yeah u read it right Bianca is back into the game. Anyway, we r done with ch7. The chapter might not seem really important but in truth it is important. It plays a bog part in the long run and shapes up our side characters, the sory is not only abot Percy, most of the characters will have thier back stories and stuff.

We got 2 know a little more about thepowers of Iusitos and others. I really hope u guys liked the battles, becase i went all out on the action scenes.

The last chapter was the biggest success, i mean it was unbelievable. I had 30 followers and 20 favs befire it and after it I had twice the amount. Dont even get me startedon views, before it as a who.e i got 2000 views but after it there were 3700 views!

the next chap may or may not come this week, but it will be there by next week at the latest. Thank u guys.

READ & REVIEW

.kansalsudarsh